Opinion ID: 2332913
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Claim 5Violent Character Testimony

Text: Chambers next claims that he was denied a fair trial because the trial court permitted speculative and unreliable evidence indicating that various witnesses believed that Chambers was a violent person or could behave in a violent manner. Specifically, Chambers complains of the following testimony elicited from Coder: Prosecutor: Were you scared when you talked to the police? Coder: Yes. Prosecutor: What did you think would happen to you since you saw Chambers and the victim together?    Coder: Theyhe might try to get some of his friends or something to jump me. (N.T. 6/24/87 at 755-756). He also cites to the following statement of Hutchenson: Hutchenson: [Chambers] was just upset and everything. He just thought he could trust us, I guess, and just leave it go. So I stood up against the wall because he was getting, you know, that nervous that [sic] I thought he was going to do something. (N.T. 6/25/87 at 864). As Chambers did not object at trial and did not present this claim on direct appeal, it is waived except to the extent that Chambers alleges ineffectiveness of prior counsel for having failed to raise it. Chambers contends that these statements were highly prejudicial because both witnesses were permitted to offer their opinions on the dangerousness of Chambers, even though neither had any personal experience or expertise to make such an assessment. However, this contention is specious, as Chambers has taken these comments completely out of the context in which they were introduced. Coder's above-quoted testimony was elicited on re-direct examination after counsel for Chambers had sought to show that the statement that Coder gave to the police was inconsistent with his trial testimony. The above-quoted testimony was introduced to rehabilitate Coder by demonstrating to the jury that Coder was nervous at the time he spoke to the police. Likewise, the testimony of Hutchenson was merely a description of the events and the reaction Hutchenson had to them. Accordingly, this claim is without merit and counsel will not be deemed ineffective for failing to raise a meritless claim.