Opinion ID: 835865
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Exclusion of Evidence Offered to Impeach Testimony of State Witnesses Wilson and Cathey

Text: We turn to defendant's assignments of error concerning the trial court's decision to exclude evidence that defendant offered to impeach the transcript testimony of state witnesses Wilson and Cathey. Wilson and Cathey were codefendants of defendant Guzek. The three men had gone to the Housers' home together. Wilson had shot Rod Houser at defendant's prompting, and Cathey had stabbed Rod Houser in an effort to make the murder appear to have been a cult killing. Both Wilson and Cathey entered into plea agreements. They pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, agreed to cooperate in the prosecution of defendant, and received sentences of life imprisonment. Wilson and Cathey testified against defendant during the guilt phase of defendant's first trial. They described their actions before the murders, including the preparations that they had made and their intent to kill the Housers. They described what had happened once they had arrived at the Housers' home, including the instructions that defendant had given them. They also described what had happened after the murders, including defendant's payment to them for their participation. The state sought to call Wilson and Cathey as witnesses against defendant in his second penalty-phase proceeding, but they refused to testify. The state again sought to call them during this third penalty-phase proceeding. Wilson and Cathey again refused. Cathey appeared in court and stated, without explanation, that he refused to testify. Wilson appeared by telephone and stated that, on the advice of counsel in connection with his federal habeas corpus proceedings, he was invoking his right under the Fifth Amendment not to testify. The trial court determined that Cathey and Wilson were unavailable as witnesses, as described in Rule 804(1) of the Oregon Evidence Code, and it permitted the state to introduce the transcripts of their prior testimony. [16] Defendant sought to refute Wilson's and Cathey's transcript testimony by offering evidence that tended to contradict that testimony, including evidence of inconsistent statements by the witnesses themselves. For example, defendant made an offer of proof that he would call as a witness a lawyer who had worked on defendant's second penalty-phase trial and to whom Cathey had stated in 1991 that Cathey, Wilson, and defendant had had no intention to kill the Housers before arriving at their home. That lawyer also would have testified that Cathey had told her that defendant had not directed Wilson to shoot Rod Houser. Defendant further made an offer of proof that he would have called as a witness an investigator to whom Wilson had stated in 1997 that there had been no leader among the codefendants and that they had not had any plan to kill the Housers. The trial court sustained the state's objections to admission of the foregoing evidence. [17] On review, defendant argues, among other things, that his proffered evidence refuting Wilson's and Cathey's transcript testimony did not qualify as hearsay and was relevant for impeachment purposes. At the outset, we offer an important point of clarification. Under ORS 138.012(2)(b), after remand for a new penalty-phase proceeding, the guilt-phase proceeding transcripts are admissible in the new penalty-phase proceeding. For that reason alone, Wilson's and Cathey's transcript testimony from the guilt phase of defendant's first trial was admissible in defendant's third penalty-phase proceeding. However, the state did not offer the transcripts only because they were transcripts from the guilt-phase proceeding. Instead, the state relied on Wilson's and Cathey's transcript testimony, in lieu of their live testimony, also to prove two elements of the state's case in the penalty-phase proceeding, namely, that defendant had acted deliberately within the meaning of ORS 163.150(1)(b)(A) and that a probability existed that defendant would commit violent criminal acts in the future, thus posing a continuing threat to society within the meaning of ORS 163.150(1)(b)(B). In other words, even though Wilson's and Cathey's transcript testimony introduced during the penalty-phase proceeding consisted of their testimony from the guilt phase, the state put that testimony to an additional use in the penalty phase, specifically, to prove that defendant should receive a sentence of death. That is significant, because it demonstrates that the state made the credibility of Wilson and Cathey relevant to the penalty-phase proceeding and opened the door for defendant's impeachment of their testimony. See State v. Johanesen, 319 Or. 128, 135-37, 873 P.2d 1065 (1994) (discussing relevance of extrinsic evidence for impeaching credibility of witness). That said, we turn to the state's argument that the trial court properly excluded defendant's proffered impeachment evidence refuting Wilson's and Cathey's transcript testimony because that evidence qualified as hearsay, not within any exception. The state asserts that defendant does not appear to dispute [the] proposition that his proffered evidence was hearsay. We disagree. Defendant does not concede that he offered his evidence refuting Wilson's and Cathey's transcript testimony only to prove the truth of the matter asserted therein. See OEC 801(3) (`Hearsay' is a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying   , offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted.). Instead, defendant argues that his proffered evidence of inconsistent statements by Wilson and Cathey was very powerful impeachment evidence, in other words, that it tended to show that the jury should not trust Wilson's and Cathey's transcript testimony about defendant's role in the murders. Because defendant offered his evidence for that purpose, it did not qualify as hearsay, and the trial court erred by excluding it on that basis. [18] See Blue Ribbon Bldgs. v. Struthers, 276 Or. 1199, 1205, 557 P.2d 1350 (1976) (testimony of out-of-court statement not hearsay, because offered for impeachment purposes to show that opponent's witness had made inconsistent statement).