Opinion ID: 2613581
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Was the admission of repetitive evidence of spousal abuse reversible error?

Text: Rice and Lindy were married November 9, 1991. Several witnesses testified regarding Lindy's physical injuries and her allegations that they were caused by Rice's abuse. Mark Lyons, Sr., testified that Lindy had told him Rice had beaten her up several times and that during one telephone conversation her voice sounded different because she had a swollen lip after Rice reportedly beat the hell out of her. Flynn testified that there had been a long history of Rice abusing Lindy, including bruises, black eyes, threats to kill her if she did not return when she left him, and an incident of pushing her down the stairs, requiring her to use crutches. She identified a photograph of Lindy with her face injured as one taken in her house in 1991. Lindy had claimed Rice inflicted those injuries. Hicks, Lindy's eldest daughter, also testified about the photograph, recounting that it displayed the aftermath of an incident in which Rice had cleared out a bar he and Lindy operated and took her outside and beat her face into the concrete. Flynn also testified that there had been an incident in 1991 in which Rice shot at Lindy. On another occasion, Hicks testified that after Rice and Lindy had been fighting, Hicks arrived to find Lindy's clothes and, furniture burning in the yard. Rice had left Lindy a note threatening to hurt her and telling her [t]hat little fire is nothing compared to what I'm capable of. In another incident in the fall of 1991, Hicks testified that Rice threatened to kill Lindy and held a 9 mm gun to her head. This was apparently the same incident Flynn testified to, as Rowland later testified that the gun had been discharged. Lindy's niece, Melissa, testified that Rice had been about to strike Lindy on one occasion went he saw her come in and stopped. Following this incident, Lindy told her she thought Rice might go overboard and kill her. Rowland also testified as to the pattern of abuse inflicted upon Lindy by Rice, including black eyes and injuries requiring splints or crutches. She testified that despite this abuse, Lindy was committed to making the marriage work. She recalled that before one trip Lindy had taken with Rice, Lindy said if anything happened to her to look to Rice. On August 29, 1992, Rice forced Lindy to get a pelvic examination to prove she had not had an extramarital affair. Carolyn Stevens, a close friend of Lindy's, also testified she had seen Lindy with bruises Lindy attributed to Rice, including a black eye and bruises on her neck and arms. According to Stevens, Lindy would hide her injuries with makeup, sunglasses, scarves, and longsleeved shirts. Stevens also said Lindy had stated she thought Rice was going to kill her. September 14, 1992, was the last time she told Stevens that. She also talked about leaving Rice on that date. Dawn Demotte testified that while she worked at Primary Medical Care under Dr. Sayegh, she did various jobs, including taking patients to physical therapy. She recalled that in 1992, Lindy had come in about 15 to 20 times for illness, injuries, and depression. On six to eight of those occasions, she exhibited some injury that she attributed to Rice. Around the first of September, Lindy came in with bruises on her arms and around her neck, which she claimed Rice had inflicted. Lindy told her that Rice had threatened to kill her and she was scared. She also said that she loved Rice and did not want to leave. At least on one occasion, Lindy did not permit Demotte to write anything down for fear Rice would see it. Demotte also stated, after reviewing the records produced by the doctor's office, that they were incomplete and that the office was under investigation for missing records. After several witnesses had testified as to Rice's past abuse of Lindy, the defense renewed its objection to this testimony and argued that no more evidence of abuse should be admissible because it would be cumulative. The trial court overruled this objection, and more evidence of marital discord came before the jury from other witnesses. On appeal, Rice argues the repetitive evidence was so prejudicial that it warrants reversal. Our reports brim with Kansas cases, going back more than 100 years, allowing evidence of previous cruel and brutal assaults to be used in a marital homicide case on the question of motive and intent for the purpose of showing malice and hatred on the part of the defendant, as well as to show the relationship of the parties or a continuing course of conduct, or to corroborate the testimony of witnesses as to the act charged. See, e.g., State v. Cheeks, 258 Kan. 581, Syl. ¶ 1, 908 P.2d 175 (1995); State v. O'Neil, 51 Kan. 651, 665, 33 Pac. 287 (1893). The admission of relevant cumulative evidence is within the discretion of the trial court and will not form the basis for reversal unless the trial court abused its discretion. State v. Johnson, 231 Kan. 151, 156-57, 643 P.2d 146 (1982). A trial court abuses its discretion only if no reasonable person would take the view adopted by the trial court. State v. Lumbrera, 257 Kan. 144, 148, 891 P.2d 1096 (1995). Rice argues that the repetitive testimony of many of the witnesses added nothing meaningful to the State's case, since in large part they did not testify about incidents of abuse they had witnessed, but rather to claims made by Lindy that the injuries she sustained were inflicted by Rice. The argument seems to imply that the witnesses did not testify to different incidents of abuse and therefore the evidence has no value. To the contrary, not only do the multiple witnesses corroborate each other, the fact that Lindy told so many people of the abuse Rice inflicted on her and her fears of being killed establishes how important these allegations were to Lindy and the intensity of her fear. The trial court did not abuse its discretion.