DENVER — Although a single improper statement by a prosecutor during trial will rarely lead to the reversal of a defendant's convictions, Colorado's second-highest court last week decided such an extraordinary consequence was necessary — overturning a man's second-degree murder conviction and 48-year prison sentence.
A jury convicted Cain Wilkens in 2018 of murdering his wife, Clarissa "Claire" Wilkens. His defense insisted Claire had died by suicide in the couple's home or, if Wilkens had shot her, he was too intoxicated to do so intentionally. Although Wilkens advanced multiple arguments on appeal, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals determined one sentence of the prosecutor's closing argument stood out so noticeably it may have affected the verdict.
"Find him guilty," the prosecutor told jurors moments before they would decide the case. "Hold him accountable for what he did, for the orphan he made their child."
Prosecutors' arguments pressuring a jury to "do its job" by convicting a defendant have long been labeled as misconduct, including by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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