State v. Williams

Defendant assigns as error the court’s denial of his motion for a mistrial. The record discloses that when this case was called for trial a deputy sheriff brought a rifle and a coat into the courtroom in the presence of the prospective jurors. Before the selection of the jury, the defendant moved that the court declare a mistrial. The motion was denied and the court ordered that the gun and coat be removed from the courtroom. During the trial, Danny Burton Wilkins, victim of the robbery, identified the rifle as the one used by the person that robbed him of approximately $140.00 at about 2:00…