State v. Turgeon

On September 23, 1991, the defendant, Normand Turgeon, was convicted in Superior Court (Groff, J.) of arson, RSA 634:1 (1986). The defendant unsuccessfully moved to set aside the jury verdict on the ground that the prosecutor’s closing argument improperly commented on the defendant’s failure to testify. For the following reasons, we affirm.

During the defendant’s opening statement, counsel suggested that the defendant was intoxicated and that the fire started by accident. The prosecutor, in the State’s closing argument, responded to the defense counsel’s suggestions of accident as follows:

“The…