Chattanooga, Tenn. police say defendant confessed in unrecorded interrogation to stealing gun. There is no other proof, and the defendant denies confessing. On the stand, the prosecutor repeatedly calls the defendant a liar, forces him to characterize the officers’ testimony as a lie. He’s convicted. Sixth Circuit: The prosecutor’s comments were plainly improper but not flagrantly so. Moreover, defense counsel only objected to some of them. No need for a new trial. Dissent: “I would not rest twenty years of imprisonment on a missed objection.” (More on improper-but-not-flagrant conduct at Sixth Circuit Blog.)
