Opinion ID: 782567
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Exclusion of Fallen's Testimony

Text: 139 While California concedes that the trial court erred in excluding Fallen's testimony, some analysis of whether this exclusion violated Alcala's due process rights is helpful. First, Fallen's sighting of the girl he believed to be Samsoe is probative to a central issue in this case: whether Alcala kidnapped and killed Samsoe on June 20. Fallen's testimony could create reasonable doubt that Samsoe was kidnapped and killed on June 20, the day on which eyewitnesses claimed to have seen Alcala at Huntington Beach, rather than June 21, the day Fallen claimed to have seen Samsoe. Fallen could also rebut Crappa's testimony placing Alcala with the victim close to the murder scene. 140 Fallen's testimony also bears indicia of reliability. He identified the girl he saw within five or ten minutes of viewing her; his memory was recent. He also volunteered that the girl was riding a yellow ten-speed bicycle, before the officer could indicate that Samsoe was riding such a bike when she disappeared. Moreover, that the prosecutor impeached Fallen at the first trial did not make his testimony unreliable but instead raised questions about his credibility and the weight his testimony should be accorded. These are issues to be weighed by the jury, not the judge. See, e.g., United States v. Scheffer, 523 U.S. 303, 312-13, 118 S.Ct. 1261, 140 L.Ed.2d 413 (1998). 141 No question exists that the jury could evaluate Fallen's testimony. His insistence that he saw Samsoe the day after the prosecutor argued that she was kidnapped introduces an alternate exculpatory theory. The evidence is inconsistent with the prosecutor's case, but that it conflicts is the very point of presenting Fallen's testimony. If courts prohibit the introduction of any evidence that conflicts with the prosecution's case because it might confuse the jury, the right of the accused to present a defense would exist only in form. In addition, Fallen's testimony was not cumulative; it provided the only evidence that Samsoe was seen alive after June 20. 142 Lastly, Alcala focused on a misidentification theory via his efforts to rebut the various eyewitness identifications, to undermine Crappa's credibility, and to put on an alibi defense. Fallen's testimony would have facilitated this theory by allowing Alcala to undermine the prosecution's assertion that Samsoe was kidnapped and killed on June 20. In other words, if Samsoe were kidnapped on or after June 21, and the prosecution could not link Alcala to the area on June 21, Alcala could further his misidentification defense. 143 The trial court excluded Fallen because his testimony was both confusing and irrelevant. These concerns do not outweigh Alcala's interest in putting on this testimony. That Fallen's testimony weakened the prosecution's case made it probative, not confusing, and that it contradicted California's theory demonstrates its great relevance. 144 Because the factors weigh in Alcala's favor, the trial court committed constitutional error in excluding Fallen's testimony. This error likely affected the jury's verdict. Fallen's testimony would have given the defense an eerie coincidence for the jury to weigh against the many bizarre coincidences that the prosecution presented. It also would contradict the prosecution's theory that Alcala kidnapped and murdered Samsoe on June 20. Regardless of whether this error was sufficiently prejudicial in itself to grant Alcala's petition, the district court correctly included this error in its cumulative error analysis. 145