State v. Brown, 2011 Mo. LEXIS 123

Brown killed the victim during a party confrontation after Brown retrieved a gun; Brown claimed self-defense based on the victim carrying a gun and reaching for it; witnesses testified the victim carried a gun in his left pocket; the State used a .38 revolver and sweatpants as closing-argument demonstrations to rebut self-defense; the gun was not admitted into evidence and there was no evidence of similarity to the victim's gun; the jury later asked to view the revolver and sweatpants, but the gun was not in evidence and the court reminded the jury of the evidentiary status; the trial court reversed by finding the demonstration improper and prejudicial, and the conviction was reversed on appeal

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the State’s closing-argument gun demonstration was permissible	Brown: objected; demonstration not admitted into evidence	Brown: no substantial similarity; prejudicial	No; improper demonstration, reversible error
Whether the demonstrative gun needed evidence-based similarity to the victim's gun	Brown: no proof of similarity; not fair representation	State: demonstrative showing challenges credibility	Not permissible; lack of similarity defeats relevance
Whether the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt	Brown: clear prejudice given jury's request to view gun	Evidence supported self-defense; not reversible	Error not harmless; prejudicial impact

State v. Wynne, 182 S.W.2d 294 (Mo. 1944) (demonstration pistol without similarity improper)
State v. Grant, 810 S.W.2d 591 (Mo.App.1991) (demonstration with unrelated gun; not similar to crime gun)
State v. Silvey, 894 S.W.2d 662 (Mo. banc 1995) (demonstration allowed when weapon similar to Brown's; admissible to show threat)
State v. Freeman, 269 S.W.3d 422 (Mo. banc 2008) (demonstrative evidence admissible if fair representation and relevant)
State v. Shurn, 866 S.W.2d 447 (Mo. banc 1993) (abuse-of-discretion standard for closing-argument rulings)