State v. Brown

Summary

The court affirmed Brown's convictions and sentence, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying his motions for a mistrial and new trial, and did not err in redacting irrelevant portions of a defense exhibit. The court found one prosecutorial error in telling jurors to direct concerns about the police investigation to the police chief rather than consider them in deliberations, but concluded the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The court also clarified that mistrial and new-trial rulings are reviewed for abuse of discretion and disapproved reliance on an undefined "fundamental failure" standard.