Opinion ID: 1972106
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 20

Heading: pre-closing argument instruction to jury

Text: As defendants readily acknowledge in their pleadings, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals has had frequent occasion to address its concern about improprieties in closing arguments by counsel in criminal cases. [11] Defendants infer from the fact that these opinions almost invariably have dealt with arguments by the prosecution that the only problem that exists is the problem of prosecutorial misconduct and argument. Opposition, p. 5. (Emphasis in original.) This court, based upon observations during more than two years assigned to the trial of criminal cases, must reject defendants' inference. Rather, it seems quite clear that while the Court of Appeals only has occasion to consider allegations of improper prosecutorial argument because defendants may raise such issues on appeal and the government may not seek reversal based on improper argument by defense counsel, [12] nevertheless the problem of counsel overstepping the line and expressing personal beliefs or opinions during argument is as endemic to one side as the other in the trial of criminal cases. [13] In an effort to alert both juries and counsel to the impropriety of the expression of personal beliefs or opinions by counsel in their arguments to the jury, to discourage such impropriety, and to add emphasis and effect to admonitory or curative instructions that might be required where such improprieties occur, this court routinely gives the following instruction to the jury immediately before closing arguments in civil and criminal cases: [14] LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE ARE NOW ABOUT TO HEAR CLOSING ARGUMENTS IN THIS CASE. AS I TOLD YOU AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CASE, CLOSING ARGUMENTS, LIKE THE OPENING STATEMENTS OF THE LAWYERS, ARE NOT EVIDENCE. THEY ARE STATEMENTS BASED ON THE EVIDENCE AND ARE INTENDED TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE EVIDENCE. THEY ARE THE LAWYERS' CHANCE TO TRY TO PERSUADE YOU AND TO DEMONSTRATE TO YOU WHAT THE EVIDENCE HAS SHOWN. NOW BEFORE COUNSEL ARGUE TO YOU I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ARGUMENTS BY A LAWYER AND THE EXPRESSION OF OPINION BY A LAWYER. IT IS ENTIRELY PROPER  INDEED, IT IS THE VERY PURPOSE OF THIS PART OF A TRIAL  FOR A LAWYER TO ARGUE TO YOU THOROUGHLY AND VIGOROUSLY CONCERNING WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS IN THIS CASE. AT THE SAME TIME, HOWEVER, A LAWYER IS NOT PERMITTED TO EXPRESS HIS OR HER PERSONAL OPINION OR BELIEF DURING CLOSING ARGUMENT. THE REASON, OF COURSE, IS BECAUSE IT IS NOT A LAWYER'S OPINION AS TO THE FACTS IN THIS CASE  OR INDEED, AS I HAVE TOLD YOU EARLIER, MY OPINION  THAT SHOULD HAVE ANY BEARING ON YOUR CONSIDERATION OF THE CASE; OUR OPINIONS OR BELIEFS AS TO THE FACTS OR THE EVIDENCE OR THE CREDIBILITY OF WITNESSES ARE NOT RELEVANT. RATHER, IT IS YOUR DECISION, BASED UPON WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS, THAT MATTERS IN REACHING YOUR VERDICT. THUS, WHILE IT IS SOMETIMES DIFFICULT TO DRAW A PRECISE LINE BETWEEN WHAT IS THE EXPRESSION OF OPINION BY A LAWYER AND WHAT IS ARGUMENT BY A LAWYER, YOU NEVERTHELESS MUST TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE. AND YOU MUST GIVE YOUR FULLEST AND MOST CAREFUL ATTENTION TO THE LAWYERS' ARGUMENTS, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME DISREGARDING ANY OPINION WHICH A LAWYER MIGHT EXPRESS DURING ARGUMENT. Defendants complain that the giving of this instruction is unwarranted, fails to distinguish between argument and opinion, and adds to the jury's burden the assessment of each counsel's statements during argument to determine whether they constitute argument or opinion. This, defendants assert, imposes an essentially judicial function upon the jury without the benefit of any clear standard, and will result in jurors being confused and defendants being deprived of their right to enjoy effective closing arguments as part of their Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel at trial. Defendants' arguments that the instruction in issue is unwarranted are belied by both this court's experience and the frequency with which alleged