Opinion ID: 1147525
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Testimony of Donnie Marshall

Text: (7) In rebuttal, Donnie Marshall testified, over defense objection, that he had solicited defendant to perform an act of oral copulation and that defendant had displayed no anger at the proposition. He also testified he had seen defendant on several occasions in areas of Portland frequented by homosexuals. Defendant now contends that this evidence should have been excluded as irrelevant, as violating the rule against impeachment on collateral matters, as improper character evidence, and because its probative value was substantially outweighed by the risk of undue prejudice. Evidence tending to contradict any part of a witness's testimony is relevant for purposes of impeachment. (Evid. Code, § 780, subd. (i); People v. Lavergne (1971) 4 Cal.3d 735, 742 [94 Cal. Rptr. 405, 484 P.2d 77].) Defendant testified that Anderson's statements concerning homosexual conduct made him angry, that he dislikes having such remarks directed to him, and that he told a police investigator he started getting madder and madder [upon hearing Anderson's statements], because he was starting to talk all that crap. Evidence that defendant had received a sexual proposition from Marshall without showing any annoyance tended to contradict this testimony and thus was relevant for impeachment. Marshall's testimony did not violate the rule against impeachment on collateral matters. (See People v. Thompson, supra, 45 Cal.3d 86, 110; People v. Lavergne, supra, 4 Cal.3d 735, 742-744.) Defendant's mental state during the moments immediately preceding the shooting was not a collateral matter; it was of critical importance in regard to several issues, including heat of passion as an element of voluntary manslaughter, one of the lesser included offenses on which the jury was instructed. The prosecutor's questions regarding defendant's alleged anger and the reasons for it were proper to probe defendant's mental state immediately before the shooting and to demonstrate the implausibility of his testimony. As noted above, Marshall's testimony was proper impeachment evidence and was not admitted to prove defendant's character or disposition. Accordingly, Marshall's testimony was not made inadmissible by Evidence Code section 1101. [10] Defendant argues, however, that this evidence, because of its tendency to degrade his character, should have been excluded under Evidence Code section 352 (see fn. 2, ante ). The jury would likely reason, defendant maintains, that because defendant was seen by Marshall in areas frequented by homosexuals and also known for drug dealing and theft offenses, defendant was probably himself a homosexual, a drug user, and a thief. Defendant himself placed in issue his knowledge of homosexual behavior patterns by offering the testimony of Dr. Beaber that the remarks defendant attributed to Anderson were characteristic of a subgroup of homosexuals and that this distinctive behavior was not widely known. The prosecutor could properly respond to this testimony by showing that defendant had been seen in areas frequented by homosexuals and thus could have acquired knowledge of particular behavior patterns through experiences in these areas, including contacts with persons like Marshall. That these same areas were also the site of drug and property offenses was irrelevant, but the testimony on this point was not part of the offer of proof and was volunteered by the witness. As defendant did not make a timely and specific objection or move to strike this particular testimony, the issue is not reviewable on appeal. (Evid. Code, § 353; People v. Rogers (1978) 21 Cal.3d 542, 547-548 [146 Cal. Rptr. 732, 579 P.2d 1048].) In response to defendant's motion under Evidence Code section 352, the trial court carefully weighed the probative value of Marshall's testimony, as represented in the offer of proof, against the risk of undue prejudice to defendant. The trial court in fact excluded evidence that defendant had accepted Marshall's proposition and had been orally copulated by Marshall. We find no abuse of discretion in the trial court's ruling to admit the balance of Marshall's testimony.