Opinion ID: 1595830
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Testimony of Smith's Mother and Sister

Text: Both Smith's sister and mother expressed a desire to testify during the penalty phase. Defense counsel proffered that Smith's mother could testify to numerous elements of mitigation, and Smith's sister sought to read a letter that she had written. The State countered that