People v. Meneses ( 2019 )


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  • Filed 10/10/19 Certifed for Publication 10/11/19 (order attached)
    IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
    FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
    DIVISION THREE
    THE PEOPLE,
    Plaintiff and Respondent,                                     G055942
    v.                                                        (Super. Ct. No. 15CF1683)
    CESAR MENESES,                                                     OPINION
    Defendant and Appellant.
    Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Denise
    de Bellefeuille, Judge. (Retired Judge of the Santa Barbara Super. Ct. assigned by the
    Chief Justice pursuant to art. VI, § 6 of the Cal. Const.) Affirmed.
    Patricia L. Brisbois, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for
    Defendant and Appellant.
    Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant
    Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Seth M. Friedman and
    Michael Pulos, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
    *                 *               *
    INTRODUCTION
    Defendant Cesar Meneses appeals from the judgment of conviction entered
    after a jury found him guilty of four counts of committing a lewd act upon a child under
    14 years of age and found true, as to each count, the multiple victim sentencing
    enhancement allegation. Meneses argues (1) the trial court erred by instructing the jury
    regarding consideration of evidence of charged sex offenses with CALCRIM No. 1191B
    1
    and (2) the prosecutor committed error in her closing and rebuttal arguments. Meneses
    further argues that to the extent his trial counsel’s failure to object on these grounds
    results in forfeiture of these arguments on appeal, he received ineffective assistance of
    counsel.
    We affirm. We follow People v. Villatoro (2012) 
    54 Cal.4th 1152
    , 1159
    (Villatoro) in concluding the trial court properly instructed the jury with CALCRIM
    No. 1191B. Although one statement in the prosecution’s rebuttal argument, when viewed
    in isolation, did misstate the law, we conclude there was no prosecutorial error because,
    in the context of the entire argument and jury instructions, it was not reasonably likely the
    jury understood or applied the statement in an improper or erroneous manner.
    FACTS
    D.V. regularly visited and attended family gatherings at a house where her
    great aunt and her great aunt’s husband, Meneses, lived. When D.V. was six or seven
    years old, Meneses began touching her in her vaginal area when D.V. visited the house.
    Meneses touched D.V. a total of 10 times before she stopped going to that house when
    she was 11 or 12 years old.
    1
    We use the term prosecutorial error rather than prosecutorial misconduct because
    prosecutorial misconduct “‘is somewhat of a misnomer to the extent that it suggests a
    prosecutor must act with a culpable state of mind.’” (People v. Centeno (2014) 
    60 Cal.4th 659
    , 666-667 (Centeno).) “‘A more apt description of the transgression is
    prosecutorial error.’” (Id. at p. 667.)
    2
    D.V.’s cousin, J.T., also attended family gatherings at the house. Meneses
    touched J.T.’s vaginal area a total of 10 times from the time J.T. was seven years old until
    she was nine years old. D.V. and J.T. testified that on occasion Meneses called them out
    to the garage that he used as his bedroom and touched them both on the same occasion.
    He told them not to tell anyone about what he was doing or “something bad would
    happen.”
    Another cousin, C.C., testified that when she was eight or nine years old,
    she would sit on Meneses’s lap and he would tickle her; on one occasion, he tickled her
    close to her breast and on another occasion, he touched her thigh.
    PROCEDURAL HISTORY
    Meneses was charged in an information with 10 counts of committing a
    lewd act upon a child under 14 years of age in violation of Penal Code section 288,
    subdivision (a). Counts 1 through 3 were alleged to have been committed against D.V.,
    counts 4 through 6 were alleged to have been committed against J.T., and counts 7
    through 10 were alleged to have been committed against C.C. As to each count, the
    information alleged, pursuant to Penal Code section 667.61, subdivisions (b) and (e), that
    Meneses committed an offense specified in section 667.61, subdivision (c) against more
    than one victim.
    The jury found Meneses guilty on counts 1, 2, 4, and 5, and found true the
    multiple victim sentencing enhancement alleged as to each of those counts. The trial
    court imposed a total prison sentence of 15 years to life. Meneses appealed.
    3
    DISCUSSION
    I.
    CALCRIM NO. 1191B
    Meneses argues the trial court erred by instructing the jury with CALCRIM
    No. 1191B because it “allowed the jury to rely on currently charged offenses to find that
    [Meneses] had committed other currently charged offenses” and thus “violated his
    Fourteenth Amendment right to due process of law.” Meneses’s argument is without
    merit.
