Opinion ID: 2310758
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Joseph Sanchez

Text: To further support his defense of misidentification, Kiser sought to call Sanchez, a Superior Court bailiff, to testify at trial. During voir dire, Sanchez stated that as Kiser was leaving the court following a pretrial matter, Sanchez detained him because there was an outstanding capias issued by the Family Court in the name of Lamont Kiser. Sanchez stated that the basis for detaining Kiser was solely the name on the capias. When confronted, Kiser insisted that it was a mistake. Sanchez escorted Kiser to the Sheriff's office to determine if he was in fact wanted on the capias. The capias contained Kiser's name and pertinent information. The physical description, however, indicated that the individual wanted on the capias had discoloration on his right hand. Because Kiser did not have any discoloration on his right hand, he was released. The trial court ruled that Sanchez' testimony was not relevant because there was no basis for determining the circumstances upon which the capias was issued. The judge stated: we don't know why the Family Court issued the capias. We don't know that it was issued on the basis of mistaken description or because whoever they were looking for gave the defendant's name and the driver's license number or something else to the Family Court. So I think Mr. Sanchez' testimony would not be relevant in the case and would in fact ... even if it were relevant, unduly confuse the jury, so I am going to rule that he has no relevant testimony to offer. Sanchez' testimony establishes, however, that a capias was issued by the Family Court in Kiser's name when, in fact, he was not the proper subject of the capias. Standing alone, this testimony is only marginally relevant on the issue of misidentification because, as the trial court correctly noted, the basis for Kiser's detention was the fact that the capias was issued in his name. This testimony, however, supports the other evidence of past misidentifications offered by Kiser and lends further support to his contention that he had been mistakenly identified by law enforcement officials as one of his relatives in the past. As such, this evidence is probative of whether Kiser was misidentified in this case. In ruling this evidence inadmissible under Rule 403, because it would unduly confuse the jury, the trial judge again misstated the standard governing application of the rule of evidence by failing to apply a substantial outweighing factor. We conclude that, under these circumstances, the testimony of Sanchez is relevant and should have been admitted.