Opinion ID: 1706565
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 21

Heading: Limitation on Content

Text: Willie next argues that his right to a fair trial was denied when the trial judge limited the content of his closing argument during the sentencing phase. The judge sustained the State's objection to the defense reading a few paragraphs from an article in the Jackson Daily News, which Willie alleges was a philosophical statement against the death penalty. We do not reach the issue of whether the trial judge abused his discretion by refusing to allow the article to be read to the jury because Willie failed to produce the article for this Court to review. For this reason, we must defer to the trial judge's finding of fact on this issue. Were we to address the merits, we would find that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion. We previously have found improper, remarks attacking the propriety of the death penalty because the propriety was not at issue and the remarks were designed to excite the passions or prejudices of the jury. Johnson v. State, 416 So.2d 383, 392 (Miss. 1982); cf. Wilcher v. State, 448 So.2d 927, 942 (Miss. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 873, 105 S.Ct. 231, 83 L.Ed.2d 160 (1984). Moreover, unless the content limitation denied Willie a fundamentally fair trial, we would not reverse. Pinkney v. State, 538 So.2d 329, 358 (Miss. 1988), vacated on other grounds, ___ U.S. ___, 110 S.Ct. 1800, 108 L.Ed.2d 931 (1990). The judge's refusal of this article did not deny Willie a fair trial.