Opinion ID: 1782423
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Failure to move for a mistrial when the district attorney questioned mitigation witnesses about alleged bad conduct of the defendant.

Text: ¶ 48. Turner maintains that his attorneys should have requested a mistrial when the district attorney asked defense witnesses if they were aware of allegations that Turner had beaten his mother and threatened his stepfather. Turner argues that the questioning was improper in that the State never offered proof that the damaging allegations were true. He claims that counsel were ineffective in failing to cite Flowers v. State, 773 So.2d 309 (Miss.2000). The State points out that the Flowers decision was handed down after Turner's case was decided by this Court. Citing Flowers, therefore, would have been impossible. ¶ 49. We again note that this Court dealt with the same issue on direct appeal. The Court found that Turner had put his character into play by introducing evidence that he was a good and normal child. The Court found that the State was authorized to rebut that testimony with evidence of bad conduct. Turner, 732 So.2d at 950. As the Court has already found that the questions were permissible, Turner cannot show that his attorneys were ineffective in failing to seek a mistrial on that issue.