Opinion ID: 1935215
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: prosecution's opening statement

Text: The defendant's initial ground for appeal is that remarks made in the prosecutor's opening statement were inflammatory and prejudicial. Therefore, according to defendant, the trial justice erred in denying defendant's motion to pass the case and declare a mistrial, notwithstanding the trial justice's curative instructions to the jury. Specifically, defendant points to the following statements made by the prosecutor: Good afternoon, your Honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. At this point I have the opportunity to make an opening statement to you about what the State intends to prove during the course of this trial. You are about to hear a very sad story. You are about to hear about a young lady, twenty-two years old, who was brutally murdered when she walked into her basement to do her laundry. You are about to hear a lot of witnesses. You are going to hear about a lot of events. But when it's all said and done, what you are going to hear, what you are going to remember, is the arrogance of this man who boasted about having committed this horrible crime. At this point defense counsel objected that [t]his is argument, this is final argument. The trial justice agreed, admonishing the prosecutor that he should refrain from making final argument. After apologizing to the court, the prosecutor began anew, stating: You will hear the statements of the defendant to his friends, to his neighbors, and to virtually strangers that he committed this crime. Not only that he committed this crime, but that he would slide, his own words. That he would beat the crime. But ten years later, we are here. And he must face, you, the jury. The problem in this tale is two fold. First of all, it's ten years. There are a lot of events that have happened. Again defense counsel objected and made a motion to pass the case stating that the comments of the prosecutor are inflammatory and designed to prejudice the jury. He was admonished on one occasion and persisted in doing it, your honor. The court denied the motion to pass but admonished the jury: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the prosecutor in his opening remarks made some generalizations to you and some characterizations. Those are most improper and you are instructed to totally disregard them, forget about them. Forget you've ever heard them. The trial justice then instructed the prosecutor to begin anew and tell the jury what the prosecution intended to prove. When a defendant objects to allegedly prejudicial remarks made by a prosecutor, the trial justice must evaluate whether the prejudicial effect, if any, is inexpiable. State v. Collazo, 446 A.2d 1006, 1010 (R.I. 1982); see State v. Ware, 524 A.2d 1110, 1112 (R.I. 1987). If the prejudicial impact is inexpiable, notwithstanding the trial justice's timely instructions, the motion to pass must be granted. Collazo, 446 A.2d at 1010. This court, like the trial justice, cannot utilize any fixed rule of law to determine whether a challenged remark is incurably prejudicial but instead must assess the probable effect of the remark within the factual context of the evidence presented. State v. Lane, 609 A.2d 633, 636 (R.I. 1992); Ware, 524 A.2d at 1112; Collazo, 446 A.2d at 1010. Incurable prejudice exists if the trial justice determines that the remark, within its factual context, so inflames the passions of the jury as to prevent their calm and dispassionate examination of the evidence. State v. Brown, 522 A.2d 208, 211 (R.I. 1987). Applying these precedents, we are persuaded that the prosecutor's statements, when viewed in their totality, were not so inflammatory as to prevent the jury from impartially rendering a verdict. As we have often noted, a decision on a motion to pass a case and declare a mistrial lies within the sound discretion of the trial justice and will not be disturbed on appeal unless clearly wrong. Ware, 524 A.2d at 1112; State v. Ucero, 450 A.2d 809, 814 (R.I. 1982). The rationale behind investing the trial justice with such extensive powers is that he or she possesses a `front row seat' at the trial and can best determine the effect of the improvident remarks upon the jury. State v. Pailin, 114 R.I. 725, 729, 339 A.2d 253, 255 (1975); see Ucero, 450 A.2d at 814. In the present case we believe the trial justice was well within his discretion in evaluating these remarks and was not clearly wrong in denying defendant's motion to pass. Although we believe these remarks would very well have been more suitable for final argument than the opening statement, we are of the opinion that these comments were not so flagrantly impermissible that even the cautionary instructions which were given were insufficient to assure defendant[] the fair and impartial trial which was [his] due. State v. Bowden, 113 R.I. 649, 654, 324 A.2d 631, 635 (1974). Given the nature of these remarks and the context in which they were made, the trial justice's curative instructions were both timely and effective. Collazo, 446 A.2d at 1010. Therefore, defendant was not deprived of his right to a jury's calm and dispassionate examination of the evidence. Brown, 522 A.2d at 211.