Opinion ID: 3010682
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Concept of Vouching Discussed in Genera l.

Text: Vouching constitutes an assurance by the prosecuting attorney of the credibility of a Government witness through personal knowledge or by other information outside of the testimony before the jury. United States v. Lawn, 355 U.S. 339, 359 n. 15, 78 S.Ct. 311, 323 n. 15, 2 L.Ed.2d 321 (1958). See also United States v. Neceochea, 986 F.2d 1273, 1276 (9th Cir. 1993). A prosecutor's vouching for the credibility of a government witness raises two concerns: (1) such comments can convey the impression that evidence not presented to the jury, but known to the prosecutor, supports the charges against the defendant and can thus jeopardize the defendant's right to be tried solely on the basis of the evidence presented to the jury; and (2) the prosecutor's opinion carries with it the imprimatur of the Government and may induce the jury to trust the Government's judgment rather than its own view of the evidence. Young, 470 U.S. at 18, 105 S.Ct. at 1048; United States v. Molina-Guevara, 96 F.3d 698, 704 (3d Cir. 1996). While it was formerly the rule in this Circuit that vouching for a witness based on information not in the record required reversal per se, United States v. DiLoreto, 888 F.2d 996, 999 (3d Cir. 1989), such comments now must be analyzed on a case by case basis. United States v. Zehrbach, 47 F.3d 1252, 1267 (3d Cir. 1995). 3 This Circuit has analyzed vouching in a number of cases, and a review of the case law will be helpful to put this case in context.