Prosecutorial error; Vouching; People v Bahoda; Mistrial; Invited error; People v McPherson; Judicial bias; Piercing the veil of judicial impartiality; People v Stevens; Sentencing; Proportionality of a within-guidelines sentence; People v Posey

The court held that defendant was not denied a fair trial by prosecutorial error, the denial of a mistrial, or judicial bias, and that his within-guidelines sentence was proportionate. Defendant, a security guard, shot two people after an argument that began inside a grocery store and continued outside. The jury convicted him of two counts of AWIM and two counts of felony-firearm. On appeal, the court held that the prosecutor did not improperly vouch by cross-examining defendant about discrepancies between his testimony and other witnesses’ testimony because the prosecutor did not suggest special knowledge about witness truthfulness or inject a personal opinion. The court also held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying a mistrial after a police officer testified that the surveillance video did not appear to show self-defense because defense counsel’s own question invited the answer. As to judicial bias, the court held that the trial court’s interruptions during defendant’s testimony were proper efforts to control the proceedings because defendant repeatedly failed to answer questions directly or wait for questions to be completed, and the trial court also struck improper prosecutor remarks. Finally, the court held that defendant failed to overcome the nonbinding presumption that his within-guidelines AWIM sentence was proportionate, given the serious injuries, defendant’s opportunity to walk away, and the close-range second shot to one victim. Affirmed.