holding that the prosecutor committed misconduct by expressing his personal opinion of defendant' s guilt
How later courts described this case
- holding that the prosecutor committed misconduct by expressing his personal opinion of defendant' s guilt
- misconduct for prosecutor to call witness and defendant liars in closing argument, to state that it “‘must be very difficult to represent somebody like [the defendant] when you don’t have’” a case, and to ask the jury, “‘[a]re you going to let a bunch of city lawyers come down here and make your decision? A bunch of city doctors who drive down here in their Mercedes Benz?’” (emphasis omitted)
- prosecutor referred to defendant as a “liar” four times, stated defense had no case, and implied defense witnesses should not be believed because they were from out of town and drove fancy cars
- calling defendant a liar, classifying him as “‘murder two,’” playing on socioeconomic class prejudice, and stating defense “did not have a case”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
Utter, J.
(concurring) — I concur in the result reached by the majority and in the reasoning used to reach that result. I specially concur only to add that, based upon the comments of the prosecutor at oral argument, it is apparent he now appreciates the impropriety of his comments and that such conduct, in all probability, will not reoccur.