State v. Ayers, 535 A.2d 330, 148 Vt. 421 (Vt. 1987)

State v. Ayers, 535 A.2d 330, 148 Vt. 421 (Vt. 1987)

There is a great risk that the jury will give special weight to this opinion because of the prestige of the prosecutor and the fact-finding facilities available to the office. See American Bar Ass'n, Standards for Criminal Justice, Standard 3-5.8, Commentary at 3-88. Further, statements of opinion suggest that the jury should treat the prosecutor's argument as evidence with the new evidence being the opinion of the prosecutor. Id. at 3-89. There is no question that the comments of the prosecutor crossed the line in this case. The case turned entirely on the credibility of the witnesses. If the jury believed the evidence of defendant's wife, there was no alternative to a finding of guilty. Thus, the jury could draw no other conclusion from the prosecutor's remarks than that he thought the defendant was guilty.

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