Opinion ID: 1702189
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Failure to Object to the State's Comments Comparing the Victim's Rights with Berry's Rights as a Criminal Defendant

Text: ¶ 21. During the closing argument, the State drew several comparisons between the respective rights of Bounds and Berry. Berry claims that such an argument is prosecutorial misconduct and that counsel failed to object and preserve the issue for appeal. [2] We find that the comments were egregious and possibly rose to the level of prosecutorial misconduct. However, the failure to object does not render counsel's performance ineffective. ¶ 22. To determine whether the prosecutor's closing remarks were prosecutorial misconduct, we must determine whether the prosecutor's remarks denied the defendant a fundamentally fair trial. Stringer v. State, 500 So.2d 928, 939 (Miss.1986); see also United States v. Young, 470 U.S. 1, 16, 105 S.Ct. 1038, 1045, 84 L.Ed.2d 1, 13 (1985); Donnelly v. DeChristoforo, 416 U.S. 637, 645, 94 S.Ct. 1868, 1872, 40 L.Ed.2d 431, 438 (1974). The prosecutor's remarks are viewed in light of the entire trial. See id., 416 U.S. at 645, 94 S.Ct. at 1872, 40 L.Ed.2d at 438; United States v. Bright, 630 F.2d 804, 825 (5th Cir.1980); United States v. Austin, 585 F.2d 1271, 1279 (5th Cir.1978). We have found error where the State introduced evidence of the character or reputation of the deceased or other evidence outside the aggravating circumstances. See, e.g., Willie v. State, 585 So.2d 660 (Miss.1991); Stringer v. State, 500 So.2d 928 (Miss.1986); Wiley v. State, 484 So.2d 339 (Miss.1986); Coleman v. State, 378 So.2d 640 (Miss.1979). ¶ 23. In the instant case, assuming that such comments constituted prosecutorial misconduct, we find that the jury would not have concluded that the balance of aggravating and mitigating circumstances did not warrant death. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052. There was substantial evidence to support the sentence based on the aggravating factors; including the facts that the murder was committed during the course of a kidnaping, and he was a habitual offender. This issue is without merit.