Court Opinion

ID: 9505654
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 20:14:00.691697+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:04:40.554897
License: Public Domain

BOEHM, Justice,
concurring in result.
I believe the trial court should, at a minimum, have sustained objections to the prosecutor’s claims to be a “minister of justice” and admonished the jury to disregard these statements. The clear implication of such a claim is, among other things, to vouch for the credibility for prosecution witnesses as prescreened by a neutral observer. In a perfect world that may b(e the case. Indeed, it may have occurred here. But to permit the prosecution to claim neutrality is both unnecessary and subject to abuse. In effect it presents a factual claim, sub silentio, that is untestable on the record, namely that the prosecutor is objective, thorough, and competent. That is hopefully always the case, and undoubtedly sometimes the case, but there is no need for the jury to be exposed to such a claim, and good reason to prohibit it.
Although I do not agree that the trial court’s handling of the prosecutor’s statements was correct, I also do not believe it affected the result, and therefore concur in the result reached by the majority.
DICKSON, J., concurs.