Gilliam v. United States

RUIZ, Associate Judge, Retired, concurring:

The opinion for the court does not address whether the prosecutor’s comments on the meaning of reasonable doubt were improper. Although I agree that in this case, the comments were rendered harmless by the trial court’s final correct instructions and the strength of the government’s case, I write separately to explain why I think the prosecutor’s comments in rebuttal were improper, to urge that prosecutors not attempt to restate in their arguments to the jury the carefully calibrated instruction on reasonable doubt the court endorsed in Smith v.…