Opinion ID: 2634460
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: KT's Testimony

Text: [¶ 11] Evidentiary rulings are within the sound discretion of the trial court and include determinations of the adequacy of foundation and relevancy, competency, materiality, and remoteness of the evidence. This Court will generally accede to the trial court's determination of the admissibility of evidence unless that court clearly abused its discretion. We have described the standard of an abuse of discretion as reaching the question of the reasonableness of the trial court's choice. Judicial discretion is a composite of many things, among which are conclusions drawn from objective criteria. It also means exercising sound judgment with regard to what is right under the circumstances and without doing so arbitrarily or capriciously. In the absence of an abuse of discretion, we will not disturb the trial court's determination. The burden is on the defendant to establish such abuse. Wilde v. State, 2003 WY 93, ¶ 13, 74 P.3d 699, ¶ 13 (Wyo.2003) (citing Willis v. State, 2002 WY 79, ¶ 16, 46 P.3d ¶ 16 (Wyo.2002)). [¶ 12] Person contends that the district court's evidentiary ruling limited his ability to question KT and took the heart out of his defense that CC was lying. Person's intended defense was that CC snuck out of Person's house on the night of January 6, 2002, to do something that his parents would not have allowed. The theory goes on to include that when CC got caught, he made up the story of the molestation because he was so intimidated by his father that he could not tell the truth about what he had done that night. This defense was premised in part on Person's contention that he had denied molesting CC. The evidence of that denial did not come in the form of testimony from Person himself, but rather through the testimony of CC's parents. When confronted with what CC said occurred, Person told CC's parents that he had not molested CC. Person did not cross-examine CC, CC's father, or CC's mother about this subject. The context in which this issue arose is critical to a sound analysis of the issue presented and so we set it out in detail: Q. Tell me what you know about [CC] and his parents. Do they get along very well? A. Yeah. Q. Okay. What about his father in particular, does he get along with his father? [Prosecutor]: Objection, your Honor, 404(b) and this is also improper under 608. THE COURT: Sustained. Q. Does he have any problems with his father? [Prosecutor]: Objection, Your Honor. THE COURT: Sustained. [Defense Counsel]: Your Honor, I guess I would ask for a ruling on why I can't ask that question. THE COURT: Based upon basic relevance. [Defense Counsel]: I can show relevance, if you want me to do it [at] side bar. THE COURT: Okay. [Prosecutor]: I guess we need a hearing, Your Honor. (A bench conference was held out of the hearing but in the presence of the jury.) [Defense Counsel]: Um, Your Honor, my question to him is if he knows the relationship between [CC] and his father. I expect him to say that [CC] is sometimes intimidated by his father, that he yells at him, that kind of thing, and sometimes he's scared of him. That they have this relationship of that nature. It's important in my case because it's one of those things I think I ought to be able to argue because he did not go home and may have been out and left Dan's house and thought he was going to get in trouble. And because of that, that's why he came up with this story that Dan had touched him. So I think it's important to show that he had that mind-set. THE COURT: Well, the foundation issue with regards to  what are you talking about, observations that he had been talking about something else? [Defense Counsel]: I'm asking for a specific statement of anything of that nature. THE COURT: That he observed with the father? [Defense Counsel]: Right. I can ask him that question. [Prosecutor]: I would object to that 404(b) or 608, instances of conduct. I have no notice of 404(b). We haven't had a hearing on it. It would be an irrelevant thing, possibly drawing out hearsay. I think it's improper impeachment. Neither the father nor [CC] were confronted with these items. They don't have a chance to explain that. THE COURT: I'll continue to sustain the objection. [¶ 13] Person bases his argument in this regard on the Sixth [3] and Fourteenth [4] Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 10 [5] of the Wyoming Constitution. Person contends that he was deprived of testimony that would have been relevant, material, and vital to his defense. In support of this argument, Person cites California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479, 104 S.Ct. 2528, 2532, 81 L.Ed.2d 413 (1984), for the proposition that: Under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, criminal prosecutions must comport with prevailing notions of fundamental fairness. We have long interpreted this standard of fairness to require that criminal defendants be afforded a meaningful opportunity to present a complete defense. To safeguard that right, the Court has developed what might loosely be called the area of constitutionally guaranteed access to evidence. However, that case deals exclusively with a defendant's right to have delivered to him, by the prosecution, exculpatory evidence that would raise a reasonable doubt about the defendant's guilt. We do not view the case as applicable to the question at hand. Person also calls our attention to United States v. Valenzuela-Bernal, 458 U.S. 858, 102 S.Ct. 3440, 3446, 73 L.Ed.2d 1193 (1982), [6] for the proposition that the Sixth Amendment guarantees a criminal defendant the right to secure the attendance of witnesses and that a defendant may not arbitrarily