State v. Sumlin

Melton, Justice.

The State appeals from the trial court’s grant of a mistrial over two months after the jury returned its verdict against Leroy Sumlin. Sumlin was tried for, among other things, felony murder in connection with the shooting death of Antonio Taylor. Testimony at trial established that bleach eviscerates gunshot residue on the skin, and during the State’s closing argument, the prosecutor washed her hands with a purported bleach solution and stated to the jurors that the solution did not burn her hands. Sumlin then moved for a mistrial, arguing that the closing-argument…