Opinion ID: 1778765
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: The defense should have been allowed to question the State's chief investigator about the scope of his investigation.

Text: ś 83. Manning's next assignment of error is that his cross-examination of the Sheriff was improperly limited and that many of the hearsay objections from the prosecution were improperly sustained by the trial court. He complains that none of these objections should have been sustained because defense counsel was not offering any of this testimony to prove the truth of the matter asserted, but instead to demonstrate the scope of the investigation in this case. ś 84. The Mississippi Rules of Evidence define hearsay as: (c) Hearsay. Hearsay is a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted. Miss.R.Evid. 801(c). ś 85. The relevancy and admissibility of evidence are largely within the discretion of the trial court and reversal may be had only where that discretion has been abused. Johnston v. State, 567 So.2d 237, 238 (Miss.1990)(citing Hentz v. State, 542 So.2d 914, 917 (Miss.1989); Monk v. State, 532 So.2d 592, 599 (Miss.1988)). Unless [the trial judge's] discretion is so abused as to be prejudicial to the accused, this Court will not reverse his ruling. Shearer v. State, 423 So.2d 824, 826 (Miss.1982)(citing Page v. State, 295 So.2d 279 (Miss.1974)). The discretion of the trial court must be exercised within the boundaries of the Mississippi Rules of Evidence. Johnston, 567 So.2d at 238. ś 86. Manning cites approximately ten instances in which he contends the trial judge erroneously excluded admissible evidence. In six of those instances, defense counsel's question to the sheriff called for an inadmissible hearsay response. The trial judge did not err in sustaining the prosecutor's objections to any of these questions. In another instance complained of by Manning, the question posed by defense counsel called for speculation on the part of the sheriff, which if answered, would have invaded the province of the jury. The objection by the prosecutor was properly sustained. In the remaining instances, the prosecutor's objection to hearsay should not have been sustained. However, in each of those instances, defense counsel failed to make an offer of proof to show that he was not seeking to offer the testimony to prove the truth of the matter asserted, but instead was offering it for some other purpose. Therefore, Manning is procedurally barred from asserting this claim for error. Miss.R.Evid. 103(a)(2). Additionally, Manning has made no showing that the trial judge's erroneous rulings affected a substantial right of his. We find that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in a manner that was prejudicial to Manning, and this is not reversible error.