State of Missouri v. Austin D. Riley

PATRICIA L. COHEN, Judge.

Introduction

Austin Riley (Defendant) appeals from the judgment of conviction entered by the Circuit Court of the County of Monroe after a jury found him guilty of possession of a controlled substance. Defendant claims that the trial court erred in: (1) denying his motion for judgment of acquittal; (2) excluding evidence of an excited utterance; and (3) failing to sua sponte declare a mistrial or give a curative instruction during the prosecutor’s closing argument. We affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the…