State v. Griffen

SHRUM, Presiding Judge.

A jury convicted John Griffen1 (Defendant) of possession of a controlled substance, § 195.202, RSMo 1994, a Class C felony. He was sentenced as a prior and persistent offender to a term of twenty years in the custody of the Department of Corrections.

*446Defendant appeals, claiming that the trial court abused its discretion in overruling his motion for mistrial. The request for mistrial came when a State’s witness entered the courtroom in violation of the court’s order excluding witnesses. We affirm.

FACTS

Defendant was a passenger in a motor vehicle that was stopped by a…