Denzell Terrell Braud v. State of Arkansas, 583 S.W.3d 392

In June 2016, shots were fired in a Little Rock apartment: Cordarell Collins was killed; Alexis Davis and her young son K.D. suffered nonfatal gunshot wounds. Appellant Denzell Braud (aka “N.O.”) lived in the apartment and was charged with capital murder and two counts of first-degree battery.
Dennis Driskill, a State witness, testified that he saw Braud outside holding a gun. On cross-examination, after defense counsel approached him, Driskill blurted an accusation that defense counsel had previously chased and threatened him and blocked his way into his apartment.
The court excused the jury, and defense moved for a mistrial arguing Driskill’s accusations prejudiced the jury by implying defense intimidation to suppress testimony or evidence.
The circuit court denied the mistrial, noting Driskill’s outburst was elicited by defense counsel and might harm Driskill’s credibility; the court gave a curative admonition instructing the jury to disregard the remark.
On appeal Braud argued the accusation was highly prejudicial and beyond the cure of an admonition (citing Clark), while the State argued any prejudice was curable and the statement resulted from defense conduct.
The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed the denial of mistrial, holding the admonition cured any prejudice and that the statement was not so inflammatory as to require a mistrial; Justice Hart dissented, arguing the comment was sufficiently prejudicial to require a mistrial.

Issue	Braud's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether the circuit court abused its discretion by denying a mistrial after a prosecution witness told the jury that defense counsel had threatened him and blocked his way	The witness’s statement implied defense intimidation to suppress testimony/evidence and was highly prejudicial; admonition insufficient (citing Clark)	The remark was elicited by defense counsel, not so inflammatory, and a curative admonition cured any prejudice	Denial of mistrial affirmed: no abuse of discretion; admonition sufficient; statement elicited by defense and may have hurt witness credibility (dissent disagreed)

Travis v. State, 371 Ark. 621 (mistrial is a drastic remedy)
King v. State, 298 Ark. 476 (denial of mistrial reviewed for abuse of discretion)
Kimble v. State, 331 Ark. 155 (an admonition will usually remove effect of prejudicial statement)
Williams v. State, 2011 Ark. 432 (admonition standard reiterated)
Clark v. State, 881 So. 2d 724 (witness accusation that defense tried to conceal evidence is highly prejudicial)