State v. Barber

During the presentation of the State’s evidence a witness volunteered the statement that defendant “is AWOL from the Army”. Defendant’s objection and motion to strike were allowed, and the trial judge promptly and clearly instructed the jury to disregard the statement. Defendant immediately moved for a mistrial upon the grounds that the volunteered statement was prejudicial, and assigns as error the failure of the trial judge to order a mistrial. When the objectionable evidence is stricken and the jury instructed not to consider it, any prejudice is ordinarily cured. State v. Barrow, 276 N.C.…