Opinion ID: 437695
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Bullet-Proof Vests.

Text: 51 During cross-examination by Hans' attorney, Grzybowski on several occasions volunteered information about bullet-proof vests and flak-jackets. Hans' attorney did not move to strike her answers during cross-examination. He finally moved for a mistrial after she had not only mentioned the vests again during re-direct, but also testified that Bauman had discussed with Hans using them in a future bank robbery. Hans' attorney put forward two grounds to support his motion: that Grzybowski's answers were unresponsive and that they prejudiced Hans because the jury would see them as evidence of future crimes and be more likely to convict. 52 The trial judge's immediate reaction was to sustain the objection, but he told lawyers that [w]e'll leave the record where it is. Once the jurors were recalled, the judge gave no indication to them that he was sustaining Hans' objections. Shortly after Grzybowski's testimony, the government rested. The judge excused the jurors and, during the conference that followed, he reversed his prior ruling on Grzybowski's testimony. He concluded that her statements were both spontaneous and responsive and that they were therefore admissible. 53 The motion for mistrial was not made until the vests had been mentioned by Grzybowski several times. Hans' attorney erred in not bringing Grzybowski's testimony to the judge's attention when she first mentioned the vests, so that the judge could instruct her to not mention them again. Nevertheless, when defense counsel ultimately made an objection, the judge should have struck the testimony and instructed the jurors to disregard it. However, because we have held that Hans is otherwise entitled to a new trial, we need not reach the question whether the trial judge erred in not granting a mistrial on the basis of this testimony. 54