Opinion ID: 1286822
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the victim's prior conviction

Text: At trial, the defendant sought to introduce evidence of Larry Goodwin's previous aggravated battery conviction. Finding that this fact was not relevant to the case, the trial court excluded this evidence. The defendant contends that the trial court erred when it denied his request, thereby denying the defendant his constitutional right to present a full and complete defense. According to the defendant, this issue involves an interpretation of constitutional law as to how he is allowed to present his defense. See State v. Mays, 254 Kan. 479, 487-88, 866 P.2d 1037 (1994). Thus, the defendant contends that this is a question of law and this court's review is unlimited. See State v. Donlay, 253 Kan. 132, 133-34, 853 P.2d 680 (1993). The record is clear that the defendant was allowed to present his self-defense theory of the case. The trial court instructed the jury on the self-defense theory. The defendant testified that Goodwin's car almost hit a friend of his and was headed toward him. In refusing to present Goodwin's prior conviction of aggravated battery into evidence, the court simply excluded one piece of evidence which, according to the defendant, was relevant to the self-defense theory. The court did not exclude all evidence of the defendant's theory. Thus, a constitutional issue is not at stake, and this court's standard of review is not unlimited. Instead, we determine whether the district court abused its discretion in excluding evidence of Goodwin's prior conviction for aggravated battery. See State v. Arteaga, 257 Kan. 874, 894, 896 P.2d 1035 (1995). Judicial discretion is abused when judicial action is arbitrary, fanciful, or unreasonable, which is another way of saying that discretion is abused only when no reasonable person would take the view adopted by the trial court. If reasonable persons could differ as to the propriety of the action taken by the trial court, then it cannot be said that the trial court abused its discretion. State v. Spresser, 257 Kan. 664, 667, 896 P.2d 1005 (1995). Where self-defense is an issue in a homicide case, evidence of the turbulent character of the deceased is admissible. Such evidence may consist of the general reputation of the deceased in the community, but specific instances of misconduct may be shown only by evidence of a conviction of a crime. State v. Deavers, 252 Kan. 149, 156-57, 843 P.2d 695 (1992), cert. denied 508 U.S. 978 (1993). In support of their positions, both parties cite to State v. Arteaga, 257 Kan. 874. In Arteaga, the defendant was convicted of first-degree felony murder and attempted aggravated robbery. The facts involved the meeting in an alley among the defendant, Arteaga, and a few of his friends and Jerry Anderson and David Culbertson, all of whom had been drinking. The victim, Anderson, received a fatal wound caused by a knife held by Arteaga. At trial, the jury was presented with three different theories of the killingduring an attempted aggravated robbery, in self-defense, or by accident. In analyzing this issue, the Arteaga court cited to K.S.A. 60-447(a), which provides: [W]hen a trait of a person's character is relevant as tending to prove conduct on a specified occasion, ... evidence of specific instances of conduct other than evidence of conviction of a crime which tends to prove the trait to be bad shall be inadmissible. In applying this statute, the Arteaga court stated: This court has stated that when self-defense is an issue in a homicide case, evidence of the turbulent character of the deceased is admissible. Specific instances of misconduct may be shown only by evidence of a conviction of a crime. State v. Deavers, 252 Kan. 149, 156-57, 843 P.2d 695 (1992), cert. denied 508 U.S. 978 (1993). Here, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding evidence of Culbertson's prior conviction for domestic battery. Culbertson's role in the incident leading to Anderson's death was relevant to the defendant's claim of self-defense. The defendant's version was that Culbertson pushed him as Culbertson and Anderson attempted to flee with the marijuana. The defendant also testified that Culbertson was being belligerent, and there was evidence that Culbertson was intoxicated. The facts of Culbertson's prior conviction were that he was intoxicated and that it was in a domestic situation. The prior conviction, while possibly relevant, would have only a minor, if any, bearing on whether Culbertson was violent on this occasion. The evidence of Culbertson's violence on this occasion was so limited that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding evidence of the prior conviction in a domestic situation. 257 Kan. at 894-95. Here, the jury was instructed on self-defense. Thus, Goodwin's alleged character trait of violence was relevant to prove he was violent and aggressive on the night in question by starting a fight or trying to run the defendant over, thereby requiring the defendant to act in self-defense. As such, relevant evidence of specific instances of prior violent conduct to prove Goodwin possessed a violent character trait could have been introduced through prior criminal convictions. In Arteaga, the court did not admit Culbertson's prior criminal conviction because it found that Culbertson's prior conviction for domestic violence had little bearing on whether Culbertson would be a violent aggressor in an alley fight with strangers. 257 Kan. at 894-95. In this case, the trial court did not know and this court does not know the circumstances which surrounded Goodwin's previous aggravated battery conviction. It is not clear if the conviction involved Goodwin starting a fight with others, or trying to run another over with his car, or domestic violence. Thus, the trial court did not know if the prior aggravated battery conviction had any bearing on whether Goodwin would be violent by starting a fight in a parking lot with a group of strangers or by trying to run the strangers over with his car. The record does not give a clue as to when or what occurred in the victim's prior aggravated battery conviction. Since this information was not available, we cannot say the trial court abused its discretion by refusing to allow the prior conviction into evidence.