Opinion ID: 2172991
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: the testimony of janice hill

Text: [8] Janice Hill testified as a defense witness in an offer of proof outside the presence of the jury. The essence of her testimony on direct examination was that, at the time the defendant's premises were searched, she was living there, was a heroin addict, and was using heroin at that location on a daily basis. On cross-examination by the state, Hill responded to several questions by taking the fifth amendment. The specific questions she declined to answer were as follows:  Q. Ms. Hill, on February 23, 1978 did you have any drugs in your apartment at 4221 North 24th Place?  Q. And did you have any heroin or marijuana on the premises on February 23, 1978?  Q. Okay. And isn't it a fact, Miss Hill, that you were dealing drugs out of your address both on February 23, 1978 and previously to that?  Q. And isn't it a fact that you  you and Lafornia Wedgeworth were together dealing heroin out of your residence both on February 23, 1978 and before that?  Q. Isn't it a fact that heroin sitting next to that bottle in that exhibit is yours and was in your apartment on February 23, 1978?  Q. . . . Isn't that your marijuana that was present in your residence at 4221 North 24th Place on February 23, 1978?  Q. Isn't it a fact that even after February 23, 1978 you kept heroin in your apartment?  Q. When was the last time you used heroin and had it in your house?  Q. What kind of cutting agent did you use on your heroin? . . . February 23, 1978 or before that. In the remainder of her testimony Hill stated she owned the coffee grinder, the weighing scale, the pouch containing $5,500, and other paraphernalia found on the premises, and also that she installed the fortifications  grated windows and rear door  in order to protect against burglars. The trial court, after argument from counsel, concluded that Hill exercised the fifth amendment on very, very critical questions and decided not to permit Hill to testify. The defendant argues that in so doing the trial court abused its discretion and deprived the defendant of his constitutional right to present witnesses in his behalf. We considered this question in Peters v. State, 70 Wis.2d 22, 233 N.W.2d 420 (1975). In Peters we confirmed the rule in State v. Monsoor, 56 Wis.2d 689, 203 N.W.2d 20 (1973), that a trial court may strike the testimony of a witness who refuses to answer relevant questions upon cross-examination. Recognizing that Monsoor and Peters dealt with defense witnesses but that Monsoor rested upon cases dealing only with prosecution witnesses, we said: Yet this difference does not render invalid or insufficient the test of whether the answered questions are relevant to the subject matter of the inquiry. The defendant's right to present witnesses in his behalf is, as said in Chambers v. Mississippi, qualified by the necessity of compliance with `established rules of procedure and evidence designed to assure both fairness and reliability in the ascertainment of guilt and innocence.' The Monsoor rule is such a rule because denial of prosecutorial cross-examination or relevant and material matters would detract substantially from the reliability of the testimony in question and from the accurate determination of guilt or innocence. (Footnote omitted.) 70 Wis.2d at 37. The questions Hill declined to answer were plainly both material and relevant. Her testimony created the clear impression that the drugs found at the apartment on the day of the search were hers, and that impression was strengthened by her testimony that she owned much of the paraphernalia gathered under the search warrant. Yet her refusal on cross-examination to answer specifically whether the drugs found on the premises that day belonged to her substantially detracted from the reliability and accuracy of her testimony. Like the questions the witness in Peters declined to answer, the questions set forth above are directly related to the crimes with which the defendant was charged, and we conclude there was no abuse of discretion in barring Hill's testimony. The defendant argues that in this case the court should have fashioned a response to the situation which allowed the defendant to use the testimony the witness gave. As we read Hill's direct testimony, we cannot see much that would have provided the court with such a choice. It would have been impossible for the state to test the suggestion implicit in her direct testimony that the drugs the police found on the premises were hers without her answers to the questions she chose not to answer. The trial court had no choice but to exclude the whole of her direct testimony. By the Court.  The decision of the court of appeals is affirmed. COFFEY, J., took no part. SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON, J. ( dissenting ). The prosecutor asked Officer McKale:  Q. Now, in your capacity as a detective with the Vice Squad for almost ten years, do you have an opinion as to the presence of these  this shotgun and this pistol in the house in conjunction with the other materials and other property that you found there? Defense counsel objected. The grounds for the objection were lack of relevancy, materiality and foundation. The court allowed the officer to testify as follows:
