Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District / Date unavailable
State of Missouri vs. Ian James McCarthy
Ian James McCarthy appealed his conviction for first-degree murder of a police officer, raising four points of error concerning prosecutorial conduct during trial and closing arguments. McCarthy argued the trial court erred by not declaring a mistrial after the prosecutor commented on his right not to testify and by not admonishing the prosecutor for repeatedly calling his expert a "client." He also claimed plain error regarding the prosecutor's closing argument on victim trauma and alleged prosecutorial misconduct. The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, affirmed the judgment, finding no abuse of discretion by the trial court in its handling of the prosecutor's comments and declining plain error review for the unpreserved closing argument issues.