From the Supreme Court of Virginia’s website:
091878 Blanton v. Commonwealth 09/16/2010 In an appeal arising from a prosecution for murder and felonious use of a firearm, defendant’s failure to make a timely motion for a cautionary instruction or mistrial concerning the prosecutor’s comment about the defense evidence failing to show that the defendant was not guilty precludes consideration of the merits of her assignments of error regarding this comment. With respect to the prosecutor’s subsequent comment about the defendant being in jail several days after the events, it cannot be said that the circuit court erred as a matter of law in denying defendant’s mistrial motion. Considering the innocuous nature of this comment under all the circumstances of the case, the circuit court’s cautionary instruction to the jury, and the prosecutor’s corrective statement, the defendant’s rights were clearly not so indelibly prejudiced as to necessitate a new trial. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is affirmed.
Will update when I have a chance to read through the opinion.
Is it true that Ms. Blanton is the ex-wife of a retired military man and thay she was awarded, and gets, a lifetime income awarded as community property from that retired military man?
To whom does this money go, since Ms Blanton is in prison for life?