What is the state law standard of harmless error in a criminal case?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Dorado, E073515 (Cal. App. 2021):

We turn, then, to whether the error was prejudicial. Under the state law standard of harmless error, "'[a] defendant's conviction will not be reversed for prosecutorial misconduct . . . unless it is reasonably probable that a result more favorable to the defendant would have been reached without the misconduct.' [Citation.]" (People v.

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Flores (2020) 9 Cal.5th 371, 403.) Defendant contends that the prosecutorial error here was so egregious that it rose to the level of a violation of due process, and therefore the stricter federal standard of harmless error applies. If, however, prosecutorial error is not prejudicial under the state law standard, then a fortiori we cannot say that it "so infected the trial with unfairness as to make the resulting conviction a denial of due process." (See Donnelly v. DeChristoforo (1974) 416 U.S. 637, 643.)

We see no reasonable probability of a different result in the absence of the prosecutorial error, for three reasons.

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