Opinion ID: 2998309
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: TaShea and Trina’s Testimony Concerning their

Text: Conversation with Jessica The trial court precluded Mr. Horton from asking either Trina or TaShea Horton about their conversation with Jessica, in which she admitted that she had had sex with Randy on four or five occasions. Because this testimony would have contradicted Jessica’s claim at trial that she and Randy had had sex only once, Mr. Horton contends that its exclusion violated his constitutional right to present a defense. According to Mr. Horton, this evidence substantiated the defense’s theory that Jessica falsely accused him of sexual abuse in order to avoid punishment for her consensual sexual relations with Randy; it also exposed one of Jessica’s lies and therefore impeached her credibility. The State responds that the Wisconsin Court of Appeals did not err in concluding that, although the trial court improperly held this evidence to be irrelevant to the trial, no federal constitutional right was violated because Mr. Horton had an opportunity to present substantially similar evidence. 10 (...continued) long as neither the reasoning nor the result of the state-court decision contradicts them.”). No. 05-1008 13 In cases of sexual abuse, in which there are usually neither eye witnesses nor physical evidence and, consequently, the state’s case in large part depends on the victim’s testimony, courts have recognized the need to be especially sensitive to the importance of careful exploration of matters of credibility.11 Therefore, the claim that the state trial court’s evidentiary rulings cut off an important avenue for Mr. Horton to expose potential inconsistencies in Jessica’s testimony is worthy of close examination. To the degree that the testimony in question would have established that Jessica lied when she denied having sex with anyone but Mr. Horton, and when she claimed that she only had sex with Randy once, it would have corroborated the defense’s theory that Jessica was willing to falsify charges to protect herself and Randy from punishment. On the other hand, unlike the situations in the cases relied upon by the defendant,12 the Wisconsin trial court did not wholly bar Mr. Horton from testing Jessica’s claim that she only had sex with Randy once. First, on recross-examination, defense counsel was permitted to ask TaShea what prompted her on March 1 to ask Jessica if Randy was the father of the baby. TaShea responded, “[b]ecause I had seen Jessica and Randy have sex twice and she used to tell me sometimes that they had sex.” R.45 at 137. This testimony substantiated the claim that Jessica and Randy had had sex 11 See Earls v. McCaughtry, 379 F.3d 489, 494 (7th Cir. 2004); see also generally United States v. Abel, 469 U.S. 45, 52 (1984). 12 See, e.g., Green v. Lambert, 288 F.3d 1081, 1091 (9th Cir. 2002) (holding that the trial court’s complete prohibition of testimony—both the victim’s and the defendant’s—on the defendant’s dissociative identity disorder violated the right to present a defense). 14 No. 05-1008 on numerous occasions and therefore challenged directly Jessica’s contrary account to her mother and to the police, as well as in her testimony at trial. Additionally, even though she continued to insist that she only had had sex with Randy once, Jessica did admit under oath that she had misrepresented her relationship with Randy to her mother and had disclosed their sexual contact only after it was clear that Mr. Horton was not the father of the child.13 In sum, the trial court merely prohibited the defense from “add[ing] extra detail” to the claim of bias, which does not implicate constitutional guarantees. United States v. Sasson, 62 F.3d 874, 883 (7th Cir. 1995) (distinguishing between a complete bar on the introduction of testimony on a witness’ bias and adding mere detail to evidence already in the record) (citations omitted); see also Wade v. Mantello, 333 F.3d 51, 60 (2d Cir. 2003) (“The Constitution leaves to the judges who must make [evidentiary] decisions ‘wide latitude’ to exclude evidence that is ‘repetitive . . . , [or] only marginally relevant.’ ”) (citations omitted). Based on this review of the 13 Mr. Horton compares this case to Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284 (1973), in which the Court held that the defendant was deprived of the Sixth Amendment right to present a complete defense when the trial court ruled that the testimony of a number of witnesses--who were present when a third person confessed to a murder for which the defendant had been charged--was inadmissible hearsay. In Chambers, the Court concluded that the witnesses’ hearsay testimony was critical to Chambers’ defense because the third party had repudiated his confession at trial. Unlike this case, in which the jury heard evidence substantially similar to that which was excluded—that Jessica and Randy had had sex multiple times—there was no other trustworthy evidence presented in Chambers to support the claim that the third party, rather than the defendant, had committed the murder. See id. at 301-02. No. 05-1008 15 record, we cannot conclude that the Wisconsin Court of Appeals “unreasonably” applied federal law in holding that “the exclusion of testimony by Trina and TaShea about a specific conversation in which Jessica had admitted having sex with Randy multiple times did not completely preclude the defense from presenting its theory on this point.” R.12, Ex.E at 8. 