What is the law around "the Golden Rule" argument?

California, United States of America

The following excerpt is from People v. Vance, 10 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 12, 716, 116 Cal.Rptr.3d 98, 188 Cal.App.4th 1182 (Cal. App. 2010):

1187 There is a tactic of advocacy, universally condemned across the nation, commonly known as "The Golden Rule" argument. In its criminal variation, a prosecutor invites the jury to put itself in the victim's position and imagine what the victim experienced. This is misconduct, because it is a 1188 blatant appeal to the jury's natural sympathy for the victim. (See People v. Lopez (2008) 42 Cal.4th 960, 969-970, 71 Cal.Rptr.3d 253, 175 P.3d 4 and decisions cited.)

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What is the law around "the Golden Rule" argument?

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