Opinion ID: 2512108
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Alleged self-aggrandizement by the prosecutor.

Text: On Tuesday, December 15, 1992, just after both sides had rested at the guilt trial, the court began to discuss, in the jury's presence, the scheduling of closing arguments. The court indicated it would allow the jurors to choose between two alternative argument schedules. The prosecutor began to suggest that one of the court's proposed scheduleswhich would postpone arguments from Thursday, December 17, to Monday, December 21, thus giving the jury a five-day hiatusmight interfere with his long-planned holiday trip. At this point, defense counsel interjected an unspecified objection. Moments later, after desultory further discussion, the prosecutor stated, I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to cancel my flight. The court asked the prosecutor whether he [had] any reason to believe that if the case was argued on Monday, it could not go to the jury on Tuesday. The prosecutor responded, I think it's going to be close. In that event, the court decided, we'll come back [for arguments] on Thursday afternoon. Defendant contends the prosecutor's I'm going to cancel my flight remark was an improper attempt to garner personal sympathy and admiration from the jurors by appearing noble and dedicated. The claim is forfeited for failure to state this ground for objection below. In any event, we cannot agree that this brief remark, made in the course of a scheduling discussion with the court, rose to the level of calculated self-aggrandizement. Nor, we are persuaded, would the jury reasonably have understood the comment in that way. This is especially so since the prosecutor soon seemed to retreat from his sacrificial offer, thereafter advising the court that Monday arguments would make his ability to travel a close issue. Indeed, as the jurors saw, the prosecutor never had to back up his offer, because the court accommodated him. Under these circumstances, we agree with the People that defendant's claim of improper self-aggrandizement is tenuous and tangential. We find no misconduct.