Eric Scott Paulson, Appellant v. State of Arkansas, Appellee

Summary

The court affirmed Paulson’s rape conviction and life sentence, holding that the prosecutor’s voir-dire questions about whether an adult’s denial would create reasonable doubt were hypothetical inquiries about juror impartiality, not comments on Paulson’s decision whether to testify. Applying abuse-of-discretion review, the court concluded that the questions neither referred to Paulson nor reasonably compelled him to testify, so denial of a mistrial was not error. Justice Hart dissented, arguing that the questions indirectly referred to Paulson’s failure or refusal to testify and required reversal for a new trial.