California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Cox, 135 Cal.Rptr.2d 272, 30 Cal.4th 916, 70 P.3d 277 (Cal. 2003):
We review the denial of a motion for mistrial under the deferential abuse of discretion standard. (People v. Cunningham (2001) 25 Cal.4th 926, 984, 108 Cal.Rptr.2d 291, 25 P.3d 519; People v. Price (1991) 1 Cal.4th 324, 428, 3 Cal. Rptr.2d 106, 821 P.2d 610 (Price).) "A motion for mistrial is directed to the sound discretion of the trial court. We have explained that `[a] mistrial should be granted if the court is apprised of prejudice that it judges incurable by admonition or instruction. [Citation.] Whether a particular incident is incurably prejudicial is by its nature a speculative matter, and the trial court is vested with considerable discretion in ruling on mistrial motions.'" (People v. Jenkins (2000) 22 Cal.4th 900, 985-986, 95 Cal.Rptr.2d 377, 997 P.2d 1044, quoting People v. Haskett (1982) 30 Cal.3d 841, 854, 180 Cal.Rptr. 640, 640 P.2d 776 (Haskett).)
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