Opinion ID: 2535625
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: whether the trial court erred in allowing testimony referring to alice stapleton as the victim.

Text: ¶ 25. When this Court considers on appeal an assignment of error directed at the trial court's admission or exclusion of evidence, our standard of review is abuse of discretion. Clark v. State, 40 So.3d 531, 542 (Miss.2010) (citing Evans v. State, 25 So.3d 1054, 1057 (Miss.2010)). ¶ 26. Gilbert asserts that the trial court erred by allowing an expert witness for the State to refer to Stapleton as the victim. Gilbert previously had filed a motion in limine requesting that the trial court disallow any testimony referring to Stapleton as the victim; however, the trial court denied this motion. But the trial court granted Gilbert a continuing objection to the use of the term victim throughout the trial. ¶ 27. During Gilbert's trial, an expert witness testified to the results of DNA tests conducted on the blood stains on Gilbert's clothing. Gilbert asserts that the trial court erred in allowing the following testimony: There was one blood stain found on the pants that is consistent with the referenced blood stain sample of the victim. Therefore, Alice Stapleton is not excluded as a DNA donor to this sample. ¶ 28. While this Court has not reviewed the issue of a witness referring to an accuser as the victim, we find the reasoning of the Court of Appeals in Taconi v. State, 912 So.2d 154, 156-57 (Miss.Ct.App. 2005), to be sound, and accordingly adopt the holding. In Taconi, the Court of Appeals held that it was not reversible error for a prosecutor to refer to the accuser as the victim, despite the trial court previously having granted a motion in limine on those grounds. Id. ¶ 29. We find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the testimony referring to Stapleton as the victim. The trial court previously had denied Gilbert's motion in limine regarding the term victim, and the use of the word was isolated and not emphasized. Therefore, we find no merit in this assignment of error.