State v. Knowles

LAURA DENVIR STITH, Presiding Judge.

Keith Howard Knowles appeals his conviction of the Class A misdemeanor of stealing in violation of Section 570.030, RSMo 1994. He argues that the trial court erred in overruling his motion for a mistrial when a prosecution witness made the unsolicited comment that she had overheard someone accuse Mr. Knowles of wearing a stolen coat. We disagree. We find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion for mistrial and instead instructing the jury to disregard the comment, and later instructing the jury that Mr. Knowles had in fact…