be deprived of testimony that would be relevant and material and vital to his defense. However, it goes on to say that a defendant cannot establish a violation of that constitutional right merely by showing he has been deprived of a witnesses' testimony. He must at least make some plausible showing of how their testimony would have been both material and favorable to his defense. Id. First, that case appears to be limited to circumstances dealing with witnesses who have been deported by the government (and thus are unavailable to the defendant), but to the extent it has more general application, it appears to favor the State's position that Person was required to make a showing that the evidence KT might have provided was relevant, material, and favorable to his defense. [¶ 14] We applied the Valenzuela-Bernal case in Dysthe v. State, 2003 WY 20, ¶ 5, 63 P.3d 875, ¶ 5 (Wyo.2003): A violation of the compulsory process clause of the Sixth Amendment occurs when a defendant is arbitrarily deprived of testimony that would have been relevant, material, and vital to his defense. United States v. Valenzuela-Bernal, 458 U.S. 858, 867, 102 S.Ct. 3440, 73 L.Ed.2d 1193 (1982). In Taylor v. Illinois, 484 U.S. 400, 407-09, 108 S.Ct. 646, 98 L.Ed.2d 798 (1988), a case involving the violation of a pre-trial discovery order, the United States Supreme Court held that the compulsory process clause is not merely a guarantee that the accused shall have the power to subpoena witnesses, but confers on the accused the fundamental right to present witnesses in his own defense. Taylor further held, however, that although a trial court may not ignore a defendant's fundamental right to present witness testimony in his favor, the mere invocation of that right cannot automatically and invariably outweigh countervailing public interests. Id. at 410-16, 108 S.Ct. 646. The factors to be weighed in the balance include, but are not limited to the integrity of the adversary process, which depends both on the presentation of reliable evidence and the rejection of unreliable evidence, the interest in the fair and efficient administration of justice, and the potential prejudice to the truth-determining function of the trial process.... Id. at 414-15, 108 S.Ct. 646. [¶ 15] We will concede that some of the prosecutor's objections to KT's testimony were a bit far afield. However, the focus of the objections made, and of the trial court's concerns, was whether the evidence was relevant. It is evident that Person's theory of the case was balanced not so much on the head of a pin, as on the point of a pin. There was no evidence in the record at the time KT was called as a witness to even suggest that CC was so in fear of or intimidated by his father that he would be motivated to lie about the molestation, or that CC had been engaged in some sort of lark during the late night hours of January 6, 2002, so that he would need to lie to his parents. [¶ 16] To be admissible, evidence must be relevant to some issue in the case: For evidence to be admissible, it must be relevant. W.R.E. 402. Evidence is relevant if it has any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. W.R.E. 401. In criminal cases, `[e]vidence is always relevant if it tends to prove or disprove one of the elements of the crime charged.' Geiger v. State, 859 P.2d 665, 667 (Wyo.1993) ( quoting Grabill v. State, 621 P.2d 802, 809 (Wyo.1980)). Gomez v. State, 2003 WY 58, ¶ 6, 68 P.3d 1177, 1179, ¶ 6 (Wyo.2003). [¶ 17] W.R.E. 401 requires no more probative worth than that which reasonable persons would require in making thoughtful decisions in life outside the courtroom. 1 Christopher B. Mueller and Laird C. Kirkpatrick, Federal Evidence, § 82 at 392, § 83 at 396-97, (2nd ed.1994). W.R.E. 402 counsels that technicalities should be avoided and that reliable evidence of sound probative value should be admitted. 2 Weinstein's Federal Evidence, § 402.02[1] at 402-11 (2nd ed.2004). However, the goal of ascertaining the truth is not always served by indiscriminate admission of all relevant evidence. Id., § 402.02[2] at XXX-XX-XX. We deem the following thoughts from Professor Mueller to be applicable to what occurred in this case because the trial court's decision in this instance was made after all other evidence offered in this case was already in: Like all evidentiary decisions, the trial judge decides relevancy questions on the run, one by one as the trial progresses, with succeeding decisions reached in the light of more and more actual information. This fact has unique significance for decisions of relevancy. The court can take steps to make decisions easier, but some relevancy questions are bound to arise in early stages when events and conditions are mostly in the shadows. The relevancy standard should be liberal, because a higher standard would mean rejecting more at the beginning of trial than at the end, and setting the standard at a modest level helps assure uniform administration and a fuller consideration of proof that bears on the issues. 