Opinion ID: 2387577
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Appealing to religious beliefs

Text: Defendant contends the prosecutor directly invoked religion during her closing argument. While discussing Catalina Correa's murder, the prosecutor said: And what I thought was particularly telling, she died wearing her cross. And there was not one thing she did to deserve her life ending in that manner. The prosecutor concluded her argument by saying, I ask you to let this Christmas and two days after on the 27th, which will be the fifth year anniversary of the murder of Martin Ganz, let this be the Christmas and this be the anniversary of his death, that those who knew him and loved him can finally have a sense that some justice has occurred. [20] (20) Arguments that refer to religion in an effort to convince the jury to impose the death penalty are improper. (E.g., People v. Zambrano, supra, 41 Cal.4th at pp. 1169-1170.) The prosecutor's arguments, however, did not appeal to a religious authority in urging the jury to return a death verdict. Even were we to assume the prosecutor's remarks constituted improper references to religion, they did not diminish the jury's sense of responsibility to follow the trial court's instructions, and there is no reasonable likelihood the jury applied the remarks in an objectionable fashion. (See People v. Friend, supra, 47 Cal.4th at p. 29; see, e.g., People v. Lewis and Oliver (2006) 39 Cal.4th 970, 1059-1061 [47 Cal.Rptr.3d 467, 140 P.3d 775].)