Opinion ID: 1685999
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: opinion testimony by the detective

Text: Detective Fraction, who is with the Louisville Police Division Crimes Against Children Unit (hereinafter CACU), spoke with A.C. concerning the alleged sexual abuse and assisted in taking her to the emergency room for an examination. During Detective Fraction's testimony, the Commonwealth asked Fraction what she did after taking A.C. to the emergency room. Fraction responded: I left the hospital. When I left the hospital, I went to seek a warrant for the arrest of Mr. Alexander because I felt, in my opinion, that the child was telling the truth. Appellant's immediate objection was sustained, but a request for mistrial was overruled. The jury was admonished by the trial judge as follows: Let me admonish you to disregard Detective Fraction's testimony concerning her opinion regarding whether the child was telling the truth. It is the function of the jury to determine the credibility to accord the child's testimony and it is not admissible evidence for this detective or anyone else to offer opinion testimony on whether or not the child was telling the truth. That is for the jury's determination alone. It is normally presumed that a jury will follow an instruction to disregard inadmissible evidence that is inadvertently presented to it, unless (1) there is an overwhelming probability that the jury will be unable to follow the court's admonition; and (2) a strong likelihood that the effect of the inadmissible evidence would be devastating to the defendant. Greer v. Miller, 483 U.S. 756, 766, n. 8, 107 S.Ct. 3102, 3109, n. 8, 97 L.Ed.2d 618 (1987). Appellant cites Bussey v. Commonwealth, Ky., 797 S.W.2d 483 (1990) for the proposition that Detective Fraction's testimony constituted reversible error. However, Bussey is distinguishable from the case presently before the Court. In Bussey the Commonwealth asked the officer whether he had come to a conclusion about whether the victim had been taken against his will. The officer responded that he had come to the conclusion that some type of misconduct had occurred. In the case at bar, Officer Fraction gave her opinion as an unsolicited response. Because Fraction had only testified on two previous occasions she was unaware that it was impermissible to give her opinion. We are not saying that ignorance of the law, or rules of evidence is an excuse, but under the facts of this case it appears that the opinion was not given in bad faith and the subsequent admonition made the error harmless. Absent bad faith, an admonition given by the trial judge can cure a defect in testimony. See Stanford v. Commonwealth, Ky., 734 S.W.2d 781 (1987); Dunn v. Commonwealth, Ky.App., 689 S.W.2d 23 (1984). There is no overwhelming probability that the jury was unable to follow the trial judge's thorough and specific admonition. In the instant case, a majority of the Court finds that the trial judge's admonition to the jury did cure any error resulting from Detective Fraction's unsolicited response.