Opinion ID: 1450597
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Due Process The Testimony of the Murder Victim's Wife at the Guilt Phase of Trial

Text: Beuke next alleges that the testimony of Robert Craig's wife at the guilt phase of trial violated his due process rights. Mrs. Craig testified that her husband had picked up two hitchhikers and provided them with a place to sleep just three weeks prior to his murder. She also stated that she and her husband had three children, one of whom was born shortly before trial and was given the name Robert, in memory of his father. Beuke objected to this testimony and moved for a mistrial; the court overruled the objection and denied the motion for a mistrial. [5] On appeal, Beuke argues that Mrs. Craig's testimony violated his due process rights because it was irrelevant and highly inflammatory. We are severely limited in our ability to grant federal habeas relief because of a state court evidentiary ruling: we can grant relief only in the limited circumstances where the state court's decision was so fundamentally unfair as to violate the petitioner's due process rights. Coleman v. Mitchell, 244 F.3d 533, 542 (6th Cir.2001). The categories of infractions that violate fundamental fairness have been defined very narrowly. Dowling v. United States, 493 U.S. 342, 352, 110 S.Ct. 668, 107 L.Ed.2d 708 (1990). Beuke himself admits that the constitution erects no per se bar to the admission of victim impact evidence, see Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808, 827, 111 S.Ct. 2597, 115 L.Ed.2d 720 (1991); see also Hicks, 384 F.3d at 222 (noting our approval of victim impact evidence during the guilt phase . . . as an extension of Payne ), and he concedes that we can find a constitutional violation only if Mrs. Craig's testimony resulted in a fundamentally unfair trial, see Payne, 501 U.S. at 825, 111 S.Ct. 2597; Byrd v. Collins, 209 F.3d 486, 532-33 (6th Cir.2000). Beuke has provided no directly applicable legal authority, but only bald, conclusory allegations that Mrs. Craig's testimony was irrelevant and highly inflammatory. We find no merit in this argument. Mrs. Craig's testimony may be divided into two categories: (1) testimony about her husband's history of picking up hitchhikers and (2) testimony about her children. Contrary to Beuke's assertions, Mrs. Craig's testimony about her husband's history of picking up hitchhikers is entirely relevant when considering  and indeed probative for establishing  whether he offered Beuke a ride on the day of his murder. We certainly find no error  let alone a constitutional error  in admitting this testimony. Mrs. Craig's testimony about her children, while perhaps not relevant to the issue of guilt, was minimal and largely insignificant. In less than one-half page of transcript testimony, Mrs. Craig told the jury that she had three children, provided their respective ages, and stated the name of her newborn child, Robert. Admission of these three brief statements about the victim's family was not constitutionally improper, see Hicks, 384 F.3d at 222 (approving the use of victim-impact evidence at the guilt phase of trial); Byrd, 209 F.3d at 532 (same), because it was not inflammatory and did not otherwise create a fundamentally unfair trial. We thus conclude that Mrs. Craig's brief testimony did not violate Beuke's due process rights.