Remote Control

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed an aggravated assault and battery conviction notwithstanding error by the prosecutor in closing argument in discussing the presumption of innocence and reasonable doubt.

The facts

On January 9, 2014, [victim] Ms. Lynch was at home when [defendant] Mr. Watts returned from work. The two argued when Ms. Lynch told Mr. Watts that she did not want him watching television in the same room in which she had been reading. Ms. Lynch testified that after a brief “hand skirmish” over the remote control, she walked to the telephone to call the television service provider and request that the service be disconnected. She explained that Mr. Watts followed her, and told her that if she had the service shut off, he was going to “knock me on my . . . ass.” Ms. Lynch responded, stating: “If you do that, you’d better make it a good one.” At that point, according to Ms. Lynch, Mr. Watts punched her in the face. She then remembered being on the floor with Mr. Watts standing over her and taunting her while she asked him to stop. After the altercation, Ms. Lynch went to the bathroom to tend to her wounds. She asked Mr. Watts, “What happened?” to which Mr. Watts responded that she “had fallen into the plant.” Ms. Lynch responded, stating: “Ernie [Mr. Watts], that isn’t what happened. You did this to me.” Ms. Lynch testified that she asked Mr. Watts to drive her to the hospital, but he refused, telling Ms. Lynch that she was fine. Ms. Lynch then drove herself to the hospital where she was treated. Ms. Lynch suffered a blow-out fracture to the right orbit which required surgery; nasal bone fractures; a minor subarachnoid bleed; a concussion; and lacerations to her upper and lower lip and eyebrow, which required sutures.

 The court

the prosecutor transgressed a clear and unequivocal rule of law when he defined reasonable doubt for the jury in his closing argument. Solis, 2013 WY 152, ¶ 46, 315 P.3d at 632 (“To be sure, it is error for a prosecutor to attempt to define ‘reasonable doubt’ for the jury.” (citing Blakely, 542 P.2d at 861)). The prosecutor’s statement was improper, and one which he should have known would deprive Mr. Watts of the right to a fair trial. He therefore committed misconduct when he defined reasonable doubt in this closing argument.

 But

While Mr. Watts has established that the prosecutor committed two errors which
transgressed clear and unequivocal rules of law, the accumulated effect of these errors
was not prejudicial. The statements made by the prosecutor were limited in scope, and
confined to closing arguments. “In general, we are reluctant to find plain error in closing
arguments lest ‘the trial court become [] charged with an adversary responsibility to
control argument even when objection is not taken by the opposing attorney.’”
Sanderson v. State, 2007 WY 127, ¶ 37, 165 P.3d 83, 93 (Wyo. 2007) (citations omitted).
In fact, the prosecutor’s statements encompassed less than thirty lines in a trial transcript of over 500 pages. See id. (The prosecutor’s actions are evaluated “within the context of the entire record and the argument as a whole.”). Moreover, the State produced extensive competent evidence establishing Mr. Watts’ guilt.

 (Mike Frisch)