Opinion ID: 2575997
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Claim of prosecutorial misconduct for asking leading questions

Text: According to defendant, the prosecutor committed misconduct when he asked leading questions at the guilt phase of the trial. Defendant, however, fails to identify the questions, instead providing only record citations, a quotation where the trial court told the prosecutor to be careful, and a quotation where the prosecution asked the court for a little latitude with this witness and the court responded, I haven't seen any problem yet. The record does not support defendant's allegation of prosecutorial misconduct. The parts of the record cited by defendant in support of his claim of prosecutorial misconduct show nothing more than the normal process of questioning and objections at trial. For example, defendant cites the following exchange as indicative of prosecutorial misconduct. [Prosecutor] Did you โ you knew that what you were doing at that point in time was against the law, did you not? [Defense Counsel] Leading. Form of the question is leading. [Court] Sustained. [Prosecutor] Did you know whether or not using stolen credit cards is against the law? [Witness] Yes. We have reviewed defendant's citations to the record in support of his allegation and conclude that they do not establish prosecutorial misconduct because they do not show deceptive or reprehensible methods by the prosecution. Nor do they show that the trial was infected with unfairness resulting in a conviction that denied defendant due process. ( People v. Coffman and Marlow, supra, 34 Cal.4th at p. 120, 17 Cal.Rptr.3d 710, 96 P.3d 30.)