Opinion ID: 1687603
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The trial court's denial of defense counsel's request to admonish.

Text: ¶ 15. Cavett further argues that the trial judge should have granted defense counsel's request to admonish the jury to disregard witness testimony on two occasions. These requests to admonish arose after the trial court sustained defense objections. The trial judge found that, at least with regard to one of the requests, a contemporaneous admonition would have drawn even more attention to the objectionable matter. Furthermore, although the trial judge denied the contemporaneous requests for an admonition, he subsequently gave a written instruction admonishing the jury to disregard all excluded evidence. ¶ 16. Cavett argues that, when the trial judge sustained the objections and denied the request to admonish the jury, it can only be presumed that [the jury] considered the incompetent testimony. However, [a]s this Court has oft-stated: `Our criminal justice system necessarily proceeds on the premise that jurors take their responsibilities quite seriously,' and this Court `presume[s] as a matter of institutional imperative that our jurors respect the law as they are instructed by the court.' Alexander v. State, 602 So.2d 1180, 1183 (Miss.1992) (quoting Middlebrook v. State, 555 So.2d 1009, 1013 (Miss. 1990)). See also Hoops v. State, 681 So.2d 521, 528-29 (Miss.1996) (jury is presumed to have followed trial judge's admonition to disregard witness's inappropriate remarks). ¶ 17. Moreover, [i]t is the well established rule in Mississippi that where a trial judge sustains an objection to testimony interposed by the defense in a criminal case and instructs the jury to disregard it, the remedial acts of the court are usually deemed sufficient to remove any prejudicial effect from the mind of the jurors. The jury is presumed to have followed the directions of the trial judge. Vickery v. State, 535 So.2d 1371, 1380 (Miss. 1988) (citations omitted). ¶ 18. Cavett's timely objections were sustained. Moreover, at least with regard to the second request of admonition, the trial judge ruled that a contemporaneous admonition would have drawn further attention to the objectionable comment. Subsequently, at the conclusion of the presentation of all evidence, the trial judge gave a written instruction to the jury to disregard such comments. Therefore, this issue is without merit.