Opinion ID: 1263550
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Letter from Appellant

Text: Appellant argues he should have been permitted to introduce a letter he wrote to his wife expressing remorse for the death of their child in response to Ms. Northcutt's testimony that his post-arrest phone calls to her showed a lack of remorse and concern. We agree. Ms. Northcutt testified of a series of phone calls she received from Appellant while he was in pre-trial confinement. Ms. Northcutt's testimony implied Appellant never expressed concern for her or their deceased child or remorse for his actions. On cross-examination, counsel for Appellant attempted to question her about a letter she received from Appellant nine days following the murder. The letter written by Appellant expressed remorse and sorrow for his actions. The trial judge erroneously excluded the evidence. The prosecution had opened the door for Appellant to present evidence of his remorse. Appellant is entitled to rebut the State's argument and correct the false impression the State conveyed to the jury. The portion of the letter directly addressing Appellant's remorse was admissible. The State cannot preclude the jury from considering any relevant mitigating evidence the defendant proffers in support of sentence less than death. Payne, 501 U.S. at 822, 111 S.Ct. at 2606, 115 L.Ed.2d at 721 (citing Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104, 114, 102 S.Ct. 869, 877, 71 L.Ed.2d 1, 1 (1982)). The letter, as a whole, however, is subject to redaction because portions are inadmissible hearsay. [5] A portion of the letter is admissible for the limited purpose of rebutting the State's argument Appellant had no remorse. Although it was error for the trial judge to exclude the letter written from Appellant to Ms. Northcutt expressing remorse, the error was harmless. The record contains evidence of Appellant's remorse. Appellant was not prejudiced, nor was the outcome of the trial affected.