Opinion ID: 1621897
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: testimony of shye and culton

Text: During the penalty phase, the State introduced testimony from Denise Shye that Kinder had sexually assaulted her and testimony from Sandra Culton that Kinder had attempted to sexually assault her. The jury found these two incidents of sexual assault to be separate nonstatutory aggravators. Although Kinder did not properly preserve objections to the testimony of either witness, he now claims, for several reasons, that it was plain error to admit their testimony. First, Kinder alleges that he did not receive prior notice of the aggravating circumstances the State intended to prove. According to the record, Kinder requested the names of all witnesses the State intended to call at trial and notice of statutory aggravating circumstances the respondent would rely upon if the death penalty were sought. He did not, however, specifically request, as provided by § 565.005.1, RSMo 1986, a list of all the aggravating circumstances the respondent intended to prove at penalty phase. The State fully complied with Kinder's requests when it provided notice of the statutory aggravating circumstances only and provided in its answer to his discovery request that it would present evidence of his background of violence and would call Denise Shye and Sandra Culton during the penalty phase of trial. Nevertheless, Kinder is now claiming that he was unprepared to defend against the testimony of Shye and Culton. Because Kinder was aware that the witnesses were to be called during the penalty phase and that his background of violence would be explored, he has failed to establish manifest injustice. Second, Kinder claims that the testimony of Shye and Culton was evidence of unadjudicated offenses, and that he was harmed because the jury was not required to find beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed the alleged sexual assault offenses. As a general rule, the trial court has discretion during the punishment phase of trial to admit whatever evidence it deems helpful to the jury in assessing punishment. Six, 805 S.W.2d at 166. More particularly, this Court has held that evidence of a defendant's prior unadjudicated criminal conduct may be heard by the jury in the punishment phase of a trial. Petary, 781 S.W.2d at 539. This point is denied. Finally, Kinder argues that it was error to allow Culton's testimony because she was present during the guilt phase of the trial. The decision to exclude a witness from the courtroom is a matter of trial court discretion. State v. McMillian, 779 S.W.2d 670, 671 (Mo.App.1989). Moreover, a trial court does not commit any error in allowing a witness to testify at trial, even if the witness was present during an earlier portion of the trial, if the court was never asked to and never did order witnesses excluded from the courtroom. Id. In this case, Kinder does not argue that he ever asked the trial court to exclude witnesses from the courtroom. Thus, the court did not err in allowing Culton's testimony.