Moore v. State

The defendant was not entitled to a mistrial based on a witness's testimony that the victim was "murdered," since the trial court gave curative instructions and struck the witness's improper response.

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Darrin Moore was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony arising out of the shooting death of Youlenda Williams. He appeals from the denial of his amended motion for new trial, and we affirm.1 1. The jury was authorized to find that Moore was engaged to Williams and had been sharing her residence. Sometime between the evening of September 12, 2001, and the afternoon of September 13, 2001, Williams was shot five times in the head and died in her home. When Williams did not arrive for work at Delta Airlines on September 13, a co-worker went to her house, saw a “brown stain” on the curtains and upon further examination found her body on the floor in the foyer. There were no signs of burglary, robbery or forced entry at the residence, but there appeared to have been a struggle in the foyer because a flowerpot had been overturned and the victim’s slippers were no longer on her feet. Police found a .32 caliber pistol in the kitchen belonging to Williams and the bullets recovered from Williams’ body matched the handgun found in the kitchen.

During the time period when the murder took place, neighbors observed Moore sitting on the front stoop of the house and observed his truck in the driveway. After the murder, a fraud investigator with Delta Airlines alerted police that Williams’ credit card was still being used to secure hotel rooms in the area. Six days after Williams’ death, police arrested Moore in a hotel room that had been paid for with Williams’ credit card. The boots Moore was wearing at the time of his arrest had Williams’ blood on them.

Moore v. State

The defendant was not entitled to a mistrial based on a witness's testimony that the victim was "murdered," since the trial court gave curative instructions and struck the witness's improper response.

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