Opinion ID: 1058506
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Failure to Declare a Mistrial

Text: The defendant further maintains that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a mistrial given the prosecutorial misconduct in presenting Nichole Black's testimony. During its rebuttal, the prosecution called Nichole Black, one of the sisters held in the apartment on the night of Vernon Green's murder. Black testified that the defendant had been in the apartment on the night in question. On redirect examination, the prosecutor handed Black a photograph and asked if she could identify the person in the photograph. Defense counsel objected to the identification, and the trial court held a jury-out hearing. Ultimately, the trial court excluded Black's testimony and ordered it entirely stricken from the record because the prosecution had failed to inform defense counsel that Black had made a prior identification of the defendant. Although the trial court denied the defendant's request for a mistrial, the trial court instructed the jury to disregard Black's testimony. The decision of whether to grant or deny a motion for a mistrial rests within the sound discretion of the trial court. A mistrial should be declared only upon a showing of manifest necessity. State v. Saylor, 117 S.W.3d 239, 250-51 (Tenn.2003). In other words, a mistrial is an appropriate remedy when a trial cannot continue, or a miscarriage of justice would result if it did. State v. Land, 34 S.W.3d 516, 527 (Tenn.Crim.App.2000). Appellate courts should not reverse a trial court's decision denying a request for a mistrial absent a clear showing that the trial court abused its discretion. State v. Reid, 91 S.W.3d 247, 279 (Tenn.2002). The record in this case supports the trial court's decision and demonstrates no abuse of discretion. Nichole Black testified that even though the power was out in her apartment on April 30, 1997, she had observed a man for approximately thirty seconds by the light of a small pocket pager held near her face and that the man in the photograph looked like the man she observed. Nichole Black had just previously testified that no one in the courtroom, including the defendant, was at her apartment the night of Green's abduction and murder. Viewing it as a whole, Nichole Black's testimony was uncertain and vague. The trial judge twice instructed the jury to disregard her testimony in its entirety. Jurors are presumed to follow the instructions of the court. Reid, 91 S.W.3d at 279; Stout, 46 S.W.3d at 715; State v. Williams, 977 S.W.2d 101, 106 (Tenn.1998). Under these circumstances, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying the defendant's request for a mistrial. This issue is without merit.