Opinion ID: 1142587
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: did the trial judge erroneously exclude testimony of pending civil litigation which would tend to exculpate hewlett?

Text: Phillip Gunn, the son of Dewey and Linda, testified about the visit his parents had made to his Oxford home and their leaving for Clinton on May 15th. On cross-examination, Phillip was asked whether he had looked into the possibility of filing a civil suit in the belief that the explosion was caused by a defect in the Buick LaSabre. The district attorney objected to this question on the basis of relevance, and the trial judge sustained the objection, not allowing Hewlett to ask questions about the possibility of any civil litigation against the manufacturer of the car. Hewlett argues here that evidence of a civil lawsuit by Gunn against the car manufacturer based on an allegation that the manufacturer's defect was responsible for the deaths of his family is exculpatory in nature, and that allegations that the design defect caused the death are contrary to the charges that the conduct of Hewlett caused the deaths. Therefore, according to Hewlett, the trial judge erroneously limited Hewlett's right to cross-examine Gunn. The right of a defendant to confront and cross-examine the witnesses against him is fundamental and cannot be substantially restricted, Murphy v. State, 453 So.2d 1290, 1292 (Miss. 1984), but the right of confrontation is not without limits. Though the scope of cross-examination is ordinarily broad, it is within the sound discretion of the trial judge, who possesses the inherent power to limit cross-examination to relevant matters. Sayles v. State, 552 So.2d 1383, 1386 (Miss. 1989); Foster v. State, 508 So.2d 1111, 1114 (Miss. 1987); Dozier v. State, 257 So.2d 857, 859 (Miss. 1972). However, the discretion of the trial court is not without limits; this Court has reversed where the trial court exceeded the limits in an area proper for cross-examination. See, Suan v. State, 511 So.2d 144 (Miss. 1987). In order for driving while intoxicated to be a factor in establishing criminally culpable negligence it must contribute proximately to the negligence and to the resulting deaths. Frazier v. State, 289 So.2d 690, 692 (Miss. 1974). The negligence of the deceased or of a third person is not a defense to a prosecution for a homicide resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle, but it may be considered on the issue of whether the accused was criminally negligent or whether his conduct was the proximate cause of the homicide. Coggins v. State, 222 Miss. 49, 75 So.2d 258, 264, (1954). Questions about design defects raise the element of causation, and by raising them Hewlett was seeking to show that his conduct did not cause the deaths of the Gunns but that the deaths were the possible result of a design defect in the Buick car. From examining the record it is clear that the trial judge did not restrict Hewlett's cross-examination on the issue of a possibility of another cause of the deaths. As can be seen from the cross-examination of Mr. Gunn by counsel for Hewlett, four of the six questions asked were in regard to whether there was any information in regard to the possibility of any defects in the automobile. Gunn's answers provided what Hewlett was seeking which was an indication that there may have been some defect in the car that caused the deaths. The trial judge did restrict Hewlett's question on this issue, but only in regard to whether or not there was a civil suit. The existence of a civil suit has no bearing on Hewlett's guilt or innocence. The civil suit is a collateral matter and the trial judge did not err in restricting cross-examination in this area. The information Hewlett was seeking through his questions, whether there may have been a defect in the car, was actually provided on cross-examination. This assignment is without merit.