California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. AREVALO, E050247, No. RIF145173 (Cal. App. 2011):
"As provided by section 1044, it is 'the duty of the judge to control all proceedings during the trial, and to limit the introduction of evidence and the argument of counsel to relevant and material matters, with a view to the expeditious and effective ascertainment of the truth regarding the matters involved.' However, 'a judge should be careful not to throw the weight of his judicial position into a case, either for or against the defendant.' [Citation.]" (People v. Strum (2006) 37 Cal.4th 1218, 1237) "A trial court may comment on the evidence [citation], but such comments 'must be accurate, temperate, nonargumentative, and scrupulously fair.' [Citation.]" (Id. at p. 1232) "'Our role . . . is not to determine whether the trial judge's conduct left something to be desired, or even whether some comments would have been better left unsaid. Rather, we must determine
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whether the judge's behavior was so prejudicial that it denied [the defendant] a fair, as opposed to a perfect, trial.' [Citation.]" (People v. Snow (2003) 30 Cal.4th 43, 78.)
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