improper argument has been the subject of appellate scrutiny. Likewise, the contention that jurors will have inordinate difficulty distinguishing between the concepts of argument and the expression of opinion is not very persuasive when assessed in the context of criminal trials in which jurors are required, inter alia, to decide whether the government has carried the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, to consider evidence only for limited purposes ( e.g., impeachment), and to understand what is and is not evidence. Indeed, it would seem that the concepts of argument and the expression of opinion are more likely to be within the ken of average jurors than many of the words and phrases with which jurors are confronted during a trial. [15] Moreover, defendants' apprehension that jurors will be likely to focus their attention on trying to distinguish between opinion and argument rather than listening to the arguments themselves strikes the court as a more fanciful than realistic concern. Nevertheless, it is quite clear, as defendants assert, that it is the responsibility of the court, not the jury, to remain alert to improper expressions of personal belief or opinion by counsel and to admonish counsel and instruct the jury when such expressions occur. Thus, while the court is of the view that a salutary purpose is served by an instruction in advance of closing arguments which tells the jury that such a distinction exists and that it places limits on counsel, it would seem that nothing further is accomplished by directing the jury to make the distinction. Rather, by giving a more limited instruction the court can alert both counsel and the jury in the presence of both, [16] thereby hopefully discouraging any improper argument before it takes place. Moreover, the court can be assured that the giving of the instruction will have provided added emphasis to any subsequent curative instruction that might be required, without risking that jurors will be confounded or confused by being told that it is their responsibility to draw the line between argument and opinion. Consequently, this court will give the pre-closing argument instruction to which defendants object, but in a modified version with somewhat simplified language that (1) emphasizes the impropriety of the expression of personal beliefs or opinions by counsel, (2) omits any direction to the jury to distinguish between argument and opinion, and (3) inserts in place of the existing last paragraph a simple admonition to the jury to give its fullest and most careful attention to the lawyers' closing arguments. The instruction will be given as follows: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE NOW ARE ABOUT TO HEAR CLOSING ARGUMENTS IN THIS CASE. AS I TOLD YOU AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CASE, CLOSING ARGUMENTS OF THE LAWYERS, JUST LIKE THEIR OPENING STATEMENTS, ARE NOT EVIDENCE IN THIS CASE. THEY ARE ARGUMENTS BASED ON THE EVIDENCE AND THEY ARE INTENDED TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE EVIDENCE. THEY ARE THE LAWYERS' CHANCE TO TRY TO PERSUADE YOU AND DEMONSTRATE TO YOU WHAT THE EVIDENCE HAS SHOWN. BEFORE THE LAWYERS ARGUE TO YOU, I WANT TO TELL YOU THAT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ARGUMENTS BY A LAWYER AND THE EXPRESSION OF PERSONAL BELIEFS OR OPINIONS BY A LAWYER. IT IS ENTIRELY PROPER  INDEED IT IS THE VERY PURPOSE OF THIS PART OF A TRIAL  FOR A LAWYER TO ARGUE TO YOU THOROUGHLY AND VIGOROUSLY ABOUT WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS IN THIS CASE. AT THE SAME TIME, HOWEVER, A LAWYER MAY NOT EXPRESS A PERSONAL BELIEF OR PERSONAL OPINION DURING ARGUMENT. THE REASON, OF COURSE, IS BECAUSE IT IS NOT A LAWYER'S PERSONAL BELIEF OR OPINION  JUST AS I HAVE TOLD YOU EARLIER IT IS NOT MY PERSONAL BELIEF OR OPINION  THAT MATTERS IN THIS CASE. ANY PERSONAL BELIEF OR OPINION THAT I OR THE LAWYERS MIGHT EXPRESS AS TO THE FACTS OR THE TESTIMONY OR THE EVIDENCE SHOULD NOT AFFECT YOUR CONSIDERATION OF THIS MATTER. THE ONLY THING THAT SHOULD MATTER IN YOUR DELIBERATIONS IS WHAT YOU DECIDE THE EVIDENCE HAS SHOWN, AND YOUR VERDICT(S) MUST BE BASED ONLY ON THE EVIDENCE. WE NOW WILL HEAR FROM COUNSEL, AND I ASK YOU TO GIVE THEIR ARGUMENTS YOUR FULLEST AND MOST CAREFUL ATTENTION.