Opinion ID: 2525436
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: TESTIMONY OF NIKKI GREENER McDERMAID

Text: ¶ 53 Defendant next argues that the trial court erred by not declaring a mistrial after the testimony of Nikki Greener McDermaid. McDermaid testified that she ended her friendship with defendant because she had heard that Travis was bad news. [10] Defendant objected, and the trial judge immediately ordered the statement to be stricken and advised the jury to disregard it. The remainder of McDermaid's testimony was directed toward defendant's neglectful attitude and behavior toward Breanna. She testified that defendant had little or no physical contact with Breanna, that defendant rarely picked up Breanna when she cried, and that defendant failed on occasion to feed Breanna. She also stated that defendant would often assign J.W. and C.W. to care for Breanna, including giving the baby her bottle or putting her in a swing. At the end of McDermaid's testimony, defendant first moved to strike the entire testimony and asked for a curative instruction, then requested a mistrial. The court denied the motion for mistrial, but granted defendant's request to strike McDermaid's entire testimony on the ground that the evidence of neglect was not particularly relevant to the abuse charges. The court instructed the jury that it was not to consider any of McDermaid's testimony. ¶ 54 A trial court's denial of a motion for mistrial will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion. State v. Robertson, 932 P.2d 1219, 1230-31 (Utah 1997). This is because the trial court is in the best position to determine whether the incident prejudiced the jury. See id. Therefore, we will not find an abuse of discretion unless a review of the record shows that the court's decision is plainly wrong in that the incident so likely influenced the jury that the defendant cannot be said to have a fair trial. Id. ¶ 55 Here, there is no indication that McDermaid's testimony so influenced the jury that defendant did not have a fair trial. First, the testimony of defendant's neglect of Breanna was not particularly inflammatory in light of the abundant evidence that defendant physically abused all of her children as infants, including breaking their bones and otherwise treating them roughly. Second, McDermaid's comment that Travis was bad news was not inflammatory toward defendant because defendant was not the one to whom McDermaid's comment referred. McDermaid was not a critical witness to the State, and defendant points to nothing in the record that suggests the jury was influenced by her testimony. Therefore, defendant was not prejudiced and the trial court was well within its discretion in striking the testimony rather than declaring a mistrial.