Opinion ID: 2310896
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Admission of Prior Unrelated Incident Testimony

Text: Counsel for Abrams attempted to introduce evidence showing that Terry was afraid of people breaking into his house and that he had fired a gun at imaginary intruders on an occasion unrelated to this case. The Superior Court did not allow the evidence to be admitted, ruling that the probative value of the evidence was substantially outweighed by the danger of confusion of the issues or misleading the jury. Abrams argues that the evidence about Terry's use of a gun to fire at imaginary intruders was crucial to this case because it was relevant to the question of whether Terry's wallet was stolen or that he simply misplaced it. Abrams further argues that the gun use evidence speaks to Terry's credibility and reliability as a witness, and therefore should have been admitted. The Superior Court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Abrams' request to admit evidence that Terry fired a gun at imaginary intruders on a prior occasion. Abrams concedes that three defense witnesses already testified that Terry was prone to losing items and claiming that someone took them. Abrams further concedes that the gun incident evidence to some extent would have been cumulative of the evidence already admitted on Terry's reliability. Terry himself, cross-examined as a victim witness, gave the jury an adequate picture of the nature and accuracy of his own powers of recall. The testimony of these four individuals, i.e., the three defense witnesses plus Terry's own testimony, sufficiently advised the jury of that which the defense wanted the jury to consider: that Terry is an elderly, forgetful person whose testimony should be weighed accordingly. Therefore, presentation of the gun evidence would have been needlessly cumulative, adding nothing further of probative value, while also injecting the potential for unfair prejudice or jury confusion. Even if the evidence about Terry's use of a gun was admissible under D.R.E. 403, it remains inadmissible under D.R.E. 608(b). [11] Under the provisions of Rule 608(b), specific instances of the conduct of a witness for the purpose of attacking his credibility may not be proved by extrinsic evidence, but, in the discretion of the Superior Court, if probative of truthfulness, may be inquired into on cross-examination concerning the witness' character for truthfulness or untruthfulness. In the case at hand, however, Terry's truthfulness or untruthfulness was never at issue. The defense emphasized repeatedly the theory that Terry was not intentionally lying, but that he was forgetful and confused. The defense was clear from its opening statement and throughout the trial that Terry was not a bad person or an intentional liar; he was simply elderly, forgetful and often confused. Since Terry's truthfulness or untruthfulness was never at issue in this case, D.R.E. 608(b) precludes the admission of testimony on cross-examination relating to Terry's prior use of a gun in an unrelated incident. Additionally, adequate testimony about Terry's forgetfulness was provided to the jury from three witnesses plus Terry himself. Accordingly, we find that the Superior Court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Abrams' request to admit this testimony.