Michael Louis Straight v. State of Mississippi, 205 So. 3d 1089

On Sept. 26, 2013, undercover officer Clinton Fore purchased crack cocaine from Michael Straight; the transaction was audio-recorded and Fore later identified Straight in court.
Confidential informant Belinda Olsen testified she and Fore bought the drugs from Straight and identified his voice on the recording.
On redirect, Olsen unsolicitedly added she had previously bought drugs from Straight while she was using, prompting a contemporaneous objection and a defense motion for mistrial.
The trial court denied the mistrial, finding the remark spontaneous and not solicited by the State, but at the State’s request gave a generic limiting instruction over Straight’s objection.
Straight was convicted of transfer of less than two grams of cocaine and sentenced as a habitual and subsequent drug offender to 12 years; he appealed, challenging the denial of the mistrial and the limiting instruction.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether denial of mistrial was reversible for Olsen’s unsolicited reference to prior bad acts	State: the testimony was not solicited by the prosecution and was merely more expansive than the question asked; trial court’s discretion governs mistrial decisions	Straight: Olsen’s statement referenced prior bad acts contrary to pretrial suppression and prejudiced the jury, warranting a mistrial	Denial affirmed: remark was spontaneous, not solicited, similar to Yarbrough; trial court did not abuse discretion and gave curative instruction
Whether giving a limiting instruction over defendant’s objection was erroneous	State: limiting instruction was appropriate and required after the unsolicited reference	Straight: objected because instruction would draw jury attention to the prior-bad-acts remark and prejudice him; preferred no instruction	Affirmed: trial court within discretion; though defense’s tactical choice normally controls, instruction here was not reversible error and any error was harmless given strong independent ID evidence

Clark v. State, 40 So. 3d 531 (Miss. 2010) (mistrial decision reviewed for abuse of discretion)
Harrell v. State, 947 So. 2d 309 (Miss. 2007) (trial judge has broad discretion on mistrial)
Smith v. State, 839 So. 2d 489 (Miss. 2003) (404(b) evidence admissible if passes 403 balancing and with limiting instruction)
Yarbrough v. State, 911 So. 2d 951 (Miss. 2005) (unsolicited expansion of testimony not solicited by prosecutor does not require mistrial when cured)
Newell v. State, 49 So. 3d 66 (Miss. 2010) (jury instructions lie within trial court’s discretion)
Brown v. State, 890 So. 2d 901 (Miss. 2004) (trial court not required to give limiting instruction sua sponte; defense may decline instruction for tactical reasons)