State v. Lawrence

The defendant appeals from his conviction for attempted armed robbery at the Mill Restaurant in Winooski, Vermont, on September 26, 1976. The conviction resulted from trial by jury in the district court in November 1977. The defendant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction. His claims of prejudicial error arise out of the trial court’s denial of one of his challenges for cause, and from the prosecutor’s opening statement. We treat the latter issue first.

*599In his opening the prosecutor outlined the State’s case by-naming the witnesses it would call and the…