Opinion ID: 1518737
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Prosecutor's Remarks on Appellant's Right to Remain Silent

Text: For his first point for reversal, Appellant argues that the trial court erred in failing to declare a mistrial due to the following remarks made by the prosecutor in opening statement: The presentation of this case which you're going to hear about are the events, primarily, of the early morning of the 6th day of October, 1994. And the thing that you have to realize is that, from the start of this, Mr. Smith was the only person alive who was present. He's the only person alive who was present on the scene. On that morning, he got an opportunity then and he will get an opportunity in this courtroom, through the tapes and the other evidence we'll introduce, to present what he claims happened. The prosecutor then went on to recite what he expected the State's evidence would prove during the course of the trial, including the substance of a taped interview that Appellant gave to police that same day. At the conclusion of the prosecutor's opening statement, Appellant moved for a mistrial on the ground that the remarks amounted to an improper reference to his right to remain silent. The trial judge denied the motion because he did not believe the reference to be significant. On appeal, Appellant contends that the prosecutor's remarks violated his rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution to remain silent and not be compelled to be a witness against himself. Specifically, Appellant argues that the remarks emphasized the fact that he was the only person present at the scene and intimated that only his personal testimony could rebut the evidence against him. We do not reach the merits of this argument because Appellant failed to make a contemporaneous objection below. In order to be timely, an objection must be contemporaneous, or nearly so, with the alleged error. Jones v. State, 326 Ark. 61, 931 S.W.2d 83 (1996). To preserve a point for appeal, a proper objection must be asserted at the first opportunity after the matter to which objection has been made occurs. Asher v. State, 303 Ark. 202, 795 S.W.2d 350 (1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1048, 111 S.Ct. 757, 112 L.Ed.2d 777 (1991). Where the allegation of error concerns a statement made by the prosecutor during argument, the defendant must make an immediate objection to the statement at issue in order to preserve the allegation for appeal. Wallace v. State, 53 Ark.App. 199, 920 S.W.2d 864 (1996) (citing Butler Mfg. Co. v. Hughes, 292 Ark. 198, 729 S.W.2d 142 (1987)). In Butler , this court specifically rejected the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals' holding in Lange v. Schultz, 627 F.2d 122 (8th Cir.1980), that counsel may reserve his or her objection to statements made in closing argument until the end of the argument, before the case is submitted to the jury. This court held: We decline to follow the Eighth Circuit's position and instead require a timely objection, made at the time the alleged error occurs, so that the trial judge may take such action as is necessary to alleviate any prejudicial effect on the jury. Butler Mfg. Co., 292 Ark. 198, 202, 729 S.W.2d 142, 144. See also Steffen v. State, 267 Ark. 402, 590 S.W.2d 302 (1979). Such reasoning is equally applicable to alleged errors made in opening statement. Similarly, this court has repeatedly held that motions for mistrial must be made at the first opportunity. Esmeyer v. State, 325 Ark. 491, 930 S.W.2d 302 (1996); Turner v. State, 325 Ark. 237, 926 S.W.2d 843 (1996); Johnson v. State, 325 Ark. 197, 926 S.W.2d 837 (1996). In Dixon v. State, 310 Ark. 460, 839 S.W.2d 173 (1992), this court held that the appellant's motion for mistrial based upon improper comments made by the prosecutor during opening statement was untimely because it was not made until after the conclusion of appellant's opening statement. This court reasoned that it was proper to deny a motion for a mistrial when the request was not made at the first opportunity, even though the motion had been preceded by two defense objections sustained by the trial court. Id. (citing Dumond v. State, 290 Ark. 595, 721 S.W.2d 663 (1986)). Here, the particular comments were made by the prosecutor in the middle of his opening statement. Appellant did not object or move for a mistrial at the time the statements were made; instead, he waited until the prosecutor had finished his entire opening statement before bringing the alleged error to the trial court's attention through his motion for mistrial. Accordingly, it was not error for the trial court to deny the motion as it was untimely made.