Opinion ID: 1831507
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Exclusion of the Home Video

Text: An important aspect of Byrom's defense was that her actions were motivated by the abuse she suffered at Byrom Sr.'s hands. She has alleged that a large part of this abuse was sexual, and she has alleged that this tape depicted this sexual abuse. If the contents of this tape do help to establish that Byrom was indeed forced to perform sexual acts for the gratification of her husband, then it should not have been excluded. Moreover, the trial judge excluded the tape without even viewing it. This I cannot condone. The majority rationalizes this error by concluding that Byrom was given sufficient latitude to convey her theory of abuse to the jury through other evidence. However, the majority fails to recognize the questionable nature of the evidence that was presented to establish Byrom Sr.'s abusive nature. This evidence was presented through the testimony and statements of Byrom and Junior, whose credibility was questionable at best, considering their respective motivations. If the home video depicts Byrom Sr. forcing Byrom to engage in non-consensual sexual events then it would have given more credibility to these allegations as it would have provided reliable evidence that she was in fact abused. This evidence is therefore more probative on the issue of abuse than is the commercial tape. This home video makes more plausible Byrom's allegations that she suffered from domestic abuse, while the other only restates what was already obvious, that Byrom Sr. liked pornography. While credible proof that she was sexually abused certainly does not exonerate Byrom nor condone her actions, it does go to mitigation and should not have been excluded. Byrom should not have been prevented from proving her defense and to do so was error.