What is the test for a claim of prosecutorial misconduct?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Lampley, B292186 (Cal. App. 2020):

"To preserve a misconduct claim for review on appeal, a defendant must make a timely objection and ask the trial court to admonish the jury to disregard the prosecutor's improper remarks or conduct, unless an admonition would not have cured the harm. [Citation.]" (People v. Davis (2009) 46 Cal.4th 539, 612.)

Here, defendant failed to object to any of the prosecutor's comments. Thus, this argument is forfeited on appeal.

C. No misconduct

Regardless, there was no prosecutorial misconduct.

"'A prosecutor's . . . intemperate behavior violates the federal Constitution when it comprises a pattern of conduct "so egregious that it infects the trial with such unfairness as to make the conviction a denial of due process." [Citations.] But conduct by a prosecutor that does not render a criminal trial fundamentally unfair is prosecutorial misconduct under state law only if it involves "'the use of deceptive or reprehensible methods to attempt to persuade either the court or the jury.'" [Citations.]'" (People v. Gionis (1995) 9 Cal.4th 1196, 1214-1215.)

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