Opinion ID: 1657407
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Davis's and Kelly's Testimony

Text: Davis and Kelly both testified about conversations that Davis had with Bernard, in which Bernard stated that he and a friend had been involved as shooters targeting Scott and that Jamoke Jackson told Bernard that a little boy had been shot. Blanche asserts that, based on the testimony of other witnesses, only he could have been the friend to whom Bernard was referring. Under the circumstances of the case, we conclude that the use of the word friend was not prejudicial to Blanche because the reference by itself did not implicate Blanche. The testimony did not contain an obvious edit and did not draw particular attention to the word chosen. More importantly, witnesses gave testimony that numerous gang members or associates were involved in targeting Scott; thus, the friend could have been any one of almost a dozen gang members or associates. Only when linked to other testimony does the reference suggest that Blanche is most likely the friend. Having reached this conclusion, we nevertheless caution the state that substituting the word friend or something similar will not in all cases eliminate a Bruton violation. In other instances, it may be obvious that the friend could refer only to the defendant. But, in this case, we conclude that the use of friend was not improper in the context of Davis's and Kelly's testimony.