Opinion ID: 2062499
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Requests for Mistrial

Text: Carter claims error from the trial court's denial of his two motions for mistrial, both of which arose out of statements made before the jury. The denial of a motion for mistrial will be reversed only upon a showing of an abuse of discretion by the trial court. Reversal is required only if the statement was so prejudicial as to have placed the defendant in a position of grave peril to which he should not have been subjected. The declaration of a mistrial is an extreme action which is warranted only when no other action can be expected to remedy the situation. Edwards v. State (1984), Ind., 466 N.E.2d 452, 455 (citations omitted). Carter contends the first mistrial should have been declared during the testimony of State's witness Carolyn Shelby, whose car was used in the robbery. The Court earlier had granted a motion in limine, barring evidence of any polygraphs conducted in the case. On cross-examination by Carter, Shelby testified that she did not know that Carter had used her car in the robberies until her discussions with the Kokomo police: Carter: What exactly did they tell you? Shelby: They told me that they thought David Carter had used my car in a robbery and I told them that I didn't know about it and I had to take a polygraph. The State objected, asking that the defense be instructed to refrain from further questioning about the polygraph. While Carter chided the State for inadequately instructing its witness concerning the order in limine, he did not object to admission of the testimony nor did he seek an admonition or a mistrial. Carter now claims that Shelby's answer was so prejudicial that the court should have ordered a mistrial sua sponte. Reference to a polygraph in most cases should not be permitted. Swan v. State (1978), 268 Ind. 317, 375 N.E.2d 198. Here, Carter arguably invited the improper reference. It generated at most minimal prejudice because the results of the polygraph were not revealed. Carter's waiver of this issue in the trial court is immaterial because a mistrial, whether on his motion or that of the court, simply was not merited. Carter contends that a mistrial also should have been declared during Logan's testimony. Logan stated that he accompanied Carter and a man identified only as Richie from Kokomo to Peru on July 29, 1981. Logan and Richie waited in the getaway car while Carter robbed the Super-X. With money in hand, Carter ran to the car and drove to a residential area in Peru. The three men waited in the parked car for several hours to avoid police detection before proceeding on rural roads toward Kokomo. After becoming lost, they stopped at a gas station, and Carter went inside to look at a map. Two police officers drove into the station. At this point in Logan's testimony, the following exchange occurred: Logan: They (the officers) started to go inside the store, and they gave us a real funny hard look, me and Richie when we was sitting in the car and they proceeded to go into the store and when they was going in, Davey was coming out and Davey came to the car and said told (sic) Richie, their ass is out, I mean I don't know what to say other than that. He told me that the field over there (sic) and if they come up here for me to take off running in the field, that he was not going back to the penitentiary... . State: Pardon ... I'm sorry. Logan: He said he was not going back to the penitentiary. Defense counsel moved for a mistrial on the basis of the penitentiary statement, noting that the court had entered an order in limine barring testimonial reference to Carter's prior convictions. The trial court denied the motion. Judge Embrey ruled that statements by a defendant relating to the crime or connected therewith are admissible, citing Taylor v. State (1982), Ind., 438 N.E.2d 294 (defendant's statement during rape that he had killed his mother properly admitted), and Roddy v. State (1970), 254 Ind. 50, 257 N.E.2d 816 (statement during rape that defendant was not going back to prison again properly admitted). The court offered to admonish the jury, but defense counsel declined, contending that an admonishment would not effectively cure the harm. Carter attempts to distinguish Taylor and Roddy by noting that the defendant's statements in those cases were made while the assaults were in progress, whereas his statement was made during his escape. Carter contends that a statement made more than three hours after criminal culpability attaches is not made during the commission of the crime. Reburn v. State (1981), Ind., 421 N.E.2d 604. Reburn does not stand for such a broad proposition and, in any case, is factually distinct. Reburn's statement was made at a hospital far from the scene of the crime after she had been questioned by police. Carter's statement, on the other hand, occurred as he and his confederates were trying to abscond with the robbery proceeds from the site of the robberies. His statement occurred during the commission of the crime and thus was properly admitted.