Opinion ID: 1479679
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Witness's Fear

Text: The trial justice did not abuse his discretion in allowing the witness to testify to his unique reasons behind his fear at the time of the robbery. The crime of robbery in Rhode Island is defined as the `felonious and forcible taking from the person of another of goods or money to any value by violence or putting him in fear.' State v. Reposa, 99 R.I. 147, 149, 206 A.2d 213, 215 (1965). Fear is relevant to an element of the crime charged; thus the state must be permitted to introduce evidence regarding this element. At trial, the witness Suave testified that he was in fear of his life when defendant had a gun to his head during the robbery. When asked why, he responded that he had been shot before in Vietnam and had had to spend a year in the hospital. This testimony is not extraneous, irrelevant material whose only purpose is to inflame the passions of the jury but is testimony directly relating to an element of the crime. Accordingly, we find that the trial justice properly permitted the state to produce evidence of the victim's fear.