1 Mueller and Kirkpatrick, supra, § 83 at 397-98. [¶ 18] The evidence that defense counsel suggested 11-year-old KT might be able to provide was KT's assessment of the relationship between father and son (and what was in CC's mind) so that the fact finder might infer that CC had a motive to lie. The excluded evidence was, by nature, circumstantial evidence: Sometimes circumstantial evidence is irrelevant. If it fails even to support the conclusion for which it is offered under FRE 401's generous standard, it should be excluded. Objecting parties commonly argue that circumstantial evidence is prejudicial under FRE 403 (inviting misuse or making the jury angry), but even without such concerns circumstantial evidence that fails the relevancy standard may be excluded simply because it requires inferential leaps that are too speculative. Sometimes circumstantial evidence is insufficient to support the conclusion for which it is offered, and the problem is not relevancy but sufficiency. Sometimes circumstantial evidence is excluded because proof of some additional fact is required before the evidence could support the point for which it is offered. In this situation, the court may treat the missing fact as a condition that must be fulfilled, and may either admit the evidence subject to a motion to strike, or insist that the conditional fact be proved first. Sometimes evidence is excluded as irrelevant if it seems clear that there is no other proof that supporting the proposition to which the evidence is directed and that evidence is insufficient to prove it without something more. Here the conclusion that proffered evidence is irrelevant really means that the court is insisting that the proponent offer the missing evidence first or that the court is refusing to admit the proffered evidence without assurance that the missing point will be proved. Excluding proffered evidence because of the missing link separating it from the desired conclusion can avoid prejudice, confusion, and waste of time, which is proper under FRE 403. 1 Mueller and Kirkpatrick, supra, § 83 at 401-3. [¶ 19] This brings us, then, to our final point in this regard, and that is the sufficiency of defense counsel's offer of proof. W.R.E. 103 provides: (a) Effect of erroneous ruling.  Error may not be predicated upon a ruling which admits or excludes evidence unless a substantial right of the party is affected, and (1) Objection.  In case the ruling is one admitting evidence, a timely objection or motion to strike appears of record, stating the specific ground of objection, if the specific ground was not apparent from the context; or (2) Offer of Proof.  In case the ruling is one excluding evidence, the substance of the evidence was made known to the court by offer or was apparent from the context within which questions were asked. (b) Record of offer and ruling.  The court may add any other or further statement which shows the character of the evidence, the form in which it was offered, the objection made, and the ruling thereon. It may direct the making of an offer in question and answer form. (c) Hearing of jury.  In jury cases, proceedings shall be conducted, to the extent practicable, so as to prevent inadmissible evidence from being suggested to the jury by any means, such as making statements or offers of proof or asking questions in the hearing of the jury. (d) Plain error.  Nothing in this rule precludes taking notice of plain errors affecting substantial rights although they were not brought to the attention of the court. [Emphasis added.] [¶ 20] In the context of evidentiary rulings at trial, this Court has long adhered to the doctrine that a sufficient offer of proof is necessary so that we are adequately apprised of the nature of the excluded testimony. Skinner v. State, 2001 WY 102, ¶ 39, 33 P.3d 758, ¶ 39 (Wyo.2001): This requirement enables the trial court to be fully advised in the exercise of its discretion regarding the admission of evidence and allows the reviewing court to determine if prejudicial error resulted from the exclusion of the proffered testimony. Assertions and speculation in an appellate brief in no way take the place of an explicit offer of proof: We suggest there is only one prudent way for an offer of proof to be made a [t] trial. The attorney who seeks to offer evidence, which has been refused or to which an objection has been upheld, should take the initiative. The offer of proof should then take the form of counsel's eliciting the proposed testimony directly from the witness, or entering the tangible evidence in the record, all outside of the hearing of the jury. Hermreck, 956 P.2d at 338 (quoting Rudolph v. State, 829 P.2d 269, 275 (Wyo.1992)). We conclude our appellate review was impeded due to the absence of an offer of proof and a clear indication in the record as to what the victim's testimony would have revealed. Also see 1 Mueller and Kirkpatrick, supra, §§ 13-15 at 62-79. [¶ 21] Upon careful examination of this question, we conclude the offered evidence was not relevant, or was at most conditionally relevant, and the necessary preconditions were not met. The offer of proof brought forward by Person did not meet the required standard. We hold that the district court did not err in refusing admission of the disputed evidence. [¶ 22] A secondary matter concerns the trial court's refusal to permit defense counsel to question KT about what CC may have told him about sexual experiences CC had. During the cross examination of CC, defense counsel asked him about his prior sexual experiences, or conversations he might have had with people about sex, and CC essentially denied having any. The State objected to that line of questioning but the district court permitted defense counsel to continue a little bit. When defense counsel asked KT what CC may have told him about his prior sexual experiences, the district court sustained the State's objection. Defense counsel contended that he should have been permitted to ask those questions so as to reveal a prior inconsistent statement, i.e., that CC denied prior sexual experiences, and that KT's testimony might contradict that. Defense counsel made no offer of proof whatsoever in this instance. For much the same reasons as those set out above, in particular because there was no offer of proof tendered to the trial court, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in disallowing this evidence.