Opinion
55682.
SUBMITTED APRIL 11, 1978.
DECIDED JUNE 27, 1978.
Sodomy. Richmond Superior Court. Before Judge Fleming.
Pierce House, Hinton R. Pierce, for appellant.
Richard E. Allen, District Attorney, James W. Purcell, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.
Smith appeals his conviction, by a jury, of aggravated sodomy. He enumerates as error the trial court's refusal to grant a mistrial after the following remarks were made during closing argument:
"Prosecutor. `Objection, Your Honor, that is clearly improper [for defense counsel] to argue punishment at this stage of the proceeding.' The Court. `All right, don't argue punishment.' Prosecutor. `The court may put him on probation or something.'"
The trial court thereafter instructed the prosecutor not to argue punishment and explicitly cautioned the jury not to consider either punishment or probation, with the final instruction that "sentencing of the defendant is a job for the Court. You are only concerned with the guilt or innocence of the defendant.... You are not to give that any consideration whatsoever, the question of sentence." Under these circumstances, the prosecutor's remarks were not in violation of Code Ann. § 27-2206. Berrian v. State, 139 Ga. App. 571 ( 228 S.E.2d 737); Terhune v. State, 117 Ga. App. 59 ( 159 S.E.2d 291). The trial court did not err in refusing to grant a mistrial.
Judgment affirmed. Bell, C. J., and Shulman, J., concur.