Opinion ID: 1577692
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 19

Heading: Exclusion of Testimony Regarding Contents of Horton's Vehicle

Text: James Craig, an employee of Horton, testified at Appellant's first trial, but was unavailable at the second trial. His testimony was read into the record. However, over defense objection, the trial court redacted portions of the testimony concerning Horton's vehicle. In the redacted portion, Craig testified that he found car keys, beer cans, and marijuana seeds in the vehicle after Horton's death. Defense counsel sought to elicit the same testimony from Elmer Pritchard, another Horton employee. Again, the testimony was excluded. Appellant now argues that the trial court's exclusion of this testimony denied him the right to fully present his defense; that is, that Minnie Burton, who had access to Horton's car, killed Horton. According to Appellant, this testimony tended to prove that Burton used the keys to enter Horton's home and then threw them into the car on her way out. Also, defense counsel argued this testimony supported the theory that Horton had evicted Burton after learning that there were alcohol and drugs in her car. We agree with the trial court that the testimony was irrelevant. Craig and Pritchard both testified that multiple persons had access to Horton's car. No other evidence was proffered to prove that Burton was the last person to drive the car or that the beer cans and marijuana seeds belonged to her. Indeed, as the trial court noted, there was no evidence linking any particular individual to the vehicle, and the vehicle was in no way tied to the crime. In short, testimony that beer cans and a set of keys were found inside Horton's car did not tend to make any relevant fact more or less likely. See KRE 401. There was no error.