California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from The People v. PRIETO, G043258 (Cal. App. 2011):
"The standards governing review of misconduct claims are settled. 'A prosecutor who uses deceptive or reprehensible methods to persuade the jury commits misconduct, and such actions require reversal under the federal Constitution when they infect the trial with such "'unfairness as to make the resulting conviction a denial of due process.'" [Citations.] Under state law, a prosecutor who uses such methods commits misconduct even when those actions do not result in a fundamentally unfair trial. [Citation.] In order to preserve a claim of misconduct, a defendant must make a timely objection and request an admonition; only if an admonition would not have cured the harm is the claim of misconduct preserved for review. [Citation.]' [Citation.]" (People v. Parson (2008) 44 Cal.4th 332, 359.) Defendant claims the prosecutor's argument to the jury was rife with misconduct. He says the prosecutor argued facts not in the record, mischaracterized evidence, impugned defense counsel, incited the jurors' passion, and commented on punishment.
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1. Arguing Facts not in Evidence and Mischaracterizing the Evidence
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