Opinion ID: 1309759
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: witness collusion

Text: Pursuant to rule 615 of the Utah Rules of Evidence, the court granted defendant's motion to exclude all witnesses from the courtroom. While outside, one of the State's witnesses read an agent's report to refresh his recollection of the events of the evening on which the officers searched Marcus's apartment. He also talked to defendant's roommate (Stoddard) and a detective, who were both witnesses for the State, about what he remembered. Upon discovering this, defendant moved for a mistrial. The court admonished the witnesses to refrain from communicating with each other, found that there was no collusion, and denied defendant's motion. When an exclusion order has been violated, the burden is on the accused to demonstrate that he has been prejudiced to the extent that a mistrial should be granted. See State v. Carlson, 635 P.2d 72 (Utah 1981); State v. Dodge, 564 P.2d 312 (Utah 1977) (construing similar witness exclusion rule under prior rules of evidence). The witness testified that talking with the other witnesses did not jog his memory in any respect and that the report he read merely confirmed his recollection of what had happened during the search. There was no evidence or suggestion that any witness changed his testimony because of the conversations. We find no abuse of discretion in the court's denial of defendant's motion for a mistrial. We decline defendant's urging that we adopt the position taken in a dissent in State v. Dodge, supra , that prejudice is inherent in the violation of an order of exclusion.