Owens v. State

Blackburn, Chief Judge.

Following a jury trial, Billy Lee Owens appeals his conviction for theft by receiving stolen property, contending that the trial court erred by not granting a mistrial after a witness testified that he was on parole at the time he committed the offense. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

Motions for mistrial are largely in the discretion of the trial judge, especially where the cause of the motion lies in the voluntary remark of a witness not invited by the court or counsel, and, where the jury is properly instructed and the remark is not so flagrantly prejudicial…