Perez

MEMORANDUM *

Alma Perez appeals her conviction for misappropriation of postal funds under 18 U.S.C. § 1711 following a jury trial. Perez argues that the district court inadequately investigated the possibility of juror bias and that her sentence must be vacated because the prosecutor improperly vouched and committed Griffin error by commenting on her failure to testify. See Griffin v. California, 380 U.S. 609, 615 , 85 S.Ct. 1229 , 14 L.Ed.2d 106 (1965). We review the district court’s decisions regarding incidents of jury misconduct for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Shryock, 342 F.3d 948, 973 (9th Cir.2003). Because Perez failed to object to the prosecutor’s statements at trial, we review her prosecutorial misconduct claims under the plain error standard. See United States v. Bracy, 67 F.3d 1421, 1431 (9th Cir.1995).

I. Juror Bias

After dismissing Juror # 4 for telling another juror Perez was a “thief,” the district judge addressed the remaining jurors as a group and asked them to let the *670 court know if anybody had expressed views about Perez’s guilt or innocence or about the weight of the evidence against Perez. The judge allowed the jurors to return to the jury…