Opinion ID: 2994298
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: whether defense counsel invited it; (3)

Text: whether the district court sufficiently instructed the jury to disregard it; (4) whether defense counsel had the opportunity to respond to the improper statement; and (5) whether the weight of the evidence was against the defendant. See Rodriguez v. Peters, 63 F.3d 546, 558 (7th Cir. 1995); United States v. Johnson-Dix, 54 F.3d 1295, 1304 (7th Cir. 1995). First, we consider the prosecution’s comment on the weight of the evidence to be less damaging than other forms of impermissible argument. Typically, in vouching situations, the prosecution has attempted to bolster a witness’s credibility by introducing facts that were not in evidence. See Cheska, 202 F.3d at 950-52 (holding that a prosecutor’s comment that a witness’s cooperation had convicted 23 other people impermissibly bolstered witness’s credibility through evidence outside the record); Johnson- Dix, 54 F.3d at 1304 (finding improper but harmless the prosecutor’s comment that a federal agent would risk his career by committing perjury). Lassar’s comment did not serve to bolster anyone’s credibility and so did not invade the province of the jury to assess credibility or determine facts. Essentially, the prosecution appealed to the jury’s supposed belief that the government only prosecutes strong cases and this was, in Lassar’s opinion, one of the strongest. Although improper, this generalized comment cannot be considered nearly as damaging as introducing a fact that bolsters a particular witness’s credibility. Cf. JohnsonDix, 54 F.3d at 1304 (holding that prosecutor’s remark vouching for credibility of government agent was certainly improper). Furthermore, the prosecution made the comment only once, which considering the length of the trial and the closing argument, could not have weighed that heavily in the minds of the jury. See Alexander, 163 F.3d at 429 (considering frequency of improper statements as an element of its seriousness). Defense counsel could not have invited Lassar’s comment and could not counter it directly during their own closings, so those two factors weigh in favor of reversal. However, the two remaining factors strongly support the district court’s decision. The court instructed the jury before the completion of closing arguments with the following: During the course of Mr. Lassar’s closing argument he made reference to the strength of the evidence in this case as compared to other cases. Such references to other cases are totally irrelevant. So I would instruct you that you should absolutely disregard any statements or references comparing this case to any other case, and you should decide this case solely on the evidence presented in this case without regard to any comparison to any other case. We presume juries can and do follow curative instructions. See United States v. Mazzone, 782 F.2d 757, 764 (7th Cir. 1986) (presuming jury followed curative instruction given after prosecutor’s improper statements in closing). Considering the largely irrelevant implication of Lassar’s comparison, we believe a jury could easily follow this instruction. Finally, the Court has reviewed all of the evidence against Andreas and Wilson and can fairly characterize it as overwhelming. Cf. United States v. Owens, 145 F.3d 923, 928 (7th Cir. 1998); Johnson-Dix, 54 F.3d at 1305 (holding that weight of the evidence indicates that jury verdict cannot be attributed solely to prosecutor’s closing comment that FBI agent would not risk his career through perjury). In Owens, 145 F.3d at 928, the prosecutor told the jury that he, the prosecutor, told the witness if you lie to me, your deal is off. Without deciding whether the comment in isolation was improper, we held that in light of the overwhelming evidence against the defendant, the remark did not deprive him of a fair trial. The evidence at trial included the defendant caught on both audio and video tape in a drug transaction that officers surveilled. Id. at 925. The taping had been accomplished because a man arrested on a drug charge had agreed to cooperate as an undercover informant and wear a wire during the sting operation. Three officers and the informant testified at trial against the defendant. In our view, this amounted to overwhelming evidence, which combined with a curative instruction, rendered the trial fair despite the improper vouching. Id. at 928. After reviewing the entire record, including several videotapes and audiotapes, we find the evidence against Wilson and Andreas to be much stronger than that proffered in Owens. Lassar’s missteps came at the end of a two-month trial in which the jury heard directly from co- conspirators, heard the defendants’ voices and saw their faces on video making illegal deals. It would challenge credibility to say that a prosecutor’s rather nugatory comment assessing the evidence at trial rendered the trial fundamentally unfair. Therefore, we cannot say that Judge Manning abused her discretion in denying the motion for mistrial.