Opinion ID: 1405197
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: replay of testimony during deliberations.

Text: In relating the statements made to him by Appellant, Jeremiah Sullivan testified that Appellant told him that he had fired seven to nine shots at the Reed vehicle, but admitted on cross-examination that he told the police that Appellant claimed to have fired six to eight shots. Sullivan also testified that he had not talked to Fee prior to being interviewed by the police on September 17, 2001. However, he later returned to the witness stand and admitted that, in fact, he had spoken with Fee prior to his police interview. On this occasion, he testified on direct examination that Fee had only told him that Reed was driving the car, and gave him no other details about the shooting. On cross-examination, however, defense counsel impeached Sullivan by reading back the portion of his written statement where he stated that Fee told him, Man, they just came out of nowhere. Starting riding on us, chasing us. And then that's when they started firing. Nothing was said during Sullivan's second appearance on the witness stand about anything Appellant had told him or how many shots had been fired. During deliberations, the jury sent a note to the trial judge asking: Did Jeremiah (on the 17th police statement) say that Tamonte [sic] said he had fired 6-7 shots? Or was this just said on the witness stand? The trial judge responded that he could not tell them the answer to the question, but that he could replay Sullivan's testimony for them. He informed them that they would need to watch both the direct and cross-examination if they chose that option. The jury opted to listen to the testimony and viewed the entirety of the testimony given by Sullivan on his first appearance as a witness; however, the judge overruled Appellant's motion to replay Sullivan's testimony from his second appearance. Appellant asserts that Sullivan and Fee may have conspired to frame him before Sullivan went to the police; thus, it was reversible error not to replay the testimony in which Sullivan admitted to talking to Fee before going to the police. (The jury did not request a replay of that testimony.) The decision with respect to how much testimony to read or replay to the jury is within the sound discretion of the trial court and will not be overturned absent a clear abuse of discretion. Baze v. Commonwealth, Ky., 965 S.W.2d 817, 825 (1997). In exercising that discretion, the judge must balance the risk of emphasizing particular testimony against the need to obviate juror confusion. Bellamy v. Pathak, Ky.App., 869 S.W.2d 45, 47 (1993) (citing Smith v. Wright, Ky., 512 S.W.2d 943, 947 (1974)). A trial judge is only required to provide the jury with the requested portion of the testimony and has a duty to ensure that the trial is not unnecessarily prolonged. Jarvis v. Commonwealth, 245 Ky. 790, 54 S.W.2d 307, 310 (1932). A judge need not replay cross-examination when the answer to the jury's question lies in testimony given during direct examination. Johnson v. Commonwealth, Ky., 497 S.W.2d 699, 700 (1973). In fact, if portions that the jury have not requested are read back, it may prejudice the appellee's interests, as it would unduly emphasize that testimony. Humana, Inc. v. Fairchild, Ky.App., 603 S.W.2d 918, 921 (1980). Here, the trial judge replayed only the portion of the testimony that the jurors requested, i.e., the portion that contained the answer to their question. We perceive no abuse of discretion.