Opinion ID: 1889530
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Testimony of Daniel Twomey

Text: We shall restate verbatim appellant's arguments to this Court and then rephrase those issues to ensure clarity: The [S]tate initially had Twomey testify as to the nature of the civil case between [a]ppellant and his sister. Witness Twomey also testified that Judge Joseph Murphy was the presiding judge at the civil trial. The prosecution then inquired from Mr. Twomey as to the [a]ppellant's conduct toward Judge Murphy during [the civil estate] trial from 1985 to 1992. Appellant's trial counsel objected but said objection was overruled. Twomey informed the jury that his observation of [appellant] in the court room was one of a very angry person which was consistent with the way he had been acting in his presence before the trial. Twomey further testified that [appellant] was not only angry but was also physically intimidating in the sense of body posture, glaring, tone of voice, and comments from the counsel table where he was sitting. He also stated that at one part in the proceedings, the Judge had to admonish [a]ppellant, extremely sternly, to control himself, stop his outbursts and to remain in his chair. Twomey went on to describe [appellant] as confrontational. He also made reference to having been in [appellant]'s house with a police officer with [appellant] being very close in his face, pounding on his chest, poking on his chest with his index finger, and being informed by the police officer to back-off. Twomey was also asked about any weapons the [a]ppellant had in his house. Over the objection of defense counsel, Twomey was allowed to testify that he found two (2) pistols in [appellant]'s house, one being a .38 revolver. Twomey also told the jury that [a]ppellant stood without moving in one place in his house and then informed the jury that fortunately, the police were literally right next to him, surrounding [a]ppellant as he went through this exercise. Twomey then testified that on a subsequent occasion, he went into [appellant]'s house and a .22 semi-automatic pistol was found along with 600 rounds of ammunition. The prosecutor also had Twomey describe the interior of [a]ppellant's home. Twomey responded by indicating that he couldn't walk on the floor in [a]ppellant's house since it was piled waist-high with paper. Twomey described the interior of [appellant]'s home as being similar to a yard that's overgrown and animals run through their pathway with people walking. We rephrase the testimony by Twomey that appellant perceives as objectionable into related topics or the single question from which the testimony arose, as it appeared in the trial transcript:
b. Appellant argues in his brief that [w]itness Twomey also testified that Judge Joseph Murphy was the presiding judge at the civil trial. Appellant did not object to the State's question or Twomey's answer at trial. c. Appellant objected at trial to the question, How was his conduct toward Judge Murphy during his trial from 1985 to 1992? The grounds stated were, It's too broad, Your Honor. The court overruled this objection and the witness proceeded to describe appellant's conduct in the courtroom. d. While describing appellant's courtroom conduct, the witness stated that appellant was confrontational, to which appellant objected. The court overruled this objection and the witness went on to describe the state of disarray in appellant's home. e. Twomey began describing appellant's aggressive conduct toward him, and appellant objected. This objection was overruled and the witness continued testifying to a specific confrontation. f. The State asked the witness, What, if any, weapons did the defendant keep at his house? Appellant objected, but the court overruled the objection and the witness testified that two guns and 600 rounds of ammunition were found in appellant's home. As part of his answer about appellant's guns, the witness also testified that appellant stood without moving while people went into other rooms in the basement, noting that the police stood near appellant as he did this.