When should the judge take action regarding prosecutorial comments?

The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently affirmed a criminal conviction in a murder case, rejecting the contention that the trial judge failed to intervene in the prosecutor's closing argument. The defendant argued that the trial court erred by failing to intervene during the prosecutor's closing remarks, but the Court of Appeals found that the remarks were not grossly improper. For this reason it concluded that even though the lower court did not do anything, the remarks did not rise to the level of prejudice that would warrant a new trial.