Defense: officers' accusatory remarks in interrogation improperly vouched for guilt

During oral argument, defense counsel Chris Petrone pressed that portions of a recorded interrogation impermissibly conveyed police opinion about the defendant's veracity and guilt. Petrone argued those accusatory remarks were admitted in violation of ER 608A and the Demery line: "Pierre, Detective Frank Flores of the LA Police Department accused my client... he and 2 other detectives, accused my client of lying... a dozen times in a lengthy interrogation and the jury was presented with each of those instances without limitation at the trial." He urged the panel to treat the non-presidential lead opinion in Demery as non-controlling and to follow the five-justice majority principles instead.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Theodore Cropley responded that the transcript of the interrogation provides context and that jurors were specifically instructed to consider only the appellant's responses: "It is a very long interview. It takes up 100 pages of transcripts, multiple volumes." Cropley said the complained-of accusatory passages make up a relatively small portion of that record and argued the limiting instruction and the context of a long interrogation removed the risk of improper vouching.