Opinion ID: 2536698
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Relevance of Boyette's toxicology results

Text: ¶ 14. Newell next asserts that the trial court improperly refused to allow evidence of Boyette's toxicology results. During the trial, Newell attempted to cross-examine Dr. Steven Hayne, who had performed Boyette's autopsy, regarding Boyette's blood toxicology, but the trial court excluded it. [8] ¶ 15. The trial court ruled that evidence of Boyette's toxicology was irrelevant and invited speculation by the jury, because at the time Dr. Hayne testified, no evidence had been brought forth to show that Boyette had been acting violently. But when Dr. Hayne took the stand, Jason Hollis already had testified that Boyette and Newell had been in a heated argument, and that Boyette had shut the door on Newell's leg. And the officers who had overheard Newell's conversation with Sullivan all had testified that Newell had told Sullivan that Boyette had beaten his truck windows and cursed at him. So evidence of Boyette's allegedly aggressive or violent behavior had in fact been presented prior to Dr. Hayne's testimony. ¶ 16. This Court held in Byrd v. State, 154 Miss. 742, 123 So. 867, 869 (1929), that the defendant can raise the victim's intoxication to demonstrate all the conditions existing at the time of and giving rise to the killing, including the victim's mental state. Specifically, we explained that: In determining whether the defendant acted in self-defense, it is competent to show all the circumstances under which the fatal difficulty occurred, and which would in any manner have affected the defendant's motives and apprehensions, or indicate the mental state of the deceased. The defendant may show the deceased's intoxication as bearing upon his motive or intention and the defendant's belief in the imminence of his danger. Byrd, 123 So. at 869 (internal citations omitted). See also Huggins v. State, 911 So.2d 614, 617 (Miss.Ct.App.2005) (affirming trial court's limiting instruction, directing jury to consider victim's blood-alcohol content in relation to victim's state of mind at time of shooting, not as to whether victim was aggressor). Intoxication evidence offered for this reason is admissible so long as its relevance has been established by the time the evidence is offered. See Farmer v. State, 770 So.2d 953, 958 (Miss.2000). See also 29 Am.Jur.2d Evidence § 307 (2010) (`Irrelevant' evidence denotes evidence that does not logically tend to prove or disprove any material fact or proposition that has been placed at issue. ) (emphasis added). ¶ 17. We conclude that, at the time Dr. Hayne testified, the relevance of Boyette's toxicology results had been established. The jury obviously knew that Newell was on trial for fatally shooting Boyette, and it already had heard that the shooting had occurred soon after Boyette's allegedly aggressive and violent behavior, evidence of which had been presented through testimony by Hollis and the officers present at the stand-off. So under Byrd, Boyette's toxicology results were relevant to show all the circumstances under which the fatal difficulty occurred, and which would in any manner ... indicate the mental state of the deceased. Byrd, 123 So. at 869. Therefore, the exclusion of Boyette's toxicology results was an abuse of discretion, because the relevance of that evidence had been established at the time Dr. Hayne took the stand. Farmer, 770 So.2d at 958. ¶ 18. But we will not reverse the trial court's evidentiary ruling unless the error adversely affects a substantial right of a party. Mingo, 944 So.2d at 28; Miss. R. Evid. 103(a). Here, Newell's theory of the case was self-defense, and evidence of Boyette's toxicology could have affected the jury's understanding of Boyette's motive or intention and Newell's belief in the imminence of his danger. Byrd, 123 So. at 869. So the exclusion of the evidence prevented Newell from fully presenting his theory of the case to the jury and thus adversely affected his right to a fair trial. Therefore, the exclusion of the toxicology evidence is reversible error. Mingo, 944 So.2d at 28. In finding that, under the facts before us, the state of Boyette's blood toxicology and resultant impairment is relevant, we do not say that the toxicology report is admissible or that Dr. Hayne is competent to offer testimony in this area. Those matters are left for determination in further proceedings on remand.