Opinion ID: 1322793
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Prosecutor's Categorization of Valtierra's Defense as Standard

Text: Valtierra's sole argument on appeal is that the government's closing argument improperly categorized his anticipated closing argument as a standard argument made by defendants in drug cases, and that this improper categorization deprived him of the presumption of innocence. Because Valtierra objected to the prosecutor's remarks at trial, we review the district court's decision to overrule his objection for an abuse of discretion. Simpson, 479 F.3d at 503. Where a defendant asserts that the prosecutor's closing argument was improper, we analyze the conduct under the framework of prosecutorial misconduct. See Simpson, 479 F.3d at 503 (citing United States v. Bowman, 353 F.3d 546, 550 (7th Cir.2003)). We first address the alleged misconduct to determine if it was in fact improper. United States v. Corley, 519 F.3d 716, 727 (7th Cir.2008); United States v. Morris, 498 F.3d 634, 638 (7th Cir.2007). If it was improper, we next consider whether it prejudiced the defendant. Corley, 519 F.3d at 727 (citing United States v. Serfling, 504 F.3d 672, 677 (7th Cir.2007)). In Taylor v. Kentucky, 436 U.S. 478, 98 S.Ct. 1930, 56 L.Ed.2d 468 (1978), the Supreme Court found that a prosecutor's closing argument was improper where it analogized the defendant's presumption of innocence to every other defendant who's ever been tried who's in the penitentiary or in the reformatory today, and described the defendant's conduct after the alleged crime as the same conduct of defendants who commit that type of offense. See 436 U.S. at 486-87, 98 S.Ct. 1930. The Court noted that statements like these in closing argument imply that all defendants are guilty and invite[] the jury to consider that proposition in determining [the defendant's] guilt or innocence. Id. Although the prosecutor did not equate the defendant's argument with other defendants who had been convicted and incarcerated for a similar offense, the underlying intent of the statement was to do as much. The fact that other drug conspiracy defendants have made the same argument in their defense (that they had a buyer-seller relationship, not a conspiratorial agreement) is irrelevant to the defendant's guilt or innocence and thus is an improper argument. [O]ne accused of a crime is entitled to have his guilt or innocence determined solely on the basis of the evidence introduced at trial, and not on grounds of official suspicion ... or other circumstances not adduced as proof at trial. Taylor, 436 U.S. at 485, 98 S.Ct. 1930 (citing Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501, 96 S.Ct. 1691, 48 L.Ed.2d 126 (1976)). The prosecutor's classification of Valtierra's anticipated defense as the standard argument for drug defendants sought to persuade the jury of Valtierra's guilt on a third-party propensity-style argument: because other defendants had argued this before Valtierra, Valtierra's defense must not be sincere. We conclude that the categorization of Valtierra's anticipated defense was improper. So we turn to the question of prejudice. In determining prejudice, we consider the following factors: (1) whether the prosecutor misstated the evidence; (2) whether the remark implicated a specific right; (3) whether the defendant invited the remark; (4) whether the district court provided (and the efficacy of) a curative instruction; (5) whether the defendant had an opportunity to rebut the remark; and (6) the weight of the evidence against the defendant. Corley, 519 F.3d at 727. [I]t is not enough that the prosecutors' remarks were undesirable or even universally condemned. The relevant question is whether the prosecutors' comments so infected the trial with unfairness as to make the resulting conviction a denial of due process. United States v. Washington, 417 F.3d 780, 786 (7th Cir.2005) (quoting Darden v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 168, 181, 106 S.Ct. 2464, 91 L.Ed.2d 144 (1986) (internal quotation omitted)). We note, however, that improper statements made during closing argument are rarely reversible error. United States v. Anderson, 450 F.3d 294, 300 (7th Cir.2006); United States v. Amerson, 185 F.3d 676, 685-86 (7th Cir.1999); see also Taylor, 436 U.S. at 487 n. 14, 98 S.Ct. 1930 (noting that prosecutor's improper statement linking defendant to every other defendant who turned out to be guilty, standing alone, would not necessarily rise to the level of reversible error). An examination of these factors and of the record as a whole leads us to conclude that Valtierra was not prejudiced by the prosecutor's improper remarks. The prosecutor did not misstate the evidence presented at trial. Other than a few references to the term standard to describe Valtierra's anticipated defense, the prosecutor's closing argument accurately reiterated the overwhelming evidence of Valtierra's guilt. Valtierra had agreed to sell kilograms of cocaine to Officer Cato and to provide the drugs on credit once they established a relationship of trust. At that same meeting, Valtierra told Officer Cato about Green's drug debt to him, and said that he had taken Green's Hummer as collateral. That same day, Valtierra gave Officer Cato a pound of marijuana and two kilograms of cocaine for Green on credit. A search of Valtierra's house (which was arranged by Green claiming to come over to pay his drug debt) yielded twenty-nine kilograms of cocaine and several used kilo cocaine wrappers. After his arrest, Valtierra admitted to distributing multiple kilograms of cocaine, receiving fifty kilogram shipments at a time, and distributing six kilograms of cocaine per week for three months to Green. Although Valtierra did not invite the remark, he did have the opportunity in his closing argument to rebut it. Furthermore, the district court instructed the jury that the government had the burden of proving Valtierra guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and that the attorneys' arguments and statements were not to be considered evidence. The remark was not so powerful or overwhelming to make it impossible for the jury to disregard it, and so we presume that the jurors followed the instructions from the court. See United States v. Danford, 435 F.3d 682, 687 (7th Cir.2006) (noting that jurors are presumed to be capable of disregarding improper evidence presented to them unless the evidence is so incriminating that they could not be expected to put it out of their minds). In light of the overwhelming evidence of Valtierra's guilt, we find that the prosecutor's improper categorization of Valtierra's anticipated defense did not prejudice Valtierra.