Opinion ID: 2343191
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: culpability phase closing argument (# 27)

Text: The Commonwealth's culpability phase closing argument did not deprive Appellant of due process or his right to a fair trial. When reviewing claims of error in closing argument, we focus on the overall fairness of the trial and not the culpability of the prosecutor.... A prosecutor may comment on tactics, may comment on evidence, and may comment as to the falsity of a defense position. Slaughter v. Commonwealth, Ky., 744 S.W.2d 407, 411-412 (1987). Reversal is justified only when the alleged prosecutorial misconduct is so serious as to render the trial fundamentally unfair. Summitt v. Bordenkircher, 608 F.2d 247 (6th Cir.1979); Stopher, 57 S.W.3d at 805. In this case, the Commonwealth did not go beyond the permissible boundaries of closing argument, and there is no evidence of prosecutorial misconduct that would render Appellant's trial fundamentally unfair.