Fair Response

The Maryland Court of Appeals held that a prosecutor's rebuttal closing argument fairly commented on the closing argument of defense counsel. Defense counsel had called the jury's attention to potential witnesses that the State had not called and suggested that the jury should have been able to hear from the missing witnesses. The prosecutor then argued that the defense could have issued subpoenas for those witnesses to testify. The court concluded that the defense had opened the door to the response. The comments did not shift the burden of proof. (Mike Frisch)