Opinion ID: 1443106
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Admission of Additional Testimony from Detective Logan

Text: Next, Appellant contends that it was error for the trial court to allow the Commonwealth to present testimony from Detective Logan at the penalty hearing when his trial testimony had already been incorporated into the penalty hearing by stipulation. At the beginning of the penalty phase, the prosecution asked that all testimony from the guilt phase be incorporated into the penalty hearing. In support of the Commonwealth's argument for the aggravating factor found at 42 Pa.C.S.  9711(d)(5) (victim witnessed a felony committed by the defendant and was killed for the purpose of preventing her future testimony), Detective Logan was called to testify regarding Appellant's confession, wherein Appellant specifically admitted to threatening Robin that if she told anyone about the September 1 rape, he would snap her neck. Appellant does not question the relevancy of this testimony to the aggravating factor that the Commonwealth sought to prove. Instead, he argues that it should not have been admitted because its probative value was outweighed by the prejudicial effect of allowing such testimony given the surrounding evidence of the already stipulated factual background. Appellant's brief at 48. The Commonwealth counters that Detective Logan's testimony at the penalty hearing was essential evidence that went to their burden of proving the Section 9711(d)(5) aggravating factor of killing a prosecution witness. As noted, the Commonwealth sought to prove that Appellant killed Robin, in part, because she reported the September 1 rape, and to prevent her from testifying in the future. The Commonwealth points out that in the voluminous record of testimony that was presented to the jury during the guilt phase, this one particular piece of evidence was particularly relevant to establishing the aggravating factor at the penalty phase and nothing prevented Appellant's counsel from exploring the relevant surrounding evidence concerning the statement, if defense counsel so desired. Finally, the Commonwealth points out that ultimately, the jury rejected the Section 9711(d)(5) aggravating factor. Thus, even if the trial court erred in allowing evidence that had already been stipulated to, Appellant suffered no prejudice. Although Appellant does not challenge the relevancy of Detective Logan's testimony, we note that relevant evidence is any evidence that tends to make a fact in issue more or less probable, and the relevance of a given piece of evidence is a prerequisite to its admissibility. See Commonwealth v. Stallworth, 566 Pa. 349, 781 A.2d 110, 117-18 (2001). Moreover, a trial court may exclude even relevant evidence if such evidence poses a danger of unfair prejudice that outweighs its probative value. See Commonwealth v. Boyle, 498 Pa. 486, 447 A.2d 250, 254 (1982). Detective Logan's additional testimony was brief and to the point. After stating his name, occupation, and years of service, Detective Logan testified that he had interviewed Appellant as follows: [Prosecutor]: During the course of that interview and his discussion with you, did [Appellant] make a statement regarding Robin Little's telling or not telling on him? [Det. Logan]: Yes, he did. [Prosecutor]: Can you tell the jury what that was and what the context of that statement was. [Det. Logan]: During the course of the rape on the 1st, Mr. Mitchell told me that when Robin was screaming, Mr. Mitchell said to her, If you continue to scream or if you tell anyone, I'll snap your neck. [Prosecutor]: That's all I have. Thank you. [Defense counsel]: I have no questions. N.T. Trial at 791. Clearly, Detective Logan's brief testimony at the penalty phase was highly probative of Appellant's possible motive for killing Robin. In fact, it was essential to the Commonwealth's attempt to establish the Section 9711(d)(5) aggravating factor. While we recognize that this evidence was presented during the guilt phase, we also note that once the jury convicted Appellant, the focus of the Commonwealth's case changed from meeting the elements of the crimes to establishing aggravating factors and rebutting mitigating factors. However, Detective Logan did not embellish his testimony about Appellant's confession with any details. Thus, we discern no abuse of discretion in the trial court's decision to permit Detective Logan to retake the witness stand during the penalty hearing to emphasize this particular point. Moreover, we find the probative value of the evidence outweighed its prejudicial import. Finally, we find that Appellant suffered no prejudice from the testimony about which Appellant now complains, because as noted by the Commonwealth, the jury did not find the Section 9711(d)(5) aggravating factor that Appellant killed Robin to eliminate her as a potential witness in the pending rape case. See Commonwealth v. Zook, 532 Pa. 79, 615 A.2d 1, 12 (1992), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 974, 113 S.Ct. 1420, 122 L.Ed.2d 789 (1993) (finding no prejudice in admission of certain evidence from Commonwealth witness in guilt phase via a detective's testimony that went toward establishing aggravating factor where jury ultimately did not find this aggravating factor).