APPEAL AND ERROR - HARMLESS AND PREJUDICIAL ERROR

Authors

Michigan Law Review, University of Michigan Law School

Abstract

In the trial of defendant for embezzlement, the prosecutor's opening address to the jury included a hearsay statement, regarding a tacit admission by defendant, tending to establish his guilt. Subsequently in the trial such hearsay statement was not allowed in evidence and the defendant now claims on appeal from conviction that the opening statement was prejudicial and thus he is entitled to a new trial. Held, that the statute governing reversals by an appellate court for prejudicial errors did not apply; and that a new trial follows as a matter of course because of a deprivation of the constitutional right to fair jury trial by the admission of the improper evidence in prosecutor's opening statement. People v. Bigge, 288 Mich. 417, 285 N. W. 5 (1939).

Recommended Citation

Michigan Law Review, APPEAL AND ERROR - HARMLESS AND PREJUDICIAL ERROR, 38 Mich. L. Rev. 393 (1940).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol38/iss3/8