Opinion ID: 852392
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Exclusion of Testimony Regarding Third-Party Motive

Text: Pelley argues that the trial court erred in excluding evidence that a third party had a motive for the murders. Pelley asserts that the exclusion violated his Sixth Amendment right to present a complete defense. Pelley also contends that the third-party motive evidence shows that the police investigation failed to follow all possible leads, and therefore the State did not prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Bob had apparently worked at a bank in Florida before the Pelleys moved to Indiana. On cross-examination of the lead detective in this case, Pelley sought to ask the detective about statements made by Pelley and his sister, Jacque, concerning events when Bob was at the bank. The State objected, and Pelley made an offer to prove that in April 1990, Pelley told the detective that Bob used to work for a Florida bank, and that Bob may have been killed because someone found out about money laundering at the bank. Pelley also offered to prove that in 2002 Jacque told an investigator that (1) before the family moved to Indiana, a million dollars in cash was missing from the bank, and Bob was called in to work in the middle of the night; (2) Bob was responsible for finding the missing money and was in charge of the computers at the bank; (3) after this incident, the family suddenly moved to Indiana; and (4) the DEA closed the bank in March 1990. Pelley also offered a report made to investigators in August 2002 that a resident on the Pelley's street said that another person who also lived on the street told him he had seen a white limousine with Florida license plates in the area of the Pelley home on the day of the prom in 1989. The trial court determined that this evidence was too attenuated because it leaves utter speculation and sustained the State's objection. Later during the trial, Pelley called Jacque as a witness and wanted to ask her about Florida. The State objected that Jacque's testimony would be hearsay, and that she was only ten or eleven years old when she lived in Florida. Again the trial court sustained the State's objection. Pelley did not make an offer of proof regarding Jacque's proposed testimony. Evidence of a third-party motive tends makes it less probable that the defendant committed the crime, and is therefore relevant under Rule of Evidence 401. Joyner v. State, 678 N.E.2d 386, 389 (Ind.1997). However, this evidence may be excluded if its probative value is out-weighed by unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or the potential to mislead the jury. Ind. Evid. R. 403. In the context of third-party motive evidence, these rules are grounded in the widely-accepted principle that before evidence of a third party is admissible, the defendant must show some connection between the third party and the crime. See Holmes v. South Carolina, 547 U.S. 319, 327 & n. , 126 S.Ct. 1727, 164 L.Ed.2d 503 (2006) (listing jurisdictions and quoting 41 C.J.S., Homicide § 216, at 56-58 (1991) (Evidence tending to show the commission by another person of the crime charged may be introduced by accused when it is inconsistent with, and raises a reasonable doubt of, his own guilt; but frequently matters offered in evidence for this purpose are so remote and lack such connection with the crime that they are excluded.)). Our cases reflect this principle. In Joyner we reversed the trial court's exclusion of evidence that a third-party committed the murder. 678 N.E.2d at 389-90. The defendant wished to present evidence that a third party was having an affair with the victim, worked with the victim, had engaged in sexual relations with the victim the day before her disappearance, had argued with the victim the day of her disappearance, and had been tardy to work and falsified his time card the day after the disappearance. Id. The defendant had already presented expert testimony that a hair sample found inside the plastic bag covering the victim's head excluded the victim and the defendant, but was a ninety-eight to ninety-nine percent probability match to the third party. Id. Under these circumstances, we determined that the defendant had sufficiently connected the third party to the crime, and the excluded evidence could have also established motive and opportunity. Id. at 390. We remanded for anew trial. Id. In contrast, we rejected a similar claim in Lashbrook v. State, 762 N.E.2d 756, 757 (Ind.2002), where the defendant wished to present evidence that a third party had said the victim was gonna die. We held that [i]n stark contrast to Joyner, the defendant presents no material evidence that [the third party] was connected to the crime. The phrase allegedly uttered by [the third party] ... does not tend to show that [he] committed the murder. Id. at 758. Pelley's case falls between Joyner and Lashbrook, but is much closer to Lashbrook. Pelley suggested that someone from Bob's past in Florida had the motive to commit the murders. Pelley's offer of proof was hearsay statements of Jeff and Jacque that Bob had worked at a Florida bank connected with money laundering, and hearsay within hearsay that a limousine with Florida license plates was seen near the Pelley home on the day of the murders. However, Pelley did not show how he or Jacque was competent to testify regarding the Florida situation. Equally important, he failed to present any evidence connecting the bank or the limousine to the murders. Absent a more direct connection, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding this evidence as too speculative.