Opinion ID: 854102
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: State of mind testimony

Text: The trial court restricted Haak's ability to establish his fear of McCarver through the testimony of other witnesses. Haak maintains he should have been permitted to ask his father whether the latter sought protection from the federal government or expressed his fear of McCarver to Haak. In a related contention, Haak also asserts error in refusing to permit questioning of McCarver about an incident in which McCarver and Linda Weaver (McCarver's girlfriend at the time) purportedly threatened and kidnapped an associate they thought had become a government informant. Haak contended at trial that his knowledge of McCarver's dealings with the informant caused him to fear McCarver and, presumably, confess at the Hammond Federal Building to a crime he did not commit. The father's testimony was excluded on the ground that it bore on Haak's state of mindevidence the trial court concluded had to be presented first by Haak himself. Similarly, the trial court ruled that McCarver's testimony would be admissible only if Haak, who had not yet taken the stand, testified to a fear of McCarver and the State challenged that assertion. In both rulings the trial court reasoned that Haak could not establish his state of mind through the testimony of other witnesses. That is correct as to accounts of what was going through Haak's head. However, there is no bar to descriptions of surrounding facts and circumstances within the witness's personal knowledge that may bear on assessing Haak's state of mind. The prohibition is only against testimony that seeks to draw inferences as to another's intent, belief, or feelings for the trier of fact. Ind.Evidence Rule 701; Weaver v. State, 643 N.E.2d 342, 345 (Ind.1994); Johnson v. State, 584 N.E.2d 1092, 1104 (Ind.1992). These conclusions are left for the factfinder to draw based on the description of the observable facts. 13 ROBERT LOWELL MILLER, JR., INDIANA PRACTICE § 701.115, at 336 (2d ed.1995). Thus, to the extent Haak's fear of McCarver was relevant, Haak should have been permitted to present through other witnesses particular facts and circumstances bearing on that point. The jury then would have been left to draw its own conclusions as to Haak's state of mind based on that testimony. The question here is whether the trial court abused its discretion by requiring that Haak put his state of mind in issue before other witnesses could testify to that point. Because defense counsel assured the trial court that Haak would testify in any event, this presents no serious issue. Trial courts have wide latitude in controlling the order of proof, Isaacs v. State, 659 N.E.2d 1036, 1042 (Ind.1995), and may impose restrictions to, among other things, make the interrogation and presentation effective for the ascertainment of truth and avoid needless consumption of time. Ind.Evidence Rule 611(a). If the jury had no reason to suspect or conclude when McCarver and the father testified that Haak feared McCarverand we are directed to no evidence to the contrarythe relevance of their testimony detailing only the observable facts (without any inferences as to state of mind for the reasons discussed) might have been unclear. Jurors would have learned of collateral facts (the father's fear of McCarver and McCarver's threats to an informant) without knowing why the evidence was being offered (to show that Haak incriminated himself at the Hammond Federal Building because he feared McCarver, not because he committed the crime). Because the potential for confusion, if not waste of time, was reduced by this order of proof, the trial court did not abuse its discretion. [4] Finally, Haak challenges restrictions on his ability to question federal drug enforcement agent Vincent Balbo on direct examination. Balbo testified at McCarver's 1992 detention hearing in federal court that McCarver threatened every informant who cooperated with law enforcement authorities against him. Haak argues that he feared McCarver because of the threats that were the subject of Balbo's 1992 testimony. The trial court ruled that because Haak did not testify that he was aware of all of these threats, Balbo could be questioned only about the threats within Haak's knowledgei.e., any threats to Haak's father and the informant who was purportedly kidnapped. Since Haak could not have feared McCarver based on things he did not know, this was an entirely sensible way to proceed. Haak does not maintain that he was barred from inquiring into any threats within his ken. There was no error.