2. Trina’s Testimony Concerning the Five-Day Ultimatum The Wisconsin trial court also prohibited Trina Horton from testifying that, upon learning of Jessica’s pregnancy, she threatened to disclose this information to Jessica’s mother if Jessica did not do so within five days. The trial court held that this evidence was not relevant to whether Mr. Horton sexually assaulted Jessica; the state appellate court concluded that the evidence was probative of Jessica’s state of mind when making the accusations of sexual assault. It determined, however, that there was no constitutional error because the defense was permitted to present evidence that Jessica was “motivated by a desire to minimize the negative consequences of her pregnancy” and it was “apparent” that Jessica “faced time pressure in disclosing her pregnancy.” Id.14 14 The State also submits that Trina’s testimony on the subject of the five-day deadline is irrelevant. Although we shall review the state court’s federal constitutional conclusions de novo, as a general rule, we may not disturb state court conclusions that are based on an interpretation of state law, including the determination that—under state evidentiary rules—certain testimony fulfills relevancy requirements. See Rice v. McCann, 339 F.3d 546, (continued...) 16 No. 05-1008 Mr. Horton presents a strong argument that at no other time during the trial did he have the opportunity to demonstrate the effect of the ultimatum on Jessica’s decision to accuse him of sexual assault. To be sure, the timing of the accusation is quite suspicious: on the fourth day of the fiveday ultimatum period, Jessica told her mother of the pregnancy. Moreover, the admission was hesitant: after broaching the subject with her mother in the school counselor’s office, she faltered, only coming forward with the information when her mother told her that they could talk after they returned from visiting Trina. Nevertheless, we must affirm the district court’s decision not to grant the writ. Although the excluded testimony is relevant and probative, its exclusion did not deprive Mr. Horton of the right to present a defense. Trina’s proffered testimony about the ultimatum certainly would not have been cumulative in the same sense as the testimony about the number of times Randy and Jessica had had sexual intercourse. However, there was substantial evidence before the court that Jessica had a motive to lie to her mother. For example, on cross-examination, Jessica admitted that she knew that there was a possibility that Randy was the father of the child, but still did not tell her mother about her relationship with Randy until after the paternity test results were returned. R.44 at 191-92, 200. She admitted not disclosing this same information to the police in early March, even though she was asked explicitly by the interviewing officers whether she had had sex with anyone besides Mr. Horton. Id. at 208. She admitted not telling TaShea about the possibility that Mr. Horton was the father of the baby when she (...continued) 549 (7th Cir. 2003). No. 05-1008 17 first took the pregnancy test, an omission that the defense later argued undermined the credibility of her allegations of sexual abuse. Id. at 189-90; R.46 at 28. The defense also attempted to bring out on cross-examination and during its closing statement that, in an effort to protect Randy, Jessica lied when she testified that she did not know Randy’s last name or address. R.44 at 193; R.46 at 29.15 Lastly, as the Wisconsin Court of Appeals noted, it was apparent to the jury that, at a certain point, Jessica would be forced to reveal to her mother that she was pregnant. Therefore, although Trina’s testimony that Jessica was given a five-day deadline by which to tell her mother of her pregnancy, and therefore reveal her relationship with Mr. Horton in order to avoid revealing her relationship with Randy, would have helped the defense’s case, the matter of Jessica’s motive to lie to her mother was sufficiently developed by the defense through other means. At the very least, it is apparent that the Wisconsin appellate court assessed the 15 That this evidence was presented to the jury by way of crossexamination of the state’s witnesses, rather than the direct examination of defense witnesses, is of no import. Although due process guarantees the right not only to “confront the prosecution’s witnesses” but also to “present [one’s] own witnesses to establish a defense,” Washington v. Texas, 388 U.S. 14, 19 (1967), limitations on this right are harmless when the defense otherwise had a meaningful opportunity to present necessary information through cross-examination of the state’s witnesses. Cf. United States v. Martin, 369 F.3d 1046, 1059 (8th Cir. 2004) (“lengthy cross-examination” rendered any violation of the right to present a defense harmless); United States v. Orr, 825 F.2d 1537, 1540 (11th Cir. 1987) (trial court judge may limit testimony where cumula- tive and when defendant had substantial opportunity to expose witness’ potential biases). 18 No. 05-1008 probative value of the evidence and concluded that, because of its cumulative nature, its exclusion did not warrant retrial. See also Rice v. McCann, 339 F.3d 546, 550 (7th Cir. 2003) (holding that, because reasonable courts could differ on the exclusion of the evidence, the state court’s approach could not be considered improper). In light of the broad latitude given such decisions under § 2254(d)(1), the Wisconsin appellate court’s conclusion that the exclusion did not violate Mr. Horton’s right to present a defense is not an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law.