Opinion ID: 1402653
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: read-back

Text: On the second day of jury deliberations, the jury requested a read-back of the firearms examiner's testimony concerning his findings on the three spent .357 shell casings found in the defendant's home. The defendant requested that the read-back include the cross-examination, as well as the direct examination, on the same subject. The trial court allowed only the direct testimony to be read back to the jury, concluding that the cross-examination did not have anything to do with the examiner's testimony regarding the spent .357 shell casings and that the jury's specific question would not be answered by any testimony contained within the cross-examination. The means by which the trial court complies with a jury's request to have testimony read back is subject to its discretion. State v. Redford, 242 Kan. 658, 668, 750 P.2d 1013 (1988). The trial court has the discretion to control the content of the read-back. State v. Myers, 255 Kan. 3, 8, 872 P.2d 236 (1994). In Myers, we said: K.S.A. 22-3420(3) states that the testimony `shall be read.' A trial court is required to accede to a jury's request to read back testimony. We do not believe, however, that such a strict construction forecloses all trial court discretion as to the manner of acceding to the request. Both [ State v.]Ruebke [240 Kan. 493, 731 P.2d 842, cert. denied 483 U.S. 1024 (1987),] and Redford are consistent in the view that the trial court has the discretion to control the read-back. The trial court is free to clarify the jury's read-back request where the read-back request is unclear or too broad, or the read-back would jeopardize the manageability of the trial. Discretion rests with the trial court to clarify and focus the jury's inquiry. 255 Kan. at 8. On direct examination, the firearms examiner testified that the three spent shell casings found in the defendant's home were fired from the .357 Magnum found near the defendant's home and that the .357 Magnum was the weapon used to murder West. The cross-examination of the firearms examiner concerned the examiner's ability to determine when the spent shell casings were fired and who fired the gun at that time. The examiner testified that he could not tell when the three spent shell casings were fired or who had fired the weapon. In State v. Gilley, 5 Kan. App.2d 321, 615 P.2d 827, rev. denied 228 Kan. 807 (1980), the Court of Appeals held that a read-back of particular testimony of a witness requested by a jury in a civil or criminal case does not require that there must be a read-back of all other testimony of that witness. 5 Kan. App.2d at 323. Where the trial judge provides the jury with the specific portions of testimony that it has requested, the judge has fulfilled the requirements of K.S.A. 22-3420(3). 5 Kan. App.2d at 323. A jury is free to look at a very focused portion of the testimony it requests and does not have to look at any additional testimony if it does not desire to do so. It is not an abuse of discretion to exclude the cross-examination testimony if the jury did not specifically request it and its contents would not answer the question posed by the jury. In this case, the jury specifically requested a read-back of the testimony on the ballistics expert's finding on the three spent .357 Magnum shells found in the plastic bag in the defendant's home. The jury did not request any additional testimony. The focus of the firearms examiner's testimony concerning his ballistic findings occurred only in the direct testimony. The cross-examination merely concerned the firearms examiner's ability to determine the identity of the person who fired the three bullets and the time they were fired. The judge took a narrow and focused question and provided the jury with exactly what they had asked for. There was no need to include cross-examination of the firearms examiner in the requested read-back. There was no abuse of discretion.