Opinion ID: 2225661
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Denial of the Right to Present a Defense

Text: Castor urges this Court to find that he was denied a fair trial because the trial court improperly excluded evidence which was germaine to Castor's defense theory. Castor points to the trial court's sustaining objections to Castor's cross-examination of FBI agents concerning whether the FBI agents had heard from some source that Castor believed that hit men were after him. Additionally, Castor argues that he should have been allowed to testify about his brother's financial arrangement with Collett Ventures; that in his mind, all of the managerial types at Collett Ventures fit the typical profile of an organized crime type; and about the Collett Ventures company records and the facts contained in such records. Castor urges that the court's actions in excluding this evidence deprived him of a fair trial because such evidence was central to his state-of-mind/self-defense/mistake-of-fact defense. In answer to this alleged error, the State correctly points out that almost all of the assertions and statements sought to be proven by Castor's excluded evidence was admitted during Castor's testimony and the testimony of other defense witnesses as well as witnesses called by the State in rebuttal. In reviewing the totality of the transcript, it is this Court's opinion that the trial judge ruled correctly on excluding this evidence in the manner in which it was offered. Additionally, the transcript reveals that all of the evidence which the trial court may have excluded on cross-examination was ultimately received by the jury either during Castor's case in chief or the State's rebuttal evidence. Castor was permitted to present evidence supporting his defense that he believed that hit men were pursuing him. Further, he was allowed to introduce evidence regarding the reasons for his misperception. We believe that the jury was well informed concerning all facts of the case and that Castor was not denied the ability to present a defense by the court's exercise of its discretion in controlling the presentation of evidence and the cross-examination of witnesses. We hold that Castor received a fair trial and that the jury's verdict finding him guilty of murder was based upon a review of the totality of the circumstances surrounding the killing. We deny Castor's assertions to the contrary.