Opinion ID: 166399
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Prosecutorial Speculation and Inference

Text: 89 Mr. Thornburg also contends that the prosecutor speculated and argued facts not in evidence when he claimed that accelerants were used in starting the fire, that other jugs of gasoline may have been present in Mr. Thornburg's car that night, and that but for the two passers-by who discovered Scott, there would have been four, not three, deaths. A prosecutor may comment on and draw reasonable inferences from evidence presented at trial. See Hooper v. Mullin, 314 F.3d 1162, 1172 (10th Cir.2002), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 838, 124 S.Ct. 97, 157 L.Ed.2d 70 (2003). Undisputedly, the house was set on fire. The fire inspector testified that he detected four spots in the debris showing evidence of accelerants, and a photograph admitted into evidence showed a plastic jug in the back seat of the gold car driven by Mr. Thornburg. It is not beyond the pale to infer from this evidence that accelerants had been used to start the fire and that other containers of flammable substances had been present in the car that night. It was also reasonable for the prosecutor to imply that Scott, who was left seriously wounded in a burning house, may not have survived if he had not been rescued by the passers-by. These comments were not improper. 90