State v. Schultz

Supreme Court of Minnesota

State v. Schultz

262 N.W.2d 411, 1978 Minn. LEXIS 1421

CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota

DecidedJanuary 6, 1978

Docket47284

StatusPublished

Cited by5 cases

This text of 262 N.W.2d 411 (State v. Schultz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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State v. Schultz, 262 N.W.2d 411, 1978 Minn. LEXIS 1421 (Mich. 1978).

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PER CURIAM.

Defendant, who was found guilty by a district court jury of aggravated rape, Minn.St.1974, § 609.291(2), and indecent liberties, Minn.St.1974, § 609.296, subd. 1(2), appeals from an order denying his post-trial motion for a new trial. The sole issue on appeal is whether the prosecutor committed prejudicial misconduct in his closing argument by expressing his personal opinion of defendant’s guilt. While the prosecutor did use expressions of personal opinion, we do not believe that the prosecutor’s comments prejudiced defendant. See, State v. Prettyman, 293 Minn. 493, 198 N.W.2d 156 (1972).

Although defense counsel did not object to the prosecutor’s argument until after the jury retired to deliberate and did not seek curative instructions, the trial court, on its own, did caution the jury that it should consider only the evidence and that counsel’s statements were not evidence. Further, the evidence of defendant’s guilt was adequate, the closing argument of the prosecutor was otherwise proper, and the trial court, in denying the motion for a new trial, stated that it was convinced the comments did not-prejudice defendant. Under all the circumstances, and applying the test of whether the error likely played a substantial part in influencing the jury to convict, we affirm. See, State v. Caron, 300 Minn. 123, 218 N.W.2d 197 (1974), and State v. Prettyman, supra.

Affirmed.

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PER CURIAM.

Defendant, who was found guilty by a district court jury of aggravated rape, Minn.St.1974, § 609.291(2), and indecent liberties, Minn.St.1974, § 609.296, subd. 1(2), appeals from an order denying his post-trial motion for a new trial. The sole issue on appeal is whether the prosecutor committed prejudicial misconduct in his closing argument by expressing his personal opinion of defendant’s guilt. While the prosecutor did use expressions of personal opinion, we do not believe that the prosecutor’s comments prejudiced defendant. See, State v. Prettyman, 293 Minn. 493, 198 N.W.2d 156 (1972).

Although defense counsel did not object to the prosecutor’s argument until after the jury retired to deliberate and did not seek curative instructions, the trial court, on its own, did caution the jury that it should consider only the evidence and that counsel’s statements were not evidence. Further, the evidence of defendant’s guilt was adequate, the closing argument of the prosecutor was otherwise proper, and the trial court, in denying the motion for a new trial, stated that it was convinced the comments did not-prejudice defendant. Under all the circumstances, and applying the test of whether the error likely played a substantial part in influencing the jury to convict, we affirm. See, State v. Caron, 300 Minn. 123, 218 N.W.2d 197 (1974), and State v. Prettyman, supra.

Affirmed.

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262 N.W.2d 411, 1978 Minn. LEXIS 1421, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-schultz-minn-1978.

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