Opinion ID: 2637824
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Vouching for the Credibility of a Witness

Text: Defendant also contends that the prosecutor improperly bolstered Maria M.'s credibility by claiming that her statements were consistent with police, in prior testimony, and here before you, even though her prior statements were not introduced as evidence. The trial court overruled defendant's objection. (14) A prosecutor may comment upon the credibility of witnesses based on facts contained in the record, and any reasonable inferences that can be drawn from them, but may not vouch for the credibility of a witness based on personal belief or by referring to evidence outside the record. ( People v. Turner (2004) 34 Cal.4th 406, 432-433 [20 Cal.Rptr.3d 182, 99 P.3d 505]; People v. Gates (1987) 43 Cal.3d 1168, 1187-1188 [240 Cal.Rptr. 666, 743 P.2d 301].) Defendant claims he was prejudiced by the error because Maria had made inconsistent statements relevant to the asportation element of the charges involving kidnapping her with intent to commit rape and kidnapping her for robbery. Not so. Even assuming the trial court erred in overruling defendant's objection, the error was not prejudicial. Maria's inconsistent statements concerned whether she had actually heard the good samaritan, Francisco Lopez, approaching. At trial, she claimed that, when defendant was about to assault her in the alleyway, she did not hear anyone coming, but told defendant that someone was approaching to scare him off. She did not remember previously claiming, to a defense investigator and during her preliminary hearing testimony, that she did hear someone approaching. But this inconsistency is of no consequence because Maria's testimony unequivocally established that defendant had grabbed her, put a knife to her neck, and dragged her by her hair away from the mall walkway and into the alleyway before she made the statement about someone approaching. In addition, Francisco Lopez's testimony corroborated Maria's version of how defendant moved her from the mall walkway and toward the alleyway before he startled defendant by activating the siren in his truck. Therefore, the inconsistency concerned a portion of Maria's testimony that was collateral to the evidence supporting the aggravated kidnapping charges, and it is not reasonably probable that any jury confusion on this subject would have affected the outcome of the trial. (See People v. Rayford (1994) 9 Cal.4th 1 [36 Cal.Rptr.2d 317, 884 P.2d 1369].)