Although the prosecutor did not directly call the witnesses liars, the prosecutor's comments were inappropriate. 24 Kan. App. He contends that this evidence was irrelevant, was highly prejudicial, and should not have been admitted. He also claims the trial court erred by allowing Officer Hester to testify as an expert in the field of street gangs. Abuse of discretion is the appropriate standard of review when reviewing the admission of gang evidence.
Judicial discretion is abused when the judicial action is arbitrary, fanciful, or unreasonable.
Discretion is abused only when no reasonable person would take the view adopted by the district court. The district court has discretion to exclude evidence when its probative value is outweighed by its prejudicial effect. In the case before the court, the State questioned several of Roaden's witnesses about whether Roaden was a member of the Nutty Block Crips and whether they themselves were members of a gang. All the witnesses denied that they belonged to a gang, and some indicated that Roaden might belong to a gang. The State then introduced evidence on rebuttal that some of the witnesses were indeed gang members and that gang members would have a tendency to lie to protect one another.