Opinion ID: 2520113
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: admission of officers' changed testimony

Text: The defendant claims that he was prejudiced by the change in testimony by Sheriff Caldwell and Detective Kemp regarding whether or not Deputy Kenney had his gun drawn. The defendant's theory of defense was based on showing that the shooting was neither premeditated nor intentional but, rather, due to the panic of seeing Deputy Kenney's gun.
Appellate courts review the trial court's admission of evidence for abuse of discretion. State v. Sims, 262 Kan. 165, 170, 936 P.2d 779 (1997). Judicial discretion is abused when judicial action is arbitrary, fanciful, or unreasonable or, in other words, when no reasonable person would have taken the position that was taken by the trial court. Fusaro v. First Family Mtg. Corp., 257 Kan. 794, 804, 897 P.2d 123 (1995).
At the preliminary hearing, the following exchange between defense counsel and Sheriff Caldwell took place regarding the location of Deputy Kenney's gun at the time he ascended the stairs into the defendant's attic: Q. Jim had his gun out at the time? A. I can't answer that. I don't know. Q. Was he carrying a weapon himself? A. He was carrying a gun. I can't tell you if he had it drawn or not. He had the dog so he may not have had it out. I can't answer you, I don't know. The question of whether Deputy Kenney had his gun drawn did not come up during Sheriff Caldwell's direct examination at trial on January 12, 2001, and the defendant now claims that he did not cross-examine Sheriff Caldwell at trial because nothing in his direct examination contradicted the testimony from his preliminary hearing. Five days after he testified, Sheriff Caldwell approached the prosecutors and told them that he now remembered that Deputy Kenney had not drawn his weapon. Because the prosecutors did not know that Sheriff Caldwell would change his testimony, and because the State had not yet rested its case, the trial court on the State's motion allowed Sheriff Caldwell to testify that he remembered that Deputy Kenney had a flashlight, not a gun, in his hand. The change in testimony opened the door for the defendant to attack the credibility of Sheriff Caldwell, but the defendant did not challenge the new testimony on cross-examination. On appeal, the defendant claims that this was done for strategic reasons. However, a party that invites error may not then complain of that error on appeal. State v. Plunkett, 261 Kan. 1024, 1033, 934 P.2d 113 (1997). The defendant admits that at the time of Sheriff Caldwell's testimony, he was already beginning to present [his] penalty phase defense as well. The defendant claims that Sheriff Caldwell was expected to testify during the penalty phase of the trial that a life sentence would serve the interests of justice, and that, therefore, he was not in a position to attack Sheriff Caldwell's credibility. The State prosecutor told the defendant in chambers that he did not think that Sheriff Caldwell was going to testify the way the defendant expected. The issue became moot as the defendant did not question Sheriff Caldwell during the penalty phase. Because a trial is a search for the truth, a court has discretion to allow a witness, who has had time to reflect, the opportunity to change or correct his or her testimony if done in good conscience. State v. Gonzales, 253 Kan. 22, 27, 853 P.2d 644 (1993). In Gonzales, this court held that there was no error in allowing the State to recall a detective three times to clear up inaccurate testimony and to testify about new information he remembered regarding the chain of custody of a murder weapon. The court commented on the fact that on each occasion, the defendant was given the opportunity to cross-examine the witness. 253 Kan. at 27. The defendant, in this case, was also given the opportunity to cross-examine Sheriff Caldwell. In the end, the ultimate conclusion as to any witness' veracity rests solely with the jury. State v. Pabst, 268 Kan. 501, 507, 996 P.2d 321 (2000).