What is the effect of a statement of counsel making an improper statement to a jury?

California, United States of America

The following excerpt is from People v. Munoz, A156286 (Cal. App. 2020):

However, even if we presumed the statement was improper, we find any such misconduct harmless. " '[A]rguments of counsel "generally carry less weight with a jury than do instructions from the court. The former are usually billed in advance to the jury as matters of argument, not evidence [citation], and are likely viewed as the statements of advocates; the latter, we have often recognized, are viewed as definitive and binding statements of the law." ' " (People v. Katzenberger (2009) 178 Cal.App.4th 1260, 1268; accord

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What is the effect of a statement of counsel making an improper statement to a jury?

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