Opinion ID: 4521869
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Prosecutorial Misconduct at Penalty Phase

Text: Defendant raises two claims of prosecutorial misconduct at the penalty phase, i.e., improperly appealing to the jury’s emotions during closing argument and arguing facts not in evidence. “ ‘ “The same standard applicable to prosecutorial misconduct at the guilt phase is applicable at the penalty phase. [Citation.] A defendant must timely object and request a 87 PEOPLE v. FAYED Opinion of the Court by Chin, J. curative instruction or admonishment.” ’ [Citation.] A defendant’s ‘failure to object and request an admonition waives a misconduct claim on appeal unless an objection would have been futile or an admonition ineffective.’ ” (People v. Jackson (2016) 1 Cal.5th 269, 367.)
Prejudice of the Jury During Closing Argument During closing argument, the prosecution told the jury that they had a choice to make, i.e., they could either show defendant mercy and not impose the death penalty even though defendant deserves it or could impose the death penalty because it is the “appropriate” penalty: “Do you want to be the jury that gives mercy when he gave none? . . . [H]e’s going to ask you for mercy when Pam Fayed had none of these?” On appeal, defendant maintains that by suggesting that justice and mercy are incompatible, the prosecution improperly appealed to the passions and prejudices of the jury. Defendant forfeited the issue by failing to object to this argument or request an admonition. We conclude it lacks merit in any event. “We have repeatedly approved prosecutors arguing that a defendant is not entitled to mercy, and in particular arguing that whether the defendant was merciful during the crimes should affect the jury’s decision.” (People v. Gamache (2010) 48 Cal.4th 347, 389390 [citing cases].)
During closing argument, the prosecution told the jury that it will be instructed that it cannot consider sympathy for defendant’s family—specifically Pamela and defendant’s young daughter, J.F.—as a mitigating factor in sentencing. The prosecution underscored that defendant “cannot come in here 88 PEOPLE v. FAYED Opinion of the Court by Chin, J. and use his last remaining card, his daughter, and sympathy for her as a human shield. It doesn’t work that way. You can’t kill the child’s mother and then say, don’t make her an orphan because if you kill me, she doesn’t have anybody left. . . . He didn’t think about [J.F.] before. He had a cold, calculated, deliberate, brutal, vicious plan that he set into motion. And now to hide behind her is more cowardly than it was to dispatch your two-bit assassins to ambush your wife in that parking lot. ” Defendant claims that the prosecution referred to facts not in evidence because defendant never appealed to the jury on that basis. We conclude there was no misconduct. The prosecutor’s argument was consistent with applicable law that “[t]he impact of a defendant’s execution on his or her family may not be considered by the jury in mitigation.” (People v. Bennett (2009) 45 Cal.4th 577, 601.) To the extent the prosecution referred specifically to the impact on J.F., its argument was fair comment on J.F.’s tragic predicament of being the daughter of both the victim and the murderer. Defendant also asserts the prosecution referred to facts outside the record by stating that Pamela “wasn’t just risking her own safety in cooperating; she was offering a very direct and concrete benefit to the community in her willingness to cooperate with the federal authorities.” Defendant reiterates that there was no evidence that Pamela was cooperating with the government and that certainly there was no evidence she was providing some “concrete benefit” to the community. Defendant also complains that the prosecution’s account of what Pamela’s last thoughts were (i.e., defendant “won. That’s what she’s thinking. He won. He got me”) was not contained in the record. 89 PEOPLE v. FAYED Opinion of the Court by Chin, J. There was no misconduct. While there was no evidence of a formal agreement that Pamela would cooperate with the federal government against defendant, as the record makes clear, Pamela told her criminal defense attorney, Willingham, that she intended to testify against defendant. The prosecution’s argument was fair comment based on the evidence. Moreover, any benefit that Pamela’s cooperation would give the community—arguably, because Goldfinger would no longer provide illegal Ponzi schemes a means to launder their money—was also fair comment. Finally, any fictional depiction of what Pamela was thinking before she died was within the bounds of permissible comment. (See People v. Wash, supra, 6 Cal.4th at p. 263 [permissible to ask jury at penalty phase “ ‘what was going through [the] mind’ of the victim”].)