State v. Walsh

Opinion of the Court by

ACOBA, J.

We hold that (1) in the criminal trial of a defendant, the prosecution’s statements that a testifying defendant “benefitted” from his trial presence and, thus, is less credible because he heard the testimony of other witnesses and heard during voir dire that eye contact with the jurors was an indicator of trustworthiness, constitute prohibited “generic tailoring” arguments; (2) prohibited generic tailoring arguments are reviewable as plain error inasmuch as they affect a defendant’s substantial constitutional rights; (3) standard jury instructions regarding…