California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Fowler, H044621 (Cal. App. 2018):
" ' "A mistrial should be granted if the court is apprised of prejudice that it judges incurable by admonition or instruction. [Citation.] Whether a particular incident is incurably prejudicial is by its nature a speculative matter, and the trial court is vested with considerable discretion in ruling on mistrial motions. [Citation.]" ' [Citation.]" (People v. Penunuri (2018) 5 Cal.5th 126, 149.) Accordingly, we review rulings on motions for mistrial under the deferential abuse of discretion standard. (Ibid.)
" 'The applicable federal and state standards regarding prosecutorial misconduct are well established.' " (People v. Hill (1998) 17 Cal.4th 800, 819.) " 'A prosecutor's conduct violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution when it infects the trial with such unfairness as to make the conviction a denial of due process. Conduct by a prosecutor that does not render a criminal trial fundamentally unfair is prosecutorial misconduct under state law only if it involves the use of deceptive or reprehensible
Page 18
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.