Opinion ID: 453004
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Prosecutorial Misconduct Revisited

Text: 278 Any evaluation of a claim of prosecutorial misconduct is a two part inquiry. First comes an evaluation of the argument itself, i.e. did it render the trial or sentencing proceeding fundamentally unfair. If so, then comes the harmless error inquiry, i.e. can the state demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that there is no reasonable possibility that the [argument] might have contributed to the result of the proceeding. 279 The proper test for determining whether the argument was constitutionally improper should be: (1) was the prosecutor's argument an unintentional breach of the proper boundaries, or designed to induce a decision that was not based on a rational assessment of the evidence; (2) did the argument or type of argument tend to mislead or divert the jury; (3) was the remark(s) an isolated occurrence or were improper comments extensive throughout the argument; and (4) what was the nature of the decision to be made by the jury. 5 280 Inquiring into the prosecutor's design is not necessarily a subjective test but one based upon an examination of the comments made in the context of the trial. This is a familiar principle in the law, i.e., a person intends the natural consequences of their acts. 281 The tendency to mislead or divert factor focuses on the inflammatory or improper nature of the particular statement used. For example: Was the statement based on facts not in the record? Was the prosecutor vouching for witnesses? Did the statement relate to an issue before the jury? And, what was the force of those statements in the particular case? 282 The factor of whether the remarks were isolated or extensive is concerned not necessarily with the quality of the excessive argument but with the quantity of improper statements. Finally, the nature of the decision to be made by the jury should be considered. 283 Is the jury's decision chiefly influenced by subjective or objective factors? Obviously, an improper prosecutorial argument is more apt to affect the jury's decision in a subjective decision than in an objective one. A verdict of guilt or innocence is based principally upon more objective factors. Accordingly, a jury is usually instructed not to be influenced by subjective factors, e.g. sympathy for the victim or the defendant, in making the guilt/innocence determination. The penalty phase of a capital trial is different in this regard, however. The issue is not whether the defendant was the culprit, but a far different determination of whether he should be executed. The jury's role in a capital sentencing proceeding is to focus on the nature of the crime, and the aggravating and mitigating circumstances in the particular individual's case being tried. The sentencing phase is not a twelve person referendum on whether the death penalty should or should not be imposed generally, which was the thrust and intent of the prosecutor's argument in this case. 6 284 The test stated above strikes a constitutionally appropriate balance between the conflicting interests at stake. The defendant has a right to a rational decision made by the jury regardless of the strength of the evidence against him. The prosecution has an interest in securing convictions and death penalties, but not in appealing to jurors' fears and prejudices through inflammatory arguments in order to secure convictions or death sentences. This is even more so because of the weight that a prosecutors' statements have with the jury. Statements that are reasonably intended to appeal to the juror's prejudices, fears, etc. should be presumed to do so unless the state can demonstrate otherwise. The judicial system has an interest in making sure that convictions and sentences are based upon a rational assessment of the presented evidence and not through a process distorted by prosecutorial excess. Fairness, as well as the appearance of fairness, is essential to the Fourteenth Amendment requirement of due process of law. 285 If the prosecutor makes improper arguments intended to preclude a decision based upon a rational assessment of the evidence, then the defendant has suffered prejudice rendering the trial or sentencing hearing fundamentally unfair and making it impossible to determine if the jury's decision was based on the evidence and the law, or the prejudice engendered by the prosecutor. The determination is made not by looking at isolated remarks, but by the argument as a whole in the context of the trial. 286 If it is determined that the proceeding was fundamentally unfair, then comes the harmless error inquiry. The use by the majority of the Strickland prejudice test in this context merges the harmless error inquiry into the evaluation of whether the argument was constitutionally improper. The majority states: Thus, errors, even serious errors, will not require reversal on a petition for writ of habeas corpus unless their absence would have, in reasonable probability changed the outcome. Majority Opinion at 1401. 