Opinion ID: 853805
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Improper Statement by Deputy Prosecutor

Text: Williams next asserts that his motion for mistrial should have been granted based on the deputy prosecutor's inadvertent use of the word testimony when referring to Williams' recorded statement to the police. (Appellant's Br. at 8-10.) Even some constitutional errors do not require a new trial if the error was `harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.' Leach v. State, 699 N.E.2d 641, 643 (Ind.1998) (quoting Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967)). A prosecutor's improper comment on a defendant's silence at trial is one type of trial error that is to be assessed using harmless error analysis. Leach, 699 N.E.2d at 643 n. 3 (citing Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 310-11, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991)). In determining whether a mistrial is warranted, the relevant inquiry is whether the defendant was placed in a position of grave peril to which he should not have been subjected; the gravity of the peril is determined by the probable persuasive effect on the jury's decision. Leach, 699 N.E.2d at 644 (citing Tompkins v. State, 669 N.E.2d 394, 398 (Ind. 1996)). The single inadvertent misstatement by the deputy prosecutor did not place Williams in the grave peril required to justify a mistrial. The jury had previously been instructed regarding Williams' testimony in the courtroom, and was reminded of that instruction as part of the admonition following the misstatement. The defense did not raise its objection to the terminology until the conclusion of the deputy prosecutor's opening statement. In response to the objection, the trial court promptly issued an admonition to the jury to clarify the reference. The wording of the admonition focused on the statement by Williams to which the deputy prosecutor had been referring, thereby providing proper clarification and at the same time drawing minimal attention to the issue of Williams' testimony, or lack thereof, at trial. (R. at 163.) Counsel offers little support for her bare assertion that, with or without the initial instruction and curative admonition, the single misstatement in the deputy prosecutor's opening statement would have had a prejudicial impact on the minds of the jurors. ( See Appellant's Br. at 10.) Based on the nature of the improper statement (a one-word error in an opening statement), the mitigating measures taken by the trial court (the instruction and admonition), and the overwhelming nature of the evidence presented at trial (the matching palm print and blood and Williams' own statement), the misstatement constituted harmless error, and the trial court correctly denied Williams' motion for a mistrial.