Opinion ID: 2632884
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Prosecutor MisconductClosing Argument

Text: Defendant contends the prosecutor, during closing argument, improperly referred to facts not in evidence. We find no prejudicial misconduct. 1. Temperature chart One of the issues at trial concerned the date on which the Hailses were murdered, and, accordingly, the ambient temperature in their house was relevant to show the possible rate of decomposition of their bodies. Expert Batal testified regarding those temperatures, leading Pathologist Root to conclude the Hailses were not killed as early as July 9. To challenge Batal's testimony, the prosecutor briefly showed the jury a chart that had not been placed in evidence, which indicated that Batal had requested temperatures for the year after the murders occurred. On defendant's objection, the court immediately admonished the jury to disregard the chart, but it denied defendant's mistrial motion. Defendant now contends the chart was highly prejudicial, going to the very heart of the defense, but the jury had already properly heard Batal explain the discrepancy in dates, so it is unlikely the chart added anything to prejudice the defense. The trial court admonished the jury to disregard the chart, and the record shows no indication that the chart contained any prejudicial material, or even that the jurors had time to review it. We find the prosecutor committed no prejudicial misconduct, and the court did not err or abuse its discretion in denying a mistrial on this ground. 2. Acceptance in scientific community of expert Johnson's testing methods Defendant next contends the. prosecutor improperly told the jury that the scientific community accepted prosecution expert Johnson's electrophoretic testing methods, a matter defendant claims was not supported by the evidence. The record shows that the prosecutor in closing arguments asked the jury rhetorically why the defense had failed to call its own experts to challenge Johnson's testimony, and tell you that the method he used in testing is not accepted and was improper. The reason is because it is accepted in the scientific community. Defendant argues that the court erred in overruling his objection based on the prosecutor's reference to facts not in evidence. The Attorney General responds that the prosecutor was entitled to comment on the state of the evidence and the absence of conflicting evidence (e.g., People v. Kaurish (1990) 52 Cal.3d 648, 680, 276 Cal.Rptr. 788, 802 P.2d 278) and to draw permissible inferences from the record ( People v. Raley (1992) 2 Cal.4th 870, 917, 8 Cal.Rptr.2d 678, 830 P.2d 712). From the evidence that Johnson, whose scientific credentials were unchallenged, presented, and from defendant's failure to present opposing expert testimony, the prosecutor reasonably could argue that Johnson's method was accepted in the scientific community. Moreover, we find no prejudice. The prosecutor's remark was brief and not repeated during his argument. The jurors were told to base their verdict on the evidence at trial and that the statements of counsel are not evidence. 3. Deteriorating bloodstains Defendant next claims the prosecutor improperly argued that the blood on the tennis shoes found in defendant's garage must have come recently from the Hailses' house because, otherwise, the blood would have deteriorated over time and become untestable. In his closing arguments, the prosecutor reviewed expert Johnson's testimony that he was uncertain when the blood got on the tennis shoes, and then asked rhetorically why anyone would throw away a good pair of shoes, answering, [b]ecause they had blood [on] them from the Hails's [sic ] house. The prosecutor then reminded the jurors that Johnson had testified that blood deteriorates from heat and moisture, and he argued that if the blood had been on the shoes for a long time, it would have deteriorated. The trial court overruled defendant's objection that the argument relied on facts not in evidence. Johnson testified as an expert that moisture and heat cause blood to deteriorate. The prosecutor's argument was a permissible inference from that evidence.