Opinion ID: 2081607
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: Final Argument of the Prosecutor

Text: In his brief the defendant sets out numerous statements made by the prosecutor during final argument, to all but one of which no objection was made. Defendant asserts that no objection was possible without revealing certain things to the jury in each instance. Defense counsel could, however, have stated his grounds for objection outside the hearing of the jury. The arguments are not preserved for review because of the failure to make a timely objection. Maldonado v. State (1976) Ind., 355 N.E.2d 843. The remaining argument arose from the following portion of final argument: Prosecutor: Their only defense is the glasses and the picture of the leg, and they haven't got a defense. Defense Counsel: Your Honor, we object, and move for a mistrial on the prosecutor's comment, and [on] failure to produce. The court overruled the objection and motion for mistrial and instructed the jury that they were to base their verdict on the law and the evidence as aided by the instructions. On brief to this Court the defendant has argued that the prosecutor impermissibly commented on the defendant's failure to testify. Whatever the objection failure to produce may mean, it would not seem to encompass a comment on the accused's failure to testify. Grounds for objection not raised at trial are not preserved for review. Strickland v. State, supra .