Opinion ID: 1972198
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: References to his own credibility.

Text: Mason's next claim is that the prosecutor unfairly prejudiced him by comparing the victim's inability to remember the date of the crime with the prosecutor's own inability to remember certain details of a sporting event he attended. The prosecutor admits he used this tactic to show that, despite the victim's forgetfulness, she was not necessarily lying. Mason contends that the prosecutor improperly interjected his own personal experiences into the trial. A prosecutor's argument from personal experience is improper to the extent that it suggests personal belief in the victim's truthfulness, Brokenbrough v. State, Del. Supr., 522 A.2d 851, 859 (1987), or superior knowledge of the victim's truthfulness, Saunders v. State, Del.Supr., 602 A.2d 623, 624 (1984). Here, the prosecutor's personal statement was erroneous but harmless because it was merely peripheral and did not cause the jury to give substantially more weight to the victim's testimony. See Sullivan v. State, Del.Supr., 636 A.2d 931, 941-42 (1994) (rejecting a similar plain error claim of prejudice).