State v. Schaffer
Missouri Supreme Court
354 S.W.2d 829 (1962)
- Written by Sharon Feldman, JD
Facts
George Schaffer (defendant) was indicted for committing rape. Schaffer moved for a mistrial during the victim’s trial testimony because the victim was sniveling on the stand. Overruling Schaffer’s objection, the court commented that the witness was conducting herself very properly. Schaffer moved for a mistrial a second time on the grounds that the victim, again while serving as witness, was crying and sniveling and on the verge of hysteria. The court overruled the second objection, stating that the witness was not hysterical and was conducting herself well and that it was ordinary for girls in rape cases to stumble a bit. Schaffer was convicted and argued on appeal that the trial court should have declared a mistrial because the victim testified while in a highly emotional state.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Leedy, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 816,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.