California Criminal Defense Blog

The California Supreme Court upheld the death sentence yesterday for a woman convicted of torturing and killing her 4-year-old niece. The circumstances surrounding the death were absolutely horrific. The defendant held the child in bath water that was so hot, it gave her third-degree burns that ultimately killed her. Prior to the child’s death, she also locked the girl in a closet…attached to a steel hook…beat her and burned her with a hair dryer and curling iron. However, this does not excuse the prosecutor’s inflammatory closing arguments that were clearly improper and a perfect example of prosecutorial misconduct.

When the prosecutor engages in prosecutorial misconduct, that misconduct may serve as the basis to overturn the conviction and grant the defendant a new trial. However, prosecutorial misconduct in and of itself isn’t enough…the ultimate question is if the prosecutor had refrained from the misconduct, it is reasonably probable that the defendant would have received a more favorable result?

In this case, the court held that the answer was no. It believed that despite the prosecutor’s emotional plea asking the jury to “go beyond their roles as arbiters of punishment prescribed by law” and inviting them “to join him in assuming the role of a nuclear family for Genny”…the four-year-old victim…the facts were so heinous that the jury still would have likely voted for death.

Yet the one judge who disagreed with the ruling stated that it “establishes a new low bar” for prosecutorial errors and gives incentives for overly zealous prosecutors to “push the limits without serious fear of reversal”.

Prosecutorial misconduct…that is, any conduct that the prosecutor engages in that is misleading, dishonest, or illegal…should always cause concern. However, it is often overlooked or set aside. Many times, prosecutors who make inappropriate or unethical comments during a trial are given a slap on the wrist and that’s about it. Meanwhile, the defendant is left to suffer the consequences.

Fortunately, there is relief when that misconduct goes too far. If you or your California criminal defense attorney can show that the prosecutor’s misconduct was so prejudicial that the prejudice can’t be cured, you are entitled to a new trial. And oftentimes, instead of beginning a new trial, the judge will dismiss the case or the prosecutor will be willing to offer a reduced charge.

The key is to highlight why the prosecutorial misconduct is so severe. You must convince the judge that simply telling the jury to disregard the inappropriate behavior won’t resolve the problem, but in fact, will only call more attention to the prejudicial issue. If you can do that, you will prevail on your motion.