Opinion ID: 844218
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Direct Examination of, and Argument to the Jury Concerning, Deputy Lyons

Text: Defendant contends the prosecutor committed misconduct by eliciting from Deputy Lyons emotional testimony intended to inflame the jury's passions and its sympathy for the victims, and then highlighting that evidence in his arguments to the jury at the close of the guilt phase. Defendant urges that the prosecutor, in essence, improperly sought to introduce victim impact evidence and arguments into the jury's determination of defendant's guilt. Other than one instance in which defendant objected on relevance grounds to a question concerning whether Deputy Lyons thought the shooting affected his ability to be an effective deputy, defendant failed to object to any of the asserted misconduct. He therefore has forfeited this claim except as to that particular question. The trial court sustained the objection to that question, and Deputy Lyons was not permitted to answer it. Even assuming the mere asking of the question could be characterized as misconduct, defendant could not have been prejudiced. Defendant contends the prosecutor also engaged in misconduct by asking an argumentative question that improperly sought to mislead the jury concerning whether Deputy Blair shot first. [23] The trial court sustained defendant's objection to the question however, eliminating any possibility of prejudice. ( Dykes, supra, 46 Cal.4th at p. 763.) Similarly, to the extent that any misconduct occurred when the prosecutor asked whether the person who shot at the deputies was taking cover behind a tree, the trial court's sustaining of defendant's objections precluded any prejudice to defendant. Defendant also urges that the prosecutor's questions to Deputy Lyons regarding whether he had known where his assailant was located improperly assumed facts not in evidence (that Deputy Lyons had been assaulted). Defendant failed to object to the question, thereby forfeiting his appellate claim.