Opinion ID: 1872240
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Other Matters at Trial.

Text: Mason made two motions for mistrial during the course of the trial. The first motion for mistrial occurred during jury selection. Prior to jury selection, the court had granted Mason's motion to allow him to wear civilian clothing and to remove all visible restraints in order to shield the jury from the fact that Mason was in jail during the pendency of the trial. During voir dire, jurors had been asked if they knew anyone in the courtroom. At the end of voir dire, the State asked if anyone for whatever reason would answer something different or wants to offer any other opinions. One potential juror stated that there is [sic] two people that have changed in this room since this morning and I do know one of them fairly close. The prospective juror stated that the person he knew was [y]our transport jailer. The State did not pursue the issue, and the prospective juror gave no further elaboration. Immediately thereafter, the proceedings were adjourned, and after recess, before the prospective jurors returned, Mason moved for mistrial based on the potential juror's identification of a person in the courtroom as a transport jailer. The motion was denied. Further, Mason rejected the court's offer to instruct the other potential jurors to ignore the comment, reasoning that such instruction would draw their attention to the comment. Jury selection continued. The second motion for mistrial occurred during Prentice's testimony. Prior to trial, the court had sustained a motion in limine preventing witnesses from testifying about their own or others' participation in gangs. During direct examination, the State asked Prentice why he initially lied to the police. Prentice replied that he was scared, that he was protecting his brother, and that ifwell, where I grew up, if you sit there and tell somebody it can probably mean your life. Defense counsel immediately approached the bench and moved for mistrial, arguing that Prentice's answer violated the motion in limine against testimony regarding gang affiliation. The court denied the motion for mistrial, and Prentice's testimony continued. At the final jury instruction conference, Mason requested a lesser-included offense instruction on robbery and attempted robbery as lesser-included offenses of felony murder. The court refused the instruction. The jury found Mason guilty of first degree murder and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony. The court sentenced Mason to life imprisonment on the murder conviction and to a consecutive term of 10 to 25 years' imprisonment on the weapon conviction. Mason appeals.