Prosecutor’s Caustic Remarks About Defense Attorney Prompt Reversal
A New Jersey state appeals court on Wednesday overturned a conviction for attempted murder of a policeman, in part because the prosecutor's persistent denigration of defense counsel could have swayed jurors. The prosecutor "disparaged defense counsel and the defense, improperly challenged defendant to characterize the State's witnesses as liars, disparaged defendant as a liar, suggested that the defense wasted the jury's valuable time, and closed with a call for the jury to discharge its duty to society," the court said.