The majority considers the objection on its merits and so do I. The majority concludes that McKale's testimony is relevant in the instant case. I disagree. The determination of relevancy can be a difficult task. Before considering the merits of the objection in the case at bar I think it essential to set forth the process to be used to determine relevancy. The general rule is that all relevant evidence is admissible and that evidence which is not relevant is not admissible. Rule 904.02, Stats. 1979-80. Evidence is relevant if it has any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. Rule 904.01, Stats. 1979-80. Accordingly the test of relevancy is does the evidence alter the probability of the existence of the fact to be proved. Though easily stated the test is difficult to apply. Relevancy is not an inherent characteristic of any item of evidence but exists only as a relation between an item of evidence and the fact to be proved. Evidence is relevant if there is a relation between the proffered evidence and a fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action, that is, a fact important under the substantive law of the crime. [1] James, Relevancy, Probability and the Law, 29 Calif. L. Rev. 689, 696, n. 15 (1941), in Selected Writings on Evidence and Trial, 610, 615, n. 15 (Foyer ed. 1957), cited in 59 Wis.2d R69. To determine relevancy we must apply principles of experience, science, and reason to discern the relation, if it exists, between the evidence offered and a fact which either plaintiff or defendant must prove or disprove to prevail in the prosecution or defense of the matter. [2] Whether the proffered evidence is relevant is determined by a process consisting of the following three steps: (1) describing the item of evidence proffered; (2) stating the fact of consequence to the determination of the issue, which fact we shall call the consequential fact, Rule 904.01, Stats. 1979-80; and (3) setting forth the analysis by which the trier of fact is to infer the consequential fact from the proffered evidence. The third step, explaining how the proffered evidence may tend to prove or disprove the consequential fact, enables the trial court to determine whether the evidence actually alters the probability of the existence of the consequential fact. Because the determination of relevancy depends on reason, science, and human experience, people may disagree whether there is a relation between the evidence (the fact known) and the consequential fact to be proved. The trial court in ruling on relevancy is vested with discretion which accommodates both variance in the application of reason and science and differences in the human experience. Oseman v. State, 32 Wis.2d 523, 527, 145 N.W.2d 766 (1966). Yet to vest discretion is not to abandon inquiry and analysis. State v. McCleary, 49 Wis.2d 263, 182 N.W.2d 512 (1971). Where relevancy is readily apparent, the trial court may simply announce its ruling on the objection without extended analysis. When an objection is made and relevancy is not readily apparent, the proponent of the evidence when arguing its admissibility, and the trial court, when later ruling on the objection, should set forth on the record the relevancy relationship. On review, when the relevancy is not readily apparent, an appeal court should set forth its analysis. [3] In the instant case, the majority and I agree that relevancy is not readily apparent. The majority correctly concludes that [t]aken in isolation, McKales' prior weapons experiences with other drug cases not involving the defendant would no doubt be irrelevant, since under any expression of relevance the testimony would not be germane or logically related to the crime charged. ( Supra, p. 529.) The majority concludes that McKale's testimony is relevant to prove defendant's intent to deliver heroin only in connection with what the majority calls a chain of facts. These facts are set forth by the majority opinion which is quoted below and include the guns, the entire assortment of drugs and paraphernalia at the residence, money at the residence, the bars on the windows and door of this ground floor apartment, the high cost of heroin, and the inference drawn from the bars on the windows and door that the occupant of the apartment is resorting to self-help and self-protection. The majority sets forth the chain of facts to be used to make McKale's testimony relevant as follows: . . . But the testimony in question was not offered, nor should it be viewed, in isolation. It was closely related to McKale's other testimony concerning the discovery of the guns at the defendant's residence. Thus we believe the relevancy of McKale's previous encounter with guns and gunfire is