The prosecution’s use of the terms “monsters” and “predators” did not violate the Racial Justice Act (PC 745). Appellants argued that the RJA forbids the use of such dehumanizing terms against persons of color. Although the Court agreed the term “monster” may be suggestive of an animal/beast and should generally not be used to describe defendants, here the prosecutor’s use of the term twice during the fairly lengthy closing was “in the context of describing the defendants’ vicious crime.” Characterizing defendants’ conduct as predatory was justified based on the evidence.

The full opinion is available on the court’s website here: https://www4.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A165276.PDF