California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Magana, B281616 (Cal. App. 2018):
to 'show that, "[i]n the context of the whole argument and the instructions" [citation], there was "a reasonable likelihood the jury understood or applied the complained-of comments in an improper or erroneous manner.["]' [Citation.] If the challenged comments, viewed in context, 'would have been taken by a juror to state or imply nothing harmful, [then] they obviously cannot be deemed objectionable.' [Citation.]" (People v. Cortez (2016) 63 Cal.4th 101, 130.) Defendant contends the prosecutor committed misconduct by misstating or mischaracterizing his trial testimony during closing argument.10 The contention is forfeited, and regardless, there was no misconduct.
1. Additional background
During defendant's testimony, the prosecutor questioned defendant about his loyalty to Marlon and MS-13:
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