Opinion ID: 1058661
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Comments on Perjury

Text: Teleguz argues that the trial court erred when it denied his motion for a mistrial based on the Commonwealth's request that Pavel be taken into custody for perjury. Teleguz claims that the statement was heard by the jury and that the trial court's instruction to the jury to disregard what it may have heard was insufficient to overcome the prejudice created by the comment. We find no error by the trial court in its denial of Teleguz's mistrial motion. Regardless of whether the jurors heard the Commonwealth's Attorney's comment, jurors are presumed to follow the instructions provided by the trial court. Muhammad, 269 Va. at 524, 619 S.E.2d at 58 (citing Green v. Young, 264 Va. 604, 611, 571 S.E.2d 135, 139 (2002)). Nothing in the record suggests that the jurors acted otherwise. Accordingly, we reject this assignment of error.