inextricably linked to the relevancy of the other testimony evidence of the guns found at the defendant's residence . . . We believe the testimony and other evidence relating to the weapons found in the defendant's residence were part of a chain of facts by which the state sought to have the jury infer that the defendant possessed heroin with the intent to deliver it. The chain included the entire assortment of drugs and paraphernalia as well as the presence of money and physical fortifications of the residence. As Detective McKale stated in his testimony, heroin is an expensive commodity. The defendant could not rely upon the police to protect him in his business transactions or upon the courts to enforce his drug-related obligations. McKale's testimony is indicative of the role of self-help and self-protection in the business of drug trafficking, and we believe the evidence of the presence of guns in the defendant's residence, in conjunction with the other accoutrements of heroin trafficking, had some tendency to make it more probable than it would have been absent such evidence that the defendant possessed heroin with the intent to deliver. ( Supra, pp. 529, 532, 533.) The majority concludes but does not explain how the facts in the chain of facts operate to make McKale's testimony which is conceded to be irrelevant standing alone have a tendency to make the existence of defendant's intent to deliver heroin more probable than it would be without the testimony. To test the majority's conclusion I will use the three-step analysis set forth above. The first step, as stated before, is to identify the proffered evidence. Here it is McKale's statement. McKale's statement is ambiguous and subject to different interpretations. McKale refers to numerous occasions and conjunctively describes encountering guns and gunfire in executing search warrants for persons involved in drug distribution. If McKale's statement is to have application to this case, the majority must by inference be interpreting the statement to mean that on the basis of his ten years' experience on the narcotic squad he concludes that numerous persons who intend to deliver heroin (hereafter called heroin dealers) have guns and engage in gunfire. [4] The second step, as stated before, is to identify the consequential fact to be proved. Here it is that the defendant intended to deliver heroin. The majority correctly concludes that it cannot infer from the proffered testimony the consequential fact that the defendant intended to deliver heroin. The evidence that the defendant had guns does not establish the relation between McKale's testimony and the consequential fact that the defendant is a heroin dealer. The evidence that numerous heroin dealers have guns and that the defendant has guns does not have any tendency to make the existence of defendant's intent to deliver heroin more probable than it would be without this evidence. Guns may be possessed for a variety of purposes, legal and illegal. Numerous people have guns: numerous hunters have guns; numerous police officers have guns; numerous people interested in guns have guns; numerous heroin dealers have guns; numerous thieves have guns; numerous people in illegal activities have guns; the defendant has a gun. In light of the multiplicity of reasons for which guns are possessed, evidence that the defendant has a gun and that numerous heroin dealers have guns does not give rise to any inferences as to the defendant's hobby, occupation or use of or delivery of heroin. The majority must therefore be relying on the other facts to make McKale's testimony relevant. The issue on which the case is decided and to which I now turn is whether McKale's testimony about guns is relevant in connection with the chain of facts. Evidence of the defendant's possession of a coffee grinder, razor blades, film negatives and scales  paraphernalia which were present in defendant's apartment and three of which had traces of heroin residue  and McKale's testimony explaining how these paraphernalia are used by heroin dealers, not users, tend to prove that defendant is involved in the sale, rather than the use, of heroin. We all know that many homes have coffee grinders, razor blades, scales and film negatives. But in homes where people are not involved with heroin, traces of heroin residue are not found on these items, and these items are not generally assembled or grouped in one place as they were in the defendant's apartment. The defendant's razor blades, scale and film negatives were together on the dining room table. The coffee grinder was on a kitchen shelf and had heroin residue on it. These items are used directly in the sale of heroin. These drug paraphernalia in and of themselves were not sufficient to establish defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. McKale's testimony as to the guns was, as the state argued, required to show that the defendant fit the pattern of or conduct followed by heroin dealers so that the trier of fact could conclude