Opinion ID: 2194937
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Testimony of Gang Activity

Text: At trial, Taylor attempted to elicit testimony that two witnesses were involved in gang activity. In each case, the trial court sustained the State's objections on grounds of relevancy or because the question assumed facts not in evidence. The trial court also sustained the State's relevancy objection to an Indianapolis police officer's deposition in which the officer discussed his familiarity with a particular gang and its activity. Taylor argues that the trial court committed reversible error by not admitting these items of testimony because each supported the defense's theory that this was a gang-related crime committed by another person. Relevant evidence means evidence having 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. Ind. Evidence Rule 401. Taylor does not explain why any evidence tending to show that either witness was a gang member bears on any issue in the case. The best he offers is an undifferentiated suggestion that the killing was somehow gang-related. Without more, this raises no issue sufficient to support a claimed relevancy error. Furthermore, error in the exclusion of evidence will not warrant reversal unless a substantial right of the party is affected. Evid.R. 103. At a hearing outside the presence of the jury, Taylor asked the first witness whether he was a member of a gang. The witness stated he was not. Thus, Taylor's substantial rights would not have been affected if the jury had heard this testimony. The second witness testified in front of the jury on two occasions that he was a member of the Growth and Development Nation. Taylor is not entitled to reversal predicated upon exclusion of evidence where other evidence of the same fact is received. Holifield v. State, 572 N.E.2d 490, 495 (Ind.1991), reh'g denied. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the evidence of the witnesses' gang activity. See Kremer v. State, 514 N.E.2d 1068, 1073 (Ind.1987), reh'g denied.