Opinion ID: 528874
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Count Three: Improper Argument

Text: 38 Deutscher claims that the prosecution misstated the law and prevented the jury from considering mitigating evidence by saying what you voluntarily take into your system isn't any defense. 39 Although Deutscher's counsel was unaware of the claim, this unawareness was not egregious enough to be ineffective assistance. Nor did prejudice result from failure to raise the claim. A prosecutor's argument does not violate the Constitution unless it renders the defendant's trial so fundamentally unfair as to deny him due process. Donnelly v. DeChristoforo, 416 U.S. 637, 645, 94 S.Ct. 1868, 1872, 40 L.Ed.2d 431 (1974). A misstatement of the law can deny due process, but reversal is not warranted unless the misstatement prejudiced the hearing. United States v. Becker, 720 F.2d 1033, 1036 (9th Cir.1983). See also Campbell v. Kincheloe, 829 F.2d 1453, 1457 (9th Cir.1987), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 380, 102 L.Ed.2d 369 (1988). 40 Deutscher's contention that this claim of improper argument was unavailable in 1977 also lacks merit. See, e.g., DeChristoforo, 416 U.S. 637, 94 S.Ct. 1868, 40 L.Ed.2d 431; U.S. v. Martinez, 514 F.2d 334, 343 (9th Cir.1975). 41