People v. Sykes

Defendant was convicted, after jury trial, of misdemeanor theft. Court erred in allowing witness, store's loss prevention manager, to narrate contents of poor-quality video played for jury. Witness's testimony as to his observations from original VHS surveillance video recording he viewed on VCR that recorded video was inadmissible lay opinion testimony and invaded province of jury; witness did not have firsthand knowledge of events shown. Prosecutor improperly argued to jury that witness is not paid based on number of thieves he catches and thus witness had no reason to lie, which was improper speculation and improperly bolstered witness's testimony and credibility. (TURNER and KNECHT, concurring.)