Opinion ID: 2505179
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Impact evidence

Text: Appellant argued in his pretrial brief that the anticipated testimony of the investors about the impact of those losses on their lives, coupled with the testimony of the amount of the losses, was more prejudicial than probative and should therefore be excluded under Rule 403, SCRE. We agree that it appears evidence of the impact is irrelevant to appellant's criminal charges, but in this situation it is critical to know exactly what appellant's Rule 403 argument was and exactly why the trial judge exercised his discretion and permitted this testimony. While it appears that the CI investors' testimony should have been limited to the amount of their pecuniary losses, there is no evidence appellant sought to limit their testimony in this manner. Rather, from the record, it appears that he sought to exclude these witnesses from testifying at all. On this record, we are unable to find any error in the trial judge's decision to deny appellant's request to disallow the CI investors' testimony. E.g., State v. Freiburger, 366 S.C. 125, 620 S.E.2d 737 (2005) (appellant's burden to present a sufficient record for appellate review).