Opinion ID: 1316643
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Denial of fair trial and due process

Text: Appellant contends the trial judge denied him a fair trial and due process by excluding various defense evidence. We disagree. Appellant contends the trial judge erred in not allowing him to admit evidence of third party guilt. Evidence offered by a defendant as to the commission of the crime by another person is limited to facts which are inconsistent with the defendant's guilt. State v. Parker, 294 S.C. 465, 366 S.E.2d 10 (1988). Here, the evidence which appellant sought to introduce regarding third party guilt would not exculpate him. See State v. Southerland, 316 S.C. 377, 447 S.E.2d 862 (1994), overruled on other grounds by State v. Chapman, 317 S.C. 302, 454 S.E.2d 317 (1995). Appellant attempted to introduce evidence that there were two men on Little Mountain Road on the night of the murder and that someone else had been with Anderson. Accordingly, the exclusion of this evidence was not error. Appellant then sought to introduce evidence that SLED agent Spike McCraw during his investigation had been looking for two men who had been seen on Little Mountain Road between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. on the night of the murder as impeachment evidence. During cross-examination, McCraw denied this. To impeach McCraw, appellant sought to introduce an affidavit which McCraw had made to a magistrate in which McCraw stated he was looking for two men seen on Little Mountain Road on June 12th. The State objected and the trial judge sustained the objection. The trial judge stated that the evidence was nothing more than an attempt by appellant to inject third party guilt into the trial. Appellant proffered McCraw's testimony during which McCraw admitted he had originally been looking for two men and that a man named Michael Beatty had been a suspect. Beatty was the owner of the car which Anderson borrowed to drive to Columbia. Appellant contends the trial judge erred in not allowing him to impeach McCraw with the affidavit which appellant contends is a prior inconsistent statement under Rule 613(b), SCRE. Recently, in State v. Fossick, 333 S.C. 66, 508 S.E.2d 32 (1998), we held the trial judge erred in not admitting impeachment evidence under Rule 613(b), SCRE. In Fossick, we concluded the error was harmless. We applied the factors set forth in Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. at 684, 106 S.Ct. at 1438, 89 L.Ed.2d at 686 (1986) for determining whether an issue of witness credibility is harmless error: Whether such an error is harmless in a particular case depends upon a host of factors.... The factors include the importance of the witness's testimony in the prosecution's case, whether the testimony was cumulative, the presence or absence of evidence corroborating or contradicting the testimony of the witness on material points, the extent of cross-examination otherwise permitted, and of course, the overall strength of the prosecution's case. Likewise, here, the trial judge erred in not admitting the impeachment evidence but we find the error was harmless. McCraw's testimony was not that important to the State's case. Much of McCraw's testimony was merely cumulative to Anderson's testimony [2] and corroborated by other evidence. The majority of McCraw's testimony was about the phone records of appellant, appellant's father, Vickie's father, Anderson, Anderson's employer (Smuggler's), and several pay phones, and appellant's bank records. McCraw also testified as to Anderson's statement and how he had investigated the information contained in the statement. Appellant was permitted to extensively cross-examine McCraw. Lastly, the State's case was fairly strong. Anderson's testimony and the evidence of flight were very damning. After considering the Van Arsdall factors in light of the evidence against appellant, we hold the exclusion of this impeachment evidence was harmless. Appellant then contends the trial judge erred in excluding a composite drawing of the second man. The composite drawing depicted an individual other than Anderson or appellant and was drawn based upon the statement of Sam Martin. Martin allegedly saw two men by a car on the side of Little Mountain Road on the night of June 12th. Martin did not testify at trial. Appellant attempted to introduce the composite drawing during the cross-examination of Jerry Wright, a deputy with the Newberry County Sheriffs Office. The State objected on the grounds that the composite was improper third party guilt evidence and hearsay. The trial judge sustained the State's objection. Appellant contends he was attempting to impeach Anderson's testimony that there was not a third person involved in the murder. We find the exclusion of this impeachment evidence was harmless as it was cumulative. Robert Bowers testified that he and Johnnie Hawkins drove by Little Mountain Road on the night of June 12th. Bowers testified that Hawkins had told him he saw two persons by the side of Little Mountain Road on June 12th. [3] Thus, there was some impeachment evidence admitted at trial to support appellant's theory that there were two people on the side of Little Mountain Road on June 12th. See State v. Merriman, 287 S.C. 74, 337 S.E.2d 218 (Ct.App.1985) (admission of the results of witness's polygraph examination would have been merely cumulative to other evidence impeaching his credibility; thus its exclusion was harmless). Thus the admission of the composite as impeachment evidence would have been cumulative and therefore any error in its exclusion was harmless. Appellant contends the trial judge erred in excluding the proffered testimony of Jamie Suber, appellant's nephew. During the early morning hours of June 13th, appellant and Suber were questioned by the police. Appellant sought to introduce Suber's testimony that the police had told him that appellant had confessed and named Suber as an accomplice. The State objected to this testimony on the ground of hearsay. Appellant wanted to offer this testimony to illustrate the police tactics. Further, appellant argued the statements were an exception to hearsay under Rule 803(3), SCRE, as going to the police officer's state of mind or as a statement made by a party-opponent under Rule 801(d)(2), SCRE. The trial judge ruled this evidence was irrelevant. We find no error in excluding this evidence. The police tactics and police officers' state of mind were not relevant as this evidence did not make anything of consequence to the action more or less probable. See Rule 401, SCRE. Appellant also contends the trial judge erred in excluding impeachment evidence of phone calls from the residence of Rick Mitchell, a bouncer at Smuggler's, to the Myrtle Beach area and one collect call from an unidentified Anderson, South Carolina phone to Smuggler's. Mitchell lived in Anderson at the time of the trial. Mitchell testified that appellant had approached him about killing his wife. Mitchell also testified that he had not been in contact with anyone from Smuggler's in Myrtle Beach for a year or more prior to the trial. Appellant wanted to impeach Mitchell with these phone records. When a witness denies an act involving a matter collateral to the case in chief, the inquiring party is not permitted to introduce contradictory evidence to impeach the witness. State v. DuBose, 288 S.C. 226, 341 S.E.2d 785 (1986). Thus, we hold the trial judge did not err in excluding evidence of these calls. AFFIRMED. FINNEY, C.J., WALLER and BURNETT, JJ., and Acting Associate Justice GEORGE T. GREGORY, Jr., concur.