Opinion ID: 1256193
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Jury's Responsibility for its Verdict

Text: {97} Defendant claims that the prosecutor's closing argument improperly suggested to jurors that they were not responsible for their decision to impose the death penalty. The prosecutor stated, I'm not going to wink at you and suggest, oh, well, they never kill anybody, never have executed anybody in New Mexico. See Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 325, 105 S.Ct. 2633, 86 L.Ed.2d 231 (1985). The State responds that Defendant did not make a timely objection to this remark, and that Defendant has taken the remark out of context. See State v. Gonzales, 110 N.M. 166, 169, 793 P.2d 848, 851 (1990). In particular, the State points out that the prosecutor's very next sentence was that I think we need to approach this case as though the death sentence will be carried out, and that the prosecutor repeatedly emphasized both the gravity and the finality of the jury's decision throughout his argument. Defendant replies that the prosecutor was using a rhetorical device, urging the jury to consider an improper factor while disingenuously disclaiming any intention to rely on that factor. See Collier v. State, 101 Nev. 473, 705 P.2d 1126 (1985); Jacobs v. State, 101 Nev. 356, 705 P.2d 130 (1985). {98} Although we acknowledge that the prospect of reversal on appeal is not a proper consideration for a jury, see Caldwell, 472 U.S. at 330, 333, 105 S.Ct. 2633 we agree with the State that any implicit reference to such a prospect in this case did not amount to fundamental error given the context of the prosecutor's argument as a whole, see Gonzales, 110 N.M. at 169, 793 P.2d at 851. We presume that the jury understood the prosecutor's words according to their ordinary meaning. This case is distinguishable from Collier or Jacobs. In those cases, the improper remark was one of several. See Steese v. State, 114 Nev. 479, 960 P.2d 321, 333 (1998) (concluding that a prosecutor's remark simply did not approach the level of rhetorical excess discussed in Collier ); cf. Moore v. Gibson, 195 F.3d 1152, 1175 (10th Cir.1999) (holding that the prosecution's statements to the jury regarding the jury's role in determining a death sentence, viewed in the context of the entire trial[,] did not affirmatively mislead the jury regarding its responsibility for determining punishment, and thus did not violate Caldwell ). {99} Defendant claims that, during jury selection, the prosecutor improperly vouched for the strength of the State's case and the appropriateness of the death sentence by telling the venire, in excessive detail, about his personal experience with the death penalty, and by mentioning that the police and the district attorney's office obviously thought Defendant was guilty. Defendant claims that the improper vouching continued during closing argument when the prosecutor stated his view that the death penalty is a moral verdict in this case. {100} We do not agree with Defendant that he was unfairly prejudiced by the prosecutor's statement during closing argument regarding the morality of the death penalty. The trial court promptly sustained Defendant's objection to that statement. As in McGuire, 110 N.M. at 313, 795 P.2d at 1005, [t]here has been no showing that the trial court's prompt sustaining of objections and admonishments to the jury failed to cure the effect of the prosecutor's overreaching. In addition, the prosecutor complied with the trial court's ruling and did not emphasize the statement any further. See Duffy, 1998-NMSC-014, ¶ 51, 126 N.M. 132, 967 P.2d 807 (reasoning that the defendant was not deprived of a fair trial when an improper statement was not emphasized by the prosecution). The trial court's ruling on Defendant's objection was consistent with its earlier ruling that excluded the opinions of religious leaders regarding the morality of the death penalty, which Defendant had sought to introduce as evidence of a mitigating circumstance. We conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion with regard to either ruling. See Clark III, 1999-NMSC-035, ¶¶ 28, 32, 128 N.M. 119, 990 P.2d 793. {101} With respect to jury selection, we note that Defendant failed to object to many of the prosecutor's remarks that he now challenges on appeal. Further, we do not believe that the remarks were unfairly prejudicial when viewed in their proper context. Both parties were faced with the difficult task of getting prospective jurors to share their highly personal views about the death penalty during voir dire. Viewed in this context, the prosecutor's brief allusions to his own personal experience with the death penalty only served as a means of facilitating candid responses from the venire. The prosecutor also tried to facilitate such responses by repeatedly emphasizing that his own views were unimportant, that he was not trying to persuade jurors one way or the other, and that there was no right or wrong answer to his questions about the death penalty. The trial court has considerable discretion in controlling the jury selection process, see Clark III, 1999-NMSC-035, ¶ 20, 128 N.M. 119, 990 P.2d 793 and we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion or deny Defendant an impartial jury when it allowed the prosecutor some latitude in his efforts to elicit the venire members' personal views about the death penalty. See Sutherlin, 111 N.M. at 777, 810 P.2d at 363 (In order for counsel to make intelligent use of such rights as he [or she] has in the selection of a jury, he [or she] is usually allowed considerable latitude in questioning prospective [jury] members. (citation and internal quotation marks omitted) (final alteration in original)). {102} We also conclude that the prosecutor did not deprive Defendant of a fair trial when he stated that obviously the police and the district attorney's office thought Defendant was guilty. While we agree with the general rule that it is improper for prosecutors to vouch for their cases, see generally Gershman, supra, § 10.5, we are not persuaded that the prosecutor's remarks in this case, when taken in context, were the kind of vouching that is prejudicial enough to deprive Defendant of a fair trial. We note that the remarks were made during voir dire as the prosecutor inquired whether prospective jurors could presume Defendant's innocence even though they knew that Defendant had been charged with several crimes. Cf. State v. Polsky, 82 N.M. 393, 404, 482 P.2d 257, 268 (Ct.App.1971) (noting the possibility that a prosecutor's belief in a defendant's guilt may be inferred from the fact that the [prosecutor] files an information, and then forcefully prosecutes the defendant thereunder). The purpose of this inquiry was to identify and exclude jurors who could not presume Defendant's innocence because of their knowledge that he had been arrested and charged with a crime. The prosecutor further emphasized the presumption of innocence during closing argument when he stated that: This is a case [not for] the District Attorney's office to make the call on; this is one for you to make the call as to guilt and as to the penalty. Under these circumstances, we are not persuaded that reasonable jurors would construe the prosecutor's remarks as an argument that they should find Defendant guilty simply because the police and the district attorney's office think he is guilty, nor are we persuaded that reasonable jurors would adopt a construction of the prosecutor's remarks that would cause them to disregard the trial court's repeated instructions regarding the State's burden of proof. See Gonzales, 110 N.M. at 169, 793 P.2d at 851; Cf. Clark III, 1999-NMSC-035, ¶ 55, 128 N.M. 119, 990 P.2d 793 (rejecting the contention that a prosecutor's remarks implied that the death penalty was mandatory).