    The trial court instructed the jury on its consideration of evidence of
    charged sex offenses with CALCRIM No. 1191B as follows: “The People presented
    evidence that the defendant committed the crimes of Lewd Act Upon a Child Under 14 as
    charged in Counts 1-10. [¶] If the People have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the
    defendant committed one or more of these crimes, you may, but are not required to,
    conclude from that evidence that the defendant was disposed or inclined to commit
    sexual offenses, and based on that decision, also conclude that the defendant was likely to
    commit, and did commit, the other sex offenses charged in this case. [¶] If you find that
    the defendant committed one or more of these crimes, that conclusion is only one factor
    to consider along with all the other evidence. It is not sufficient by itself to prove that the
    defendant is guilty of another crime. The People must still prove each charge beyond a
    reasonable doubt.”
    In his appellate opening brief, Meneses acknowledges that in Villatoro,
    supra, 54 Cal.4th at pages 1156 and 1167 through 1169, the California Supreme Court
    held that Evidence Code section 1108 permits the jury to draw a propensity inference
    4
    from currently charged sex offenses, and “approved giving a modified version of
    2
    CALCRIM No. 1191, similar to the instruction used in this case.”
    In his appellate opening brief, Meneses acknowledges that “this court is
    bound to follow the precedent set in Villatoro. (Auto Equity Sales, Inc. v. Superior Court
    (1962) 
    57 Cal.2d 450
    ,455.)” He explains he has raised this issue on appeal “to preserve
    his federal constitutional claim that allowing a jury to use charged offenses to infer that
    he committed the other offenses charged in the same case violates his due process right to
    a fundamentally fair trial under the Fourteenth Amendment. [Meneses] must also raise
    this issue in the Court of Appeal in order to request the California Supreme Court to
    reconsider its decision in Villatoro in light of the dissent of Justice Corrigan joined by
    Justice Werdegar and the dissent of Justice Liu.”
    Meneses is correct that we are bound to follow California Supreme Court
    precedent pursuant to Auto Equity Sales, Inc. v. Superior Court, supra, 57 Cal.2d at page
    455, in concluding the trial court did not err by instructing the jurors they may consider
    2
    In Villatoro, supra, 54 Cal.4th at page 1164, the Supreme Court held: “[W]e conclude
    nothing in the language of [Evidence Code] section 1108 restricts its application to
    uncharged offenses. Indeed, the clear purpose of section 1108 is to permit the jury’s
    consideration of evidence of a defendant’s propensity to commit sexual offenses. ‘The
    propensity to commit sexual offenses is not a common attribute among the general
    public. Therefore, evidence that a particular defendant has such a propensity is especially
    probative and should be considered by the trier of fact when determining the credibility
    of a victim’s testimony.’ [Citations.] ‘[C]ase law clearly shows that evidence that [a
    defendant] committed other sex offenses is at least circumstantially relevant to the issue
    of his disposition or propensity to commit these offenses.’ [Citations.] In light of this
    clear purpose, we perceive no reason why the Legislature would exclude charged sexual
    offenses from section 1108’s purview, and no indication that it did so in either the text of
    section 1108 or its legislative history. Whether an offense is charged or uncharged in the
    current prosecution does not affect in any way its relevance as propensity evidence.
    Indeed, section 1108’s legislative history explains that ‘“admission and consideration of
    evidence of other sexual offenses to show character or disposition would be no longer
    treated as intrinsically prejudicial or impermissible.”’”
    5
    proven similar charged sex offenses as evidence of Meneses’s propensity to commit other
    charged offenses.
    Because we find CALCRIM No. 1191B was properly given to the jury, we
    also reject Meneses’s argument that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object
    to that instruction at trial as such a request would have been futile given the trial court’s
    obligation to follow Villatoro, supra, 
    54 Cal.4th 1152
    .
    II.
    PROSECUTORIAL ERROR
    Meneses argues the prosecutor erred by “misleading jurors in her closing
    arguments to believe the People’s burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt could be
    met based on a reasonable interpretation of the evidence. This error violated [Meneses]’s
    right to a fair trial under the Fourteenth Amendment and requires the judgment be
    reversed.” Meneses argues that during the closing and rebuttal arguments, the prosecutor
    misstated the burden of proof three times.
    First, at the end of the closing argument, the prosecutor stated:
    “So again, this is made very simple on the verdict forms. There’s just an
    allegation at the bottom. So again, you can review things and decide things in any order
    you want. I just give my suggestions. But my suggestion is go through and decide the
    charged counts. When you find guilty on one, then like I said, you can use that
    propensity evidence.
