Does a prosecutor's comment on defendant's right not to testify constitute harmless error?

In any event, the prosecutor's remarks on defendant's right not to testify were brief, mild, and not the type of comments Griffin declared invalid. "[I]ndirect, brief and mild references to a defendant's failure to testify, without any suggestion that an inference of guilt be drawn therefrom, are uniformly held to constitute harmless error." (People v. Hovey (1988) 44 Cal.3d 543, 572; People v. Turner (2004) 34 Cal.4th 406, 420-421.) Although the prosecutor's comments were probably ill advised, inviting scrutiny on appeal, it was not error to paraphrase the court's own instruction, and, in any

Page 14