Opinion ID: 1452213
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence Relating to State of Mind

Text: The defense theory of the case was self-defense. Burress claimed that he was aware of Smith's violent character and feared for his life every time Smith threatened him. Accordingly, defense counsel attempted to introduce evidence to establish the defendant's fear of Smith and his state of mind at the time he stabbed Smith. The evidence which the defendant sought to introduce would have established that approximately six months prior to the assault which is in issue, Smith and Burress were involved in a shouting match at a local drive-in restaurant. At that time, Smith wanted to settle the matter with his fists and said, The only thing I want to do to you [Burress] is beat the hell out of you. A friend of Burress' intervened and averted the fight. After Smith left the room, the friend warned Burress that Smith was a very violent and dangerous person and should be avoided. He told Burress that Smith had viciously beat a uniformed police officer in Los Angeles and had been convicted for the assault approximately two and a half years before he came to Pueblo. The trial court ruled that the evidence was both hearsay and improper character impeachment evidence and, therefore, was inadmissible. We disagree. It is true that the statements of Burress' friend concerning the assault on the Los Angeles Policeman are hearsay. However, the statements were not offered to prove that the attack actually occurred, but to provide a basis for the defendant's state of mind and his alleged fear of Smith. It has long been the law that when a hearsay statement is offered to provide the basis for a defendant's state of mind, the truth of the statement is not the criterion for admission, and the general hearsay prohibition does not apply. Isbell v. People, 158 Colo. 126, 405 P.2d 744 (1965). Therefore, the trial court erred in ruling that the offered evidence was inadmissible as hearsay. As an alternate ground for excluding the testimony relating to the attack on the Los Angeles policeman, the judge ruled that an offer of proof relating to a specific violent act of a witness could not be used to impeach his credibility. Impeachment, according to the trial court, could only be accomplished by the production of evidence of Smith's general reputation in the community and not by specific acts of violence. Under the circumstances of this case, that ruling also was in error. When the reputation and credibility of the victim of an assault is sought to be impeached, the general rule is. . . that evidence as to such reputation must be confined to the community in which the [person] lives whose reputation is sought to be shown, and limited to some reasonable time previous to . . . the time of the [present criminal act]. Lynch v. People, 33 Colo. 128, 79 P. 1015 (1905). However, the general rule does not apply if (1) the defendant contends that he acted in self-defense, and (2) at the time of the criminal act the defendant was aware of the victim's prior acts of violence upon a third person. Bailey v. People, 54 Colo. 337, 130 P. 832 (1913). See also Ballay v. People, 160 Colo. 309, 419 P.2d 446 (1966); Holt v. State, 170 Tenn. 76, 92 S.W.2d 397 (1936); 1 Wigmore on Evidence, 3d ed., § 198; 2 Wigmore on Evidence, 3d ed. §§ 246 and 248. The reasons for the exception to the general rule are well set out in Holt v. State, supra : This exception to the general rule restricting character evidence to general reputation is supported by reason. When a case narrows to the inquiry as to the degree of reasonableness of the apprehension in the mind of the defendant when he finds himself in a position in which he must instantly determine when, or whether or not, to strike, and when it is conceded that it is permissible for his judgment to be affected by the character of his antagonist for violence, there would seem to be no escape from the further concession that his judgment would be even more directly affected by knowledge of recent specific unrestrained violence. All men well know that the average mind responds more readily to knowledge of specific conduct than to impressions based on general reputation. . . . However, before the exception applies, thereby allowing introduction of the evidence concerning the specific act of violence, the defendant must lay a proper foundation. The trial court is justified in excluding the specific act evidence until such time as the defendant establishes (1) that he was aware that the specific violent act took place, and (2) that either the act occurred or the defendant became aware of its occurrence within a reasonable time of his use of force in self-defense. The record in this case reveals that Burress did lay a proper foundation for the introduction of the evidence. The attorney general, however, although acknowledging the general rule, as well as the exception, argues that the victim's specific acts of violence in this case did not occur within a reasonable time prior to the assault. The attorney general contends that an act of violence by Smith which was committed three years prior to the assault in issue is too remote in time to justify application of the exception and admission of the reputation evidence. We cannot agree. The function of the remoteness test is to provide guidance to the trial court in determining whether a specific act of violence by a victim of an assault could have created present apprehension or fear sufficient to justify the force used in the mind of a reasonable man. The reasonableness of that apprehension or fear is related not only to the remoteness in time of the victim's prior violent conduct, but also to the period of time that has expired since the defendant became aware of that conduct. Thus, the trial judge must consider both the time of the prior violent act and the time of its discovery in applying the remoteness test. If the trial judge concludes that the act or the discovery were too remote in time to create present apprehension or fear, then evidence of the victim's specific violent acts should be excluded. On the other hand, if the trial judge concludes that the proximity in time of either the specific act of violence or the discovery of that act could create present apprehension or fear on the part of the defendant, then the degree of that apprehension and the issue of whether the defendant's fear justifies the force which he used by way of self-defense is for the jury. In this case, although there was a significant lapse of time between the victim's specific violent act and the stabbing, the defendant's tendered evidence established that he had only recently become aware of Smith's prior conduct. When Burress was pursued and attempts were made by Smith and Panariso to run his car off the road, followed by an attack by Smith at the defendant's home, it is inconceivable to us that Burress would not take into account the recent warning which he was given about Smith's violent propensities. In light of all the circumstances referred to, including the recurring hostile confrontations and repeated threats against Burress by Smith, the trial court erred in refusing to admit the excluded evidence.