Missouri v. Brown
Annotate this CaseAppellant Anthony Brown appealed his convictions for firearms charges and second-degree murder. At trial, Appellant claimed self-defense. During closing arguments, the trial court permitted the State to use a “prop” gun to rebut Appellant’s self-defense argument. The State used the gun to show that the victim could not have carried and drawn the gun as Appellant had asserted. There was no evidence that the gun that was used as an exhibit in the State’s closing argument was similar in size or shape to the victim’s gun. During deliberations, the jury asked to see the “prop.” The trial court denied the request because the prop was not evidence. Upon review of the trial records, the Supreme Court found that the State “should not have been able to bypass normal evidentiary limitations” by showing the gun to the jury: “the State’s closing argument demonstration was necessarily speculative and carried with it the distinct possibility of misleading the jury . . . Under these circumstances, there is a substantial likelihood that the jury’s decision was influenced by the improper demonstration.” Accordingly, the Court reversed the trial court’s judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings.
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