    “But then you go through at the end and when you have guilty, you look,
    do we have J[.T.] and D[.V.]? If you have two different victims—D[.V.] and C[.C.]—
    whatever it is. Once there’s two different victims, then those are guilty, or true on the
    multiple victim finding.
    6
    “As you’re going through the evidence, don’t be afraid to ask yourself, does
    this information help me to determine the facts or is it confusing the issue or misleading
    me? And ask yourself, is this reasonable?
    “Like the judge told you, I have the burden of proof so [Meneses’s counsel]
    gets the opportunity to talk to you now, and at the conclusion of rebuttal I’ll be asking
    you to find the defendant guilty of all counts.” (Italics added.)
    Second, toward the beginning of the rebuttal argument, the prosecutor
    discussed the reasonable doubt burden of proof: “It’s a very important standard. It’s not
    an impossible standard. It’s not possible or imaginary doubt. It’s not beyond a shadow
    of a doubt. It’s to the exclusion of a reasonable doubt. It’s not a time qualification.” The
    prosecutor then stated: “You must reject any unreasonable interpretation. And if there’s
    one reasonable interpretation, you must convict.” (Italics added.)
    Finally, toward the end of the rebuttal argument, the prosecutor addressed
    testimony regarding the response by D.V.’s father to being informed of Meneses’s lewd
    conduct with D.V. Specifically, the prosecutor addressed the decision by D.V.’s father to
    take D.V. along to a fundraiser at Meneses’s house designed to raise funds to pay for
    medical expenses incurred following a car accident involving D.V.’s brother. The
    prosecutor stated: “He only took D[.V.] back to the defendant’s house under one
    exceptional [sic], as I recall. This was a . . . this was a situation in which his son almost
    died. Was in a coma for three weeks. I’m sure that was a financial strain and emotional
    strain on their direct family and beyond. And so under extraordinary circumstances he
    took D[.V.] over there and said hey, stay near me. [¶] When you look at all of these facts,
    there is only one reasonable interpretation. This family has done something very
    difficult. The easy thing to do in this case would have been for the parents to get the kids
    to recant. That would have been the easy thing.” (Italics added.)
    Meneses argues, “[t]aken together, the prosecutor’s remarks, just like those
    in Centeno, show she conflated the concepts of proof beyond a reasonable doubt with
    7
    rejecting an unreasonable interpretation of the evidence. In doing so, the prosecutor
    misstated the law and misled the jurors to believe that a reasonable account of the
    evidence satisfied the People’s burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
    A.
    Two of the Prosecutor’s Challenged Statements Constituted Permissible Argument.
    “Advocates are given significant leeway in discussing the legal and factual
    merits of a case during argument. [Citation.] However, ‘it is improper for the prosecutor
    to misstate the law generally [citation], and particularly to attempt to absolve the
    prosecution from its . . . obligation to overcome reasonable doubt on all elements
    [citation].’ [Citations.] To establish such error, bad faith on the prosecutor’s part is not
    required.” (Centeno, supra, 60 Cal.4th at p. 666.)
    “When attacking the prosecutor’s remarks to the jury, the defendant must
    show that, ‘[i]n the context of the whole argument and the instructions’ [citation], there
    was ‘a reasonable likelihood the jury understood or applied the complained-of comments
    in an improper or erroneous manner. [Citations.] In conducting this inquiry, we “do not
    lightly infer” that the jury drew the most damaging rather than the least damaging
    meaning from the prosecutor’s statements.’” (Centeno, supra, 60 Cal.4th at p. 667.)
    A prosecutor’s conduct violates the federal constitution when the conduct
    “‘infects the trial with such unfairness as to make the conviction a denial of due
    process’”; that is, when the conduct is “‘of sufficient significance to result in the denial of
    the defendant’s right to a fair trial.’” (People v. Harrison (2005) 
    35 Cal.4th 208
    , 242.) A
    prosecutor’s argument that does not render a criminal trial fundamentally unfair violates
    California law only if the conduct involves “‘“‘the use of deceptive or reprehensible
    methods to attempt to persuade either the court or the jury.’”’” (Ibid.)
    Jurors may use common sense and good judgment in evaluating the weight
    of the evidence presented to them. (People v. Venegas (1998) 
    18 Cal.4th 47
    , 80.) Jurors
    may evaluate the reasonableness of witness testimony, as the jury was instructed in this
    8
    case with CALCRIM Nos. 226 and 333. The prosecutor may argue “reasonably possible
    interpretations to be drawn from the evidence.” (Centeno, supra, 60 Cal.4th at p. 672.)