287 While in a harmless error test the strength of the evidence is a consideration 7 that determination and inquiry is made after the constitutional issue is decided. The majority opinion, engrafts this determination into the test of whether there has been a violation of fundamental fairness. However, neither the fact that the crime was vile nor the amount of evidence against the defendant justifies vituperative argument by the prosecutor. Indeed, the greater the weight of the evidence and the more reprehensible the crime, the less necessity or justification is there for the prosecutor to inflame the jury. Cronnon v. Alabama, supra, 587 F.2d at 253 (Rubin, J., dissenting). 288 Further, the Strickland test shifts the burden of proof to the victim of the alleged misconduct rather than to the beneficiary of the error, the prosecution. This is contrary to the Supreme Court's decision in Chapman v. California, as quoted at 1434, supra. The beneficiary and perpetrator of the error should have the burden of proof. It is fundamentally unfair for the State to assert that although its agent, the prosecutor, breached all rules of court and law governing an argument, the defendant sentenced to die must prove he would have received a life sentence but for the argument. 289 The Strickland test, by its nature, gives the cloak of constitutional approval to many improper prosecutorial actions. Although the result may in some cases be the same, it is different to say that no constitutional violation occurred, than it is to say that while there was a constitutional violation in this particular case it was harmless error. The first gives a stamp of acquiescence to the government action, the second disapproves of those actions but for certain legal and policy considerations finds that the error, although present, does not warrant reversal in that particular case. As one judge has said, 290 This court has several times used vigorous language in denouncing government counsel for such conduct as that of the United States Attorney here. But, each time, it has said that it would not reverse. Such an attitude of helpless piety is, I think undesirable.... If we continue to do nothing practical to prevent such conduct, we should cease to disapprove it.... Government counsel, employing such tactics, are the kind who, eager to win victories, will gladly pay the small price of a ritualistic verbal spanking. The practice of this court recalling the bitter tear shed by the Walrus as he ate the oysters--breeds a deplorably cynical attitude towards the judiciary. United States v. Antonelli Fireworks Co., 155 F.2d 631, 661 (2d Cir.) (Frank, J., dissenting), cert. denied, 329 U.S. 742, 67 S.Ct. 49, 91 L.Ed. 640 (1946). 291 This is a danger with harmless error as well, but not to the same degree. The Supreme Court recognized the danger in Chapman, supra, when it said, harmless error can work very unfair and mischievous results when forbidden argument or evidence finds its way into a trial. 386 U.S. at 22, 87 S.Ct. at 827. This statement indicates that harmless error rule should be reluctantly used in a prosecutorial misconduct case. By necessity, it negates the use of the prejudice test adopted by the majority. Unfortunately, using the majority's approach the opposite is true, i.e. there is little room for a harmless error inquiry. 292 The Strickland test of reasonable probability that the result of the proceeding would have been different, adopted by the majority, rules out the reasonable possibility that the error might have contributed to the result language in Fahy. The language in Strickland is so stringent that it severely limits a harmless error inquiry. Fahy and Chapman forbid such a limitation. 293 Finally, effect on the proceedings will miss the point in many cases. If a prosecutor has a strong case then he is given wider latitude to use improper arguments. 8 As the likelihood that the person will be sentenced to death increases, the likelihood that an egregious argument will warrant reversal decreases. Such a test does not hold the prosecution to a high enough standard. An argument by a prosecutor should be determined to be fundamentally unfair vel non without regard to the strength of the evidence against the accused either in the guilt/innocence phase or, as here, in the penalty phase of trial. The constitutional limitations on a prosecutor's conduct should not fluctuate with the strength of the case. To do so is to rob the term fundamental fairness of any meaningful content. 9 294 In the final analysis, an argument that has been determined to be fundamentally unfair in the penalty phase of a capital trial can seldom be harmless error. Due to the subjective nature of the life/death decision and the fact that no matter how aggravated the crime may be, the jury always has the option of returning a sentence of life imprisonment, a reviewing court can seldom say that there is no possibility that an unfair closing argument influenced the death penalty that was imposed. If the argument exceeded constitutional limitations, then the writ must in most cases issue. 295 With this two part inquiry in mind, an assessment of the prosecutor's argument in this case is appropriate.