Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
Evidence
Arrest, Search, and Investigation
Criminal Offenses
Drug Offenses
State v. Madonna, ___ N.C. App. ___, 806 S.E.2d 356 (Oct. 17, 2017)
In this murder case, the prosecutor’s statement that the defendant “can’t keep her knees together or her mouth shut” was “improperly abusive.” The defendant was charged with murdering her husband, and the State’s evidence indicated that she was having an affair with her therapist. However, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying the defendant’s motion for a mistrial--a “drastic remedy”--on grounds of the prosecutor’s improper statements.