    “It is permissible to argue that the jury may reject impossible or unreasonable
    interpretations of the evidence and to so characterize a defense theory.” (Ibid.) The
    prosecutor may “urge the jury to ‘“accept the reasonable and reject the unreasonable”’ in
    evaluating the evidence before it.” (Id. at p. 673.)
    Here, two of the three challenged statements by the prosecutor were
    permissible under those standards. During closing argument, the prosecutor did not err
    by urging the jurors to ask themselves whether the propensity evidence helped them to
    determine the facts or was confusing or misleading and to further ask themselves, “is this
    reasonable?” The prosecutor’s argument asked the jury to view the evidence in a
    reasonable manner; it did not refer to the prosecutor’s burden of proof.
    Furthermore, the prosecutor’s statement at the end of the rebuttal argument
    explained D.V.’s father’s decision to take D.V. back to Meneses’s house could be
    reasonably understood in light of the evidence D.V.’s brother was then in a coma and the
    family needed to attend the fundraiser at that house for medical expenses. The
    prosecutor’s comment at the end of her rebuttal argument did not relate to the
    prosecution’s burden of proof.
    B.
    The Prosecutor’s Challenged Statement at the Beginning of the Rebuttal Argument Did
    Not Constitute Error in the Context of the Entire Argument and Jury Instructions.
    The prosecutor’s challenged statement made at the beginning of the rebuttal
    argument raises questions under Centeno, supra, 
    60 Cal.4th 659
    . While a prosecutor may
    appeal to the jurors to use their common sense, experience, and reason to evaluate the
    evidence and assess witness credibility, a prosecutor may not argue or even suggest the
    prosecution’s burden of proof is satisfied if the prosecution’s evidence presents a
    reasonable account. (Id. at p. 672.) A prosecutor may argue that defense interpretations
    9
    of the evidence are unreasonable, but may not argue that deficiencies in the defense
    evidence can make up for shortcomings in the prosecution’s case. (Id. at p. 673.) The
    prosecutor may not “confound[] the concept of rejecting unreasonable inferences with the
    standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.” (Ibid.)
    In Centeno, supra, 
    60 Cal.4th 659
    , the California Supreme Court reversed
    the defendant’s convictions after finding (1) the prosecutor misstated the burden of proof
    in rebuttal argument and (2) held defense counsel was prejudicially ineffective for failing
    to object. The defendant was convicted of two counts of committing lewd acts against a
    then-seven-year-old child; the child, who was nearly 10 years old at trial, gave
    inconsistent testimony and refused to answer many questions at trial. (Id. at
    pp. 662-663.) On appeal, the defendant argued the prosecutor committed prejudicial
    misconduct by misstating the burden of proof in closing rebuttal argument. The
    defendant, conceding his attorney had failed to object, raised ineffective assistance as an
    alternative argument. (Id. at p. 674.)
    The California Supreme Court in Centeno reviewed the prosecutor’s
    rebuttal argument and determined the prosecutor misstated the burden of proof in two
    separate instances. In the first instance, the prosecutor used a visual display depicting the
    outline of the State of California and gave hypothetical testimony from hypothetical
    witnesses who described various cities and landmarks. (Centeno, supra, 60 Cal.4th at
    p. 665.) The prosecutor argued that even though the information provided was
    incomplete, there was no reasonable doubt the evidence described the State of California.
    (Id. at pp. 665-666.) The Supreme Court held the use of the visual image misstated the
    burden of proof, misled the jury into believing its task was analogous to solving a picture
    puzzle unrelated to the evidence, and failed to accurately portray the state of the evidence
    presented at trial. (Id. at pp. 669-670.)
    The second instance in which the prosecutor misstated the burden of proof
    is relevant here. The prosecutor in Centeno had argued: “‘Is it reasonable to believe that
    10
    a shy, scared child who can’t even name the body parts made up an embarrassing,
    humiliating sexual abuse, came and testified to this in a room full of strangers or the
    defendant abused Jane Doe. That is what is reasonable, that he abused her. [¶] Is it
    reasonable to believe that Jane Doe is lying to set-up the defendant for no reason or is the
    defendant guilty?’ . . . ‘Is it reasonable to believe that there is an innocent explanation for
    a grown man laying on a seven year old? No, that is not reasonable. Is it reasonable to
    believe that there is an innocent explanation for the defendant taking his penis out of his
    pants when he’s on top of a seven-year-old child? No, that is not reasonable. Is it
    reasonable to believe that the defendant is being set-up in what is really a very
    unsophisticated conspiracy led by an officer who has never met the defendant or he[’s]
    good for it? That is what is reasonable. He’s good for it.’” (Centeno, supra, 60 Cal.4th
    at pp. 671-672.)
