What is the test for a claim of improper comments made by a prosecutor before the jury in a criminal case?

In the first instance, we note first defendant did not object at trial to the prosecutor's comments he now challenges on appeal. Generally, a defendant may not complain on appeal of prosecutorial misconduct unless he objected to the misconduct in the court below and asked that the jury be admonished to disregard the impropriety. (People v. Cunningham (2001) 25 Cal.4th 926, 1000.) If no objection was made, the point is reviewable on appeal only if an admonition would not have cured the harm caused by the misconduct. (Id. at pp. 1000-1001.) Here, any harm caused by the misconduct alleged could have been cured by an appropriate admonition. Therefore, appellant's failure to object bars his claim on appeal. In all events, defendant's claim of prosecutorial conduct fails on the merits.

"A prosecutor's conduct violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution when it infects the trial with such unfairness as to make the conviction a denial of due process. Conduct by a prosecutor that does not render a criminal trial fundamentally unfair is prosecutorial misconduct under state law only if it involves the use of deceptive or reprehensible methods to attempt to persuade either the trial court or the jury. Furthermore, and particularly pertinent here, when the claim focuses upon comments made by the prosecutor before the jury, the question is whether there is a reasonable likelihood that the jury construed or applied any of the complained-of remarks in an objectionable fashion. [Citation.]" (People v. Morales (2001) 25 Cal.4th 34, 44.)