Atwell v. State

HARRIS, Judge.

During Cornell Atwell’s trial on possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, Officer Gibson (one of the officers involved in the arrest) answered the following question on cross-examination:

Q. So your testimony is you didn’t see anything that Mr. Atwell did, correct?

A. Not this time.

This response could, of course, imply to the jury that Officer Gibson had previously observed Mr. Atwell doing something illegal concerning cocaine.

Atwell’s motion for mistrial was denied. We reverse.

The court did give a curative instruction which, under normal circumstances, might have been…