Donnelly v. DeChristoforo

. Mr. Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. . Respondent was tried before a jury in Massachusetts Superior Court and convicted of first-degree murder.[1] The jury recommended that the death penalty not be imposed, and respondent was sentenced to life imprisonment. He appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts contending, inter alia, that certain of the prosecutor’s remarks during closing argument deprived him of his constitutional right to a fair trial. The Supreme Judicial Court' affirmed.[2] That court acknowledged that the prosecutor had made improper remarks, but determined that they were not so prejudicial as to require reversal.

Respondent then sought habeas corpus relief in the United States District Court for the District of Massa [*639] chusetts. The District Court denied relief, stating: “[T]he prosecutor’s arguments were'not so prejudicial as to deprive [DeChristoforo] of his constitutional right to a fair trial.” [3] The Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed by a divided vote.[4] The majority held that the prosecutor’s remarks deliberately conveyed the false impression that respondent had unsuccessfully sought to plead to a lesser charge and that this conduct was a denial of due process. We granted certiorari, 414 U. S. 974 (1973), to consider whether such remarks, in the context of the entire trial, were sufficiently prejudicial to violate respondent’s due process rights. We hold they were not and so reverse.

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