Opinion ID: 2387024
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Vouching for the credibility of witnesses

Text: (14) Defendant claims the prosecutor vouched for the credibility of Joseph Loya, who followed defendant's vehicle after the Vons market shooting, Officer King, who attempted to locate defendant at his apartment after that shooting, and Officer Jansing, who arrested defendant in San Francisco. A prosecutor may make `assurances regarding the apparent honesty or reliability of' a witness `based on the facts of [the] record and the inferences reasonably drawn therefrom.' [Citation.] But a `prosecutor is prohibited from vouching for the credibility of witnesses or otherwise bolstering the veracity of their testimony by referring to evidence outside the record.' [Citation.] ( People v. Turner (2004) 34 Cal.4th 406, 432-433 [20 Cal.Rptr.3d 182, 99 P.3d 505].) When the prosecutor began to discuss the testimony of Loya, he referred to him as a nice young man who did something very important in this case. [¶] ... [¶] Joseph Loya deserves our thanks. He went to the trouble of chasing after somebody he felt did something wrong. After reviewing Loya's actions and his role in identifying defendant, the prosecutor stated: So these are the kinds of people we presented to you as witnesses. This is the kind of young man that you saw here who was willing to put himself out to do what he felt is right. That is the nature and quality of these witnesses. Defendant did not object to these comments. After the exchange noted above, in which the prosecutor questioned the defense's purpose in patronizing Linda King by asking her questions about how she felt as a police officer alone in her patrol vehicle, the prosecutor stated: Here is a police woman doing her job. She's willing to put herself on the line. She knows she's there to look for[] somebody who has just committed attempted murder. She's sitting there in the dark on her own willing to sacrifice, to be there to catch people like him. [¶] I don't know what the point was of those questions about her being scared. She was there because she believes in what she does. She's a police officer. She did what she was supposed to do. Other than his objection to the prosecutor's comment concerning the defense's patronizing the witness, noted above, defendant did not object to these statements. With respect to Officer Jansing, the prosecutor stated: I wanted you to see the quality of him. I brought him down from San Francisco. I wanted you to see this is a man who is doing his job. Here's a guyyou saw the kind of man he is. Attention to detail. [¶] He didn't have to run that plate. Something didn't look right and fortunately there are people like Officer Jansing who take their job seriously in life. [¶] It could have been easy for him in the middle of his shift to drive by a parked car and not think anything of it. A guy like this and a guy like Mr. Loya are to be given credit. They went the extra distance. To run a plate he didn't have to do and did everything by the book. Fortunately for us and fortunately for law enforcement there are people like Mr. Jansing who are willing to do their jobs properly and that is how this man got captured. Defendant did not object. At the end of his closing argument, the prosecutor stated: I am confident you will have no problem in quickly resolving this case because there is no defense. It is indefensible what he did. He just happened to get caught. Thank you Mr. Loya, thank you Officer Jansing. [¶] That is why we're here. He almost got away with it except for people like that who are willing to go the extra distance. Defendant did not object. Because the defense did not object that the prosecutor was vouching for the witnesses' credibility, defendant has forfeited this contention. His claim also fails on the merits, because the prosecutor's comments concerning these witnesses were based upon facts established by the testimony and did not refer to evidence outside the record. The prosecutor's remarks did not improperly vouch for the credibility of these witnesses.