Opinion ID: 359533
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: other misconduct

Text: 33 In United States v. Morris, 568 F.2d 396 (5th Cir. 1978), this Court stated that the sole purpose of closing arguments is to assist the jury in analyzing, evaluating and applying the evidence. 34 This Court has repeatedly held, however, that an attorney may not say anything to the jury implying that evidence supporting the attorney's position exists but has not been introduced in the trial. It follows that an attorney may not express his personal opinion concerning the merits of the case. He may, as stated, urge a conclusion based on the evidence . . . He may not state that he could have called additional witnesses whose testimony would have supported his version of the case . . . In general, an attorney may not inject into his argument any extrinsic or prejudicial matter that has no basis in the evidence. 35 568 F.2d at 401. 36 The primary reason for restraining a prosecutor and demanding a high standard of care is that, due to his position as a public official, his allusion to extrinsic evidence and interjection of his own opinion may be given undue weight by the jurors. 37 In the case before us, the prosecution during summation argued that there were perhaps certain witnesses who had been subpoenaed but did not testify because they may have mysteriously disappeared. 14 There was nothing in the evidence which indicated there were any witnesses who had been subpoenaed and who had disappeared. In fact, the government admitted during oral argument before this Court that the subpoenas referred to were not issued. Statements of this kind will not be tolerated by this Court. 38 There were other instances of improper conduct on the part of the prosecutor in this case. During trial the prosecution's witness, Mr. James Brown from Blue Cross, testified concerning his conversations with three of Dr. Herberman's former employees. When asked if these conversations were recorded by tape, Mr. Brown stated that he believed the tapes had been destroyed. The prosecution subsequently admitted that it knew these tapes had not been destroyed on May 12, the day after the government's witness had stated his belief to the contrary. Yet, it was not until May 16, when the defense again formally asked for these tapes, that the prosecution admitted having them. 15 39 During the course of the trial, and particularly during rebuttal, the government made repeated references to the submission by appellant of allegedly false claims to Blue Cross-Blue Shield in non-Medicare matters. None of these claims, or supporting documents, were provided to appellant. At the outset of the trial, the district court had granted a motion in limine eliminating such alleged claims. The prosecution ignored this ruling by continuing along these lines with the testimony of rebuttal witnesses. At one point, the district court prevented the government from presenting the testimony of a witness as to these non-Medicare claims. Subsequently, the court allowed another witness to touch upon these claims but ultimately stopped the testimony when he realized the subject matter. 40 Also, during examination of Ms. Sanders, the defense asked if she had been given informal immunity by the government before testifying and she answered that she believed she had been given immunity. The prosecution denied having given her informal immunity. In a motion for a new trial, appellant attached an affidavit from Ms. Sanders' attorney in which he stated that his conversation with the prosecutor was clear and that his client had been given informal immunity by the government. 16 41 We wish to emphasize that the district judge consistently attempted both to prevent and to cure such prosecutorial misconduct. For instance, Judge Wood sustained the objection made during the prosecution's summation regarding the alleged disappearance of witnesses. He also demanded in no uncertain terms, once it was revealed that the government had them, that the tapes which the government had asserted were missing be handed over to appellant immediately. The district judge stopped the testimony of the second rebuttal witness on the non-Medicare claims. Nothing could have been done by the trial judge during the trial on the alleged false statement by the prosecution regarding immunity of the government witness since her attorney's affidavit was not procured until after the trial. The witness did state in court, contrary to the prosecution's position, that she believed she had been given immunity. 42 The prosecutor acted improperly in many instances, and some examples are enumerated above. Even though any single instance might not have resulted in a reversal, we are convinced that the sum of all these errors prevented appellant from obtaining a fair and impartial trial. The prosecution made too many improper suggestions, introduced too much improper evidence and denied the existence of evidence on too many occasions. What inferences were planted in the minds of the jurors we cannot determine. We hold, however, that their verdict could not have been based solely upon proper consideration of relevant and admissible evidence.