Opinion ID: 774603
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: issues

Text: 49 Styron complains that testimony at the guilt/innocence phase of the trial by Wallace Clark, Styron's brother, that Styron's attorney (Walter P. Fontenot) had told Clark to lie to the grand jury, and that playing a portion of a recording of Clark's grand jury testimony to that effect, denied Styron due process of law and the right to counsel. 50 Prosecutorial misconduct is not a ground for relief unless it casts serious doubt upon the correctness of the jury's verdict. See United States v. Hernandez-Guevara, 162 F.3d 863, 874 (5th Cir. 1998). This court has previously identified three factors to be considered: 1) the magnitude of the prejudicial effect of the remarks; 2) the efficacy of any cautionary instruction given by the judge; and 3) the strength of the evidence supporting the conviction. United States v. Casel, 995 F.2d 1299, 1308 (5th Cir. 1993), vacated on other grounds by Reed v. United States, 510 U.S. 1188 (1994). Only where improper prosecutorial comments substantially affect the defendant's right to a fair trial do they require reversal. See United States v. Diaz-Carreon, 915 F.2d 951, 956 (5th Cir. 1990). Under these standards and viewing the testimony as a whole in its proper context, the alleged prosecutorial misconduct did not so infect the trial with unfairness as to deny due process of law. 51 Styron objects to the content of the statements made by Clark. However, this testimony was elicited by the prosecutor as prior inconsistent statements for impeachment purposes. Because the testimony was admissible evidence under Rule 801(e)(2)(D) of the Texas Rules of Evidence, because the injurious statements were made by the witness and not by the prosecutor, and because cross-examination of Clark by the defense mitigated the prejudice by pointing out that Clark had erred in attributing to Fontenot the statements of another attorney not involved in the defense, the alleged misconduct did not infect the trial with unfairness in violation of due process. 52 As a result, Styron fails to make the showing required under the AEDPA for the issuance of a COA on the claim of a due process violation. Finally, as the alleged misconduct did not in any way prejudice Styron's right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment, that claim has no merit.