Opinion ID: 1431933
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Closing Argument Exceeding the Facts

Text: In the rebuttal part of his closing argument, the prosecutor said, Sometimes sitting at the prosecution table and listening to the defense attorney testify is one of the more difficult things we have to do, frankly.... If you come down here when you are done with your service in this case, come down to the Courthouse and watch some trials in progress, you will get a chance to hear much of what's just been said to you by [defense counsel] ... I'm sick to death of coming in here and on just about every trial listening to allegations about prosecutorial misconduct, police misconduct, witnesses lying, making up stories, a deal bringing somebody to fit in; you can do what you want in every case you hear. By complaining of defense attorneys' tactics of displacing blame, and inviting the panel to attend other trials where it would hear reiterations of those arguments, the prosecutor exceeded the facts and law of the case at hand. Counsel should confine his argument to the pertinent law and facts of the case. State v. Merryman, 79 Ariz. 73, 75, 283 P.2d 239, 241 (1955). When he referred the jury to other cases, the prosecutor exceeded the limits of proper argument. However, the defendant never objected to the argument. When counsel fails to object at trial, he is precluded from raising the matter on appeal unless the error is fundamental. State v. Stoneman, 115 Ariz. 594, 596, 566 P.2d 1340, 1342 (1977). Fundamental error affects the foundation of the case or deprives the defendant of a right essential to his defense. State v. Gamble, 111 Ariz. 25, 26, 523 P.2d 53, 54 (1974). The prosecutor's frustration with defense attorneys' strategies does not rise to the level of fundamental error. It neither affects the merits of the case nor deprives the defendant of an essential right. Therefore, absent an objection, counsel is precluded from raising this matter on appeal. Stoneman, 115 Ariz. at 596, 566 P.2d at 1342. The defendant nonetheless asserts that the court should have declared a mistrial on its own motion. Because the error was not fundamental, the court was not obligated to declare a mistrial.