Opinion ID: 1592074
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Whether the Circuit Court Erred in Overruling Sipp's Objection to the State's Closing Argument.

Text: ¶ 15. Sipp contends the circuit court erred by allowing the State to make a statement concerning the exact time Sipp returned to Gary Lewis's house the night of Kelly's murder. Sipp objected to the State's assertion of his presence at Lewis's home at a specific time because, Sipp argued, the exact time was not a fact in evidence. The circuit court overruled Sipp's objection and allowed the State to continue its closing argument. ¶ 16. We have stated that prosecutors are generally entitled to great latitude when framing a closing argument absent impermissible factors like commenting on a defendant's failure or refusal to testify. Dunaway v. State, 551 So.2d 162, 163-64 (Miss.1989). Prosecutors are bound to the facts introduced in evidence and to the fair and reasonable deduction[s] and conclusions to be drawn therefrom. Id. In the present case, the prosecutor was simply presenting to the jury his own deductions of Sipp's whereabouts based on witness testimony. As a finder of fact, the jury was free to accept or disregard the prosecutor's conclusions concerning the whereabouts of Sipp and were even encouraged to consider disregarding it by defense counsel's challenge. We do not find that the prosecutor's comments were of an impermissible nature.