Opinion ID: 1781467
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Application in Goodwin

Text: With these principles in mind, we first review Goodwin. In Goodwin, the issue on appeal before the Fourth District was whether reversal was required because of allegedly impermissible bad neighborhood testimony. However, in Goodwin the trial court not only sustained the objection to the bad neighborhood testimony, but gave the jury a curative instruction to disregard the comment. The defendant then moved for a mistrial. The trial court reserved ruling on the motion until after trial at which time the motion for mistrial was denied. As explained by the Fourth District, similar testimony had already been admitted without objection. Goodwin, 721 So.2d at 728-29. This Court's case law states that a trial court's ruling on a motion for mistrial is subject to an abuse of discretion standard of review. See Cole v. State, 701 So.2d 845, 853 (Fla.1997), cert. denied, 523 U.S. 1051, 118 S.Ct. 1370, 140 L.Ed.2d 519 (1998); Power v. State, 605 So.2d 856, 860 (Fla.1992). [11] Recently we reaffirmed that a motion for mistrial should be granted only when it is necessary to ensure that the defendant receives a fair trial. Cole, 701 So.2d at 853; see also Terry v. State, 668 So.2d 954, 962 (Fla.1996). We held in Cole that because the complained-of remark was not so prejudicial as to require reversal, the trial court did not abuse its discretion. 701 So.2d at 853. Therefore, use of a harmless error analysis under DiGuilio is not necessary where, as occurred in Goodwin, the trial court recognized the error, sustained the objection and gave a curative instruction. Instead, the correct appellate standard is whether the trial court abused its discretion in its denial of a mistrial. In analyzing the abuse of discretion issue in Goodwin, it is necessary to determine whether the single improper remark, to which the trial court sustained an objection and gave a curative instruction, was so prejudicial as to deny defendant a fair trial. See Cole, 701 So.2d at 853. Accordingly, while we answer the certified question in the negative, we approve the result in Goodwin.