Opinion ID: 1194882
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 19

Heading: Excluding Testimony of Trone's Character for Violence

Text: In an effort to resurrect the question who shot Haro, defendant renewed his request to introduce the testimony of Kevin Tillett to show Trone's character for violence. (See ante, pp. 304-305.) He contended that it would be mitigating evidence of the crime's circumstances (§ 190.3, factor (a)) and of his relatively minor role ( id., factor (j)) in it. The court ruled that its prior ruling applied, and for the same reasons. Defendant now contends that this ruling violated state law and the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, because it would have tended to show the circumstances of the crime (§ 190.3, factor (a)) and to prove that he was under Trone's domination ( id., factor (g)). For the reasons stated in our discussion of this point at the guilt phase, we disagree: The court's ruling was not an abuse of discretion.