In what circumstances will a prosecutor be allowed to ask a defense counsel to explain to the jury what to do with the question "If you're confused and you're sidetracked?"
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Gionis, 40 Cal.Rptr.2d 456, 892 P.2d 1199, 9 Cal.4th 1196 (Cal. 1995):
In People v. Bell, supra, 49 Cal.3d 502, 262 Cal.Rptr. 1, 778 P.2d 129, we concluded that comments similar to those here were not necessarily improper. In that case, the prosecutor argued: " 'It's a very common thing to expect the defense to focus on areas which tend to confuse. That is--and that's all right, because that's [defense counsel's] job. If you're confused and you're sidetracked,
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