Opinion ID: 1058506
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The State Presented Irrelevant Evidence Regarding the Victim

Text: During its case-in-chief, the state presented the testimony of Christina Green, the victim's sister. Ms. Green stated she and the victim had a real close relationship. She further stated she attended the victim's funeral and that it was a closed casket. Defense counsel then objected, and the trial court sustained the objection, finding the information regarding the casket was not probative to the state's case-in-chief. The prosecutor then asked Ms. Green if she missed her brother, and she responded affirmatively. The defendant asserts that Christina Green's testimony was irrelevant to the issue of guilt or innocence and was not introduced for any other purpose but to inflame the passions of the jury. However, other than the testimony regarding the victim's coffin which the trial court sustained, the defendant did not contemporaneously object to this testimony. Therefore, any issue regarding Ms. Green's testimony in its entirety is waived. See Tenn. R.App. P. 36(a). Next, the defendant alleges Dr. Deering's remark that the shotgun wound to the buttocks would have been painful was not relevant to a determination of guilt or innocence and only inflamed the jury. However, the defendant was charged with especially aggravated kidnapping, one element of which is serious bodily injury. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-305(a)(4). Serious bodily injury includes extreme physical pain. Id. § 39-11-106(a)(34)(C). Accordingly, such testimony regarding the gunshot wound to the buttocks was relevant.