that the defendant was a heroin dealer. [5] McKale's testimony as to the use of guns by drug dealers does not perform the same evidentiary function as does his testimony as to the paraphernalia which, like guns, are found in homes of innocent citizens  as well as criminals. The residue on the paraphernalia directly showed possession of heroin. The paraphernalia and McKale's testimony explaining the use of these items by heroin dealers are circumstantial evidence of intent to deliver heroin, that is, evidence from which a jury could infer defendant's intent to sell, because the paraphernalia are typically utilized by sellers of heroin not users of heroin. In contrast, McKale's testimony about dealers' use of guns does not tie guns particularly to dealers rather than to users or the defendant's guns directly or indirectly to heroin sale per se even when viewed in connection with the chain of facts. In order for McKale's testimony as to the guns to have a tendency to alter the probability that the defendant intended to deliver heroin, the majority must be making the following inferences from McKale's statement: Numerous heroin dealers possess guns, because they need guns to protect their person and property. The heroin dealer's need for protection comes from his being engaged in an illegal activity. He must protect himself from the police, which is why McKale experienced gunfire in executing search warrants. He must protect himself from drug addicts and thieves, because he cannot rely on police protection. He fears addicts and thieves because as a dealer he has valuable property on his premises  heroin, which is costly, and the cash which he receives on the heroin sale. The majority must then infer that a heroin possessor is also engaged in illegal activity and will want to protect himself from the police, but that a possessor, having less heroin and less cash on his premises, is not as fearful of addicts and thieves as is the dealer. The majority must then further infer  all from McKale's one sentence  that the heroin possessor is therefore less likely to have guns than is a heroin dealer. Because the defendant is involved in heroin activity and has a gun, the majority must then infer that the defendant has a gun because he anticipates having to protect himself from police, addicts and thieves, because he anticipates having large amounts of heroin and cash, because he knows he is a dealer. McKale did not state that heroin dealers are more apt to have guns than are heroin users. McKale did not testify that the guns in defendant's possession were of a type generally used by heroin dealers as distinguished from those used by heroin users or by other criminals or that the guns were used or possessed by this defendant for self-help or in any other manner related to the sale of heroin. [6] Without such testimony, the majority cannot infer from its experiences that heroin dealers are more apt to have guns than are heroin users. The majority knows from its experience that numerous drug users steal cash and valuables in order to get money to buy drugs and that such thieves use weapons, including guns. Consequently, from experience and the record, the majority can infer only that numerous heroin users, as well as numerous heroin dealers, have guns. Because the majority cannot infer that heroin users are less likely to have guns than heroin dealers, McKale's testimony, without further foundation or explanation, does not make the existence of the defendant's intent to deliver heroin more probable than it would be without McKale's testimony. Consequently I conclude that the officer's testimony as to drug dealers and guns is no more relevant to intent to deliver heroin with the chain of facts than without the chain of facts. In order to infer defendant's intent to deliver heroin from McKale's testimony as to his encounters with numerous dealers, one must construct many links in a chain of inferences. A great number of the links are weak and rest on speculation and reaction, not on assumptions and inferences logically drawn on the basis of probabilities resting in human experiences, science or reason. McKale's testimony is an invitation to the trier of fact to speculate as to the association between the witness's statement and the innocence or guilt of the defendant. Admitting testimony on this basis invites prejudice by presenting assertions to the jurors which are received as evidence yet which bear not so much on the issues in the case but upon the reactions of the jury. I therefore conclude that the evidence should have been excluded on grounds of relevancy. If I viewed this evidence as marginally relevant, I would conclude that McKale's testimony, which raises the spectre of the police doing their job while being met by gunfire, should have been excluded because its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, and misleading the jury. Sec. 904.03, Stats. 1979-80. Although it is a close question, I conclude the error was prejudicial. I therefore dissent.