Opinion ID: 884422
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Did the District Court abuse its discretion in refusing to declare a mistrial?

Text: During trial, April testified regarding the gun Corliss used to shoot her, Kimberly and Brenda. She testified that the gun was old and that it looked like a gun from a western movie; she noted that Corliss had to pull back the hammer before firing each shot. April also testified that the gun was from the 1800s and that [t]he expert witness that testified at [Corliss' criminal trial in Washington] said because of the grooves in the bullet, the slug that came through [her], and the depth of them, it was an older gun. It hadn't been cleaned for quite sometime, over many years and it had worn grooves into it to make the grooves into the slug. The State timely objected to this latter testimony and the District Court overruled the State's objection. The court also denied the State's related motion to strike the testimony regarding the year the gun was manufactured. A week later, as the trial was drawing to a close, the State moved for a mistrial. In addition to renewing its argument that April's testimony was inadmissible, the gravamen of the State's motion was an allegation that Starkenburg's counsel had knowingly presented false testimony by April. In this regard, the State advised the District Court that it had obtained a transcript of Corliss' criminal trial and that the expert witness did not testify that the gun Corliss used was from the 1800s or was an older gun. The allegation of knowing presentation of false testimony was premised on the fact that Starkenburg's counsel already had obtained the transcript and, therefore, had known all alongand concealed from the courtthat April's testimony was false. Starkenburg's counsel denied knowingly presenting false testimony. He stated that, while April's recollection of the expert testimony at the criminal trial may have been erroneous, she left Corliss' criminal trial with the impression that the gun was a late 1800s gun. The District Court reviewed April's testimony and the testimony at issue from Corliss' criminal trial. It concluded that April's erroneous characterization of the criminal trial record was based on her own impressions of what she heard at that trial. On that basis, the court rejected the State's contention that Starkenburg's counsel knowingly put on false testimony and denied the State's motion for a mistrial. Raising again both the inadmissibility of April's testimony and the knowing presentation of false testimony by Starkenburg's counsel, the State argues on appeal that the District Court erred in refusing to grant a mistrial. We review a trial court's denial of a motion for mistrial in a civil case for abuse of discretion. Dees v. American Nat'l Fire Ins. Co. (1993), 260 Mont. 431, 443, 861 P.2d 141, 148 (citing Kuhnke v. Fisher (1987), 227 Mont. 62, 68, 740 P.2d 625, 628). We address the State's arguments on admissibility and knowing presentation of false testimony in turn.