Opinion ID: 2373626
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Comments about the prosecutor's personal life

Text: [¶ 23] The alleged violations of W.R.Cr.P. 24(c)(2) included the prosecutor telling the jury that he was the number two in the district attorney's office, that he had the crud and as a result had to use cough drops and cold medicine which may be affecting his thought process, that when he was in college he was struck by a drunk driver making it difficult for him to sit in one place for long periods of time, and that his wife thought his money was hers. [¶ 24] There were no objections to any of the above comments at trial, thus we will review them for plain error. Strange, 2008 WY 132, ¶ 4, 195 P.3d at 1043. The first prong of plain error is satisfied, because the record does clearly reflect the alleged misconduct. As to the second prongwhether a clear and unequivocal rule of law has been violatedregarding W.R.Cr.P. 24(c)(2), we have previously stated, [T]he limitations placed on voir dire by the Wyoming Rules of Criminal Procedure are flexible, and purposely so, so as to allow the trial court discretion in that important process. Person v. State, 2004 WY 149, ¶ 33, 100 P.3d 1270, 1286 (Wyo.2004). [¶ 25] While the way the prosecutor phrased some of his statements is questionable, and necessary information could have been presented differently to avoid any notions of impropriety, a review of the record demonstrates that the prosecutor's comments were not intended to ingratiate himself with the jury. For instance, the prosecutor's comment regarding being the number two in the district attorney's office was followed up by But I always have to make sure I've introduced myself, because at some point I'm going to ask you who all of you know. While it may not have been necessary to explain the specific position that the prosecutor held at the district attorney's office, the comment was relatively benign and really did not tell the jurors much more than they already knew (i.e. that the prosecutor was from the district attorney's office). Similarly, when the prosecutor mentioned having a cold and needing to take cough drops as a result, those statements were nothing the jurors were not already likely aware of through their own personal observations. We also note that at least with regard to the alleged misconduct relating to the prosecutor mentioning his wife, the appellant's trial counsel also made a comment about her ex-husband during voir dire. Clearly wide latitude was being given to both sides during voir dire. It would be difficult for this Court to hold the State accountable for comments which were similar to comments made by the appellant's counsel. See Metzger v. State, 4 P.3d 901, 910 (Wyo.2000) (noting that defense counsel asked similar questions to that which appellant now claims were error for the prosecutor to ask). Additionally, the appellant does not point us to any case law that would suggest that these comments violate W.R.Cr.P. 24(c)(2) per se. The appellant also makes no specific showing of prejudice regarding any of these comments. In addition, the appellant argues that the prosecutor attempted to ingratiate himself with the jury when he made a series of comments in which the prosecutor apologized for some of the graphic comments, words, or statements he would have to use in this case that may offend members of the jury. We reject the appellant's argument because a review of the record indicates that the prosecutor made these statements and then asked whether or not the members of the jury would hold such potentially offensive comments against the State. The prosecutor's comments were intended to ferret out any bias that the jurors may develop as a result of the potentially offensive words or phrases that the State would naturally be required to say in a sexual assault case and therefore we do not find the prosecutor's comments in that regard to be misconduct. [¶ 26] One of the prosecutor's comments is more troubling, perhaps, than the others. In explaining to the jury why he had trouble sitting down for long periods of time, and in an effort to transition to a question about whether any jurors had medical issues which may prevent them from serving on the jury, the prosecutor stated, Now, when I was in college, I was struck by a drunk driver, and one of the things I learned was, over the years, especially the older I got, the more it was difficult for me to sit in one position for long periods of time. While the relevance of this comment is questionable, the statement was limited and brief, and the appellant makes no specific showing of prejudice relating to the comment, so we cannot say that plain error occurred. See Teniente v. State, 2007 WY 165, ¶ 10, 169 P.3d 512, 520 (Wyo. 2007) ([T]he defendant bears the burden of proving prejudice relating to claims of prosecutorial misconduct.). Consequently, the appellant has failed to prove plain error relating to these comments.