    The Supreme Court concluded the italicized parts of the prosecutor’s
    argument misstated the burden of proof because they “left the jury with the impression
    that so long as [the prosecutor’s] interpretation of the evidence was reasonable, the
    People had met their burden.” (Centeno, supra, 60 Cal.4th at p. 672.) The prosecutor did
    not simply urge the jury to accept the reasonable and reject the unreasonable in
    evaluating the evidence. “Rather, [the prosecutor] confounded the concept of rejecting
    unreasonable inferences with the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. She
    repeatedly suggested that the jury could find defendant guilty based on a ‘reasonable’
    account of the evidence. These remarks clearly diluted the People’s burden.” (Id. at
    p. 673, italics omitted.)
    The prosecutor’s statement at the beginning of the rebuttal argument in this
    case bears some resemblance to those found in Centeno to be error. Here, immediately
    following her statements on the reasonable doubt standard, the prosecutor argued: “You
    must reject any unreasonable interpretation. And if there’s one reasonable interpretation,
    you must convict.” That statement is somewhat similar to telling the jury “‘the defendant
    11
    abused Jane Doe. That is what is reasonable, that he abused her’” and “‘[t]hat is what is
    reasonable. He’s good for it.’” (Centeno, supra, 60 Cal.4th at pp. 671, 672, italics
    omitted.)
    In the respondent’s brief, the Attorney General argues: “The prosecutor
    never suggested that the People could meet their burden by merely presenting a
    reasonable account of the evidence. If anything, she argued that the People’s account of
    the evidence was the only reasonable interpretation. This argument was made in
    response to [Meneses]’s argument that there were multiple reasonable interpretations of
    the circumstantial evidence—both for purposes of evaluating the victims’ credibility and
    for purposes of evaluating [Meneses]’s intent and mental state. The prosecutor urged the
    jury to reject those interpretations as unreasonable and find [Meneses] guilty. There was
    nothing improper about that.”
    While the prosecutor’s statement may have misstated the law if viewed in
    isolation, we conclude there was no prosecutorial error because in the context of the
    entire argument and jury instructions it was not reasonably likely the jury understood or
    applied the statement in an improper or erroneous manner.
    To find prosecutorial error, we must view the challenged statement in the
    context of the entire argument and the jury instructions to determine whether there was a
    reasonable likelihood the jury understood or applied the comments in an improper or
    erroneous manner. (People v. Cortez (2016) 
    63 Cal.4th 101
    , 130-131 (Cortez).) “If the
    challenged comments, viewed in context, ‘would have been taken by a juror to state or
    imply nothing harmful, [then] they obviously cannot be deemed objectionable.’” (Id. at
    p. 130.) “‘[W]e “do not lightly infer” that the jury drew the most damaging rather than
    the least damaging meaning from the prosecutor’s statements.’” (People v. Covarrubias
    (2016) 
    1 Cal.5th 838
    , 894.)
    In that respect, this case differs from Centeno. In Centeno, the California
    Supreme Court concluded it was reasonably likely that the prosecutor’s hypothetical
    12
    about the State of California together with the “accompanying argument” misled the jury.
    (Centeno, supra, 60 Cal.4th at p. 674.) Here, the prosecutor did not present an
    objectionable hypothetical and, as we have explained, the potential prosecutorial error is
    limited to a single statement made at the beginning of the prosecutor’s rebuttal argument.
    The vast majority of the prosecutor’s argument was focused on evaluating
    the witnesses’ testimony and credibility. In closing argument, defense counsel argued
    about the reasonable inferences that could be drawn from the trial evidence, noting that
    when “[y]ou can draw two or more reasonable conclusions from the circumstantial
    evidence, and one of those reasonable conclusions points to innocence, the other to guilt,
    you must accept the one that points to innocence.” Given that both the prosecutor’s and
    defense counsel’s closing arguments were so heavily focused on the reasonable
    interpretation of evidence, the jurors would have understood the prosecutor’s challenged
    statement as directed to the issue of reasonable and unreasonable inferences and not to
    the reasonable doubt burden of proof which was not the focus of either counsel’s
    argument.
    In determining whether the prosecutor committed error, it is significant that
    the trial court correctly defined the reasonable doubt standard in the jury instructions.
    (Cortez, supra, 63 Cal.4th at p. 131.) Here, the trial court instructed the jury with
    CALCRIM No. 220: “A defendant in a criminal case is presumed to be innocent. This
    presumption requires that the People prove a defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
    Whenever I tell you the People must prove something, I mean they must prove it beyond
    a reasonable doubt unless I specifically tell you otherwise. [¶] Proof beyond a reasonable
    doubt is proof that leaves you with an abiding conviction that the charge is true. The
    evidence need not eliminate all possible doubt because everything in life is open to some
    possible or imaginary doubt. [¶] In deciding whether the People have proved their case
    beyond a reasonable doubt, you must impartially compare and consider all the evidence
    that was received throughout the entire trial. Unless the evidence proves the defendant
    13
    guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, he is entitled to an acquittal and you must find him not
    guilty.” As discussed ante, the jury was instructed with CALCRIM No. 1191B which
    reiterated, “[t]he People must still prove each charge beyond a reasonable doubt.”
    The court instructed the jury on direct and circumstantial evidence with
    CALCRIM No. 224, stating in part, “[b]efore you may rely on circumstantial evidence to
    conclude that a fact necessary to find the defendant guilty has been proved, you must be
    convinced that the People have proved each fact essential to that conclusion beyond a
    reasonable doubt,” and further stating that if the jurors could draw two or more
    reasonable conclusions from the circumstantial evidence, they had to accept the one
    pointing to innocence. The jury was also instructed with CALCRIM No. 225 reiterating:
    “Before you may rely on circumstantial evidence to conclude that a fact necessary to find
    the defendant guilty has been proved, you must be convinced that the People have proved
    each fact essential to that conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt.” The court told the
    jurors that in evaluating a witness’s testimony, they could consider the reasonableness of
    the testimony in light of all the other evidence in the case, and that as to any opinion
    given by a witness at trial, they could “disregard all or any part of an opinion that [they]
    find unbelievable, unreasonable, or unsupported by the evidence.” (See CALCRIM
    Nos. 226, 333.)
    The jury instructions left no doubt about the prosecution’s burden of proof,
    the proper application of each juror’s common sense and experience, and the role of
    reasonableness in reaching a verdict. To the extent the prosecutor’s statement at the
    beginning of the rebuttal argument was inconsistent with the instructions, the jury was
    instructed to follow the latter. The trial court instructed the jury with CALCRIM
    No. 200, stating in part: “You must follow the law as I explain it to you, even if you
    disagree with it. If you believe that the attorneys’ comments on the law conflict with my
    instructions, you must follow my instructions.”
    14
    We presume the jury followed the court’s instructions, rather than any
    conflicting comment by counsel, in reaching a verdict. (Cortez, supra, 63 Cal.4th at
    p. 131; People v. Prince (2007) 
    40 Cal.4th 1179
    , 1295; People v. Morales (2001)
    
    25 Cal.4th 34
    , 47.) “‘[J]uries generally understand that counsel’s assertions are the
    “statements of advocates.”’” (Cortez, supra, 63 Cal.4th at p. 131.)
    Considered “‘[i]n the context of the whole argument and the [jury]
    instructions’” (Centeno, supra, 60 Cal.4th at p. 667), the jury in this case was not
    reasonably likely to understand the prosecutor’s comments as diminishing the
    prosecution’s burden of proof. We therefore conclude there was no prosecutorial error.
    Because we conclude there was no prosecutorial error, Meneses’s argument
    his trial counsel was ineffective for failure to object to the prosecutor’s statements
    challenged on appeal is without merit.
    DISPOSITION
    The judgment is affirmed.
    FYBEL, J.
    WE CONCUR:
    O’LEARY, P. J.
    BEDSWORTH, J.
    15
    Filed 10/11/19
    CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION
    IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
    FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
    DIVISION THREE
    THE PEOPLE,
    Plaintiff and Respondent,                         G055942
    v.                                            (Super. Ct. No. 15CF1683)
    CESAR MENESES,                                        ORDER
    Defendant and Appellant.
    As it appears that our opinion filed on October 10, 2019 meets the
    standards set forth in California Rules of Court, rule 8.1105(c)(2), (6), and (7), on our
    own motion, we order the opinion published in the Official Reports.
    FYBEL, J.
    WE CONCUR:
    O’LEARY, P. J.
    BEDSWORTH, J.
    

Document Info

Docket Number: G055942

Filed Date: 10/11/2019

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 10/11/2019