Opinion ID: 1919690
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The prosecution vilified the defendant, comparing him to Adolf Hitler, in their attempts to divert the jury from the legislatively mandated factors for deciding punishment.

Text: Davis argues that the following remark, made during closing argument in the guilt phase, warrants reversal of Davis' conviction and death penalty: BY MR. PETERS: I see what I call shark eyes, cold, dead eyes that have no soul behind them, no glitter, a killer's eyes. BY MR. COXWELL: Your Honor, I object  .... BY THE COURT: Sustained. Members of the jury, you'll disregard the last remarks of Mr. Delaughter. Where serious and irreparable damage has not resulted from an objectionable closing comment, the trial judge can cure or remedy the situation by admonishing the jury to disregard the statement. Alexander v. State, 602 So.2d 1180 (Miss. 1992). In the case sub judice, Davis objected to the comments and the trial judge sustained the objection and admonished the jury to disregard the prosecutor's comments. A timely objection properly sustained with instructions to the jury to disregard the prosecutor's comments is generally sufficient to dissipate any taint of prejudice. McFee v. State, 511 So.2d 130 (Miss. 1987). The prosecutor's comment did not irreparably damage Davis' defense and thus, this comment does not warrant a reversal of Davis' conviction. Davis next argues that the following statement made by the prosecutor during the penalty phase warrants reversal: As a boy, Hitler sang in the choir and aspired to be a priest. But, ladies and gentlemen, when you reach adulthood things change. When I was a child, I acted like a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I set aside childish things. Davis did not object to this comment at trial nor did he assign this comment as a ground for receiving a new trial in his post-trial motion. Therefore, Davis is procedurally barred from raising this argument on appeal. Foster, 639 So.2d at 1289; Watts v. State, 492 So.2d 1281, 1291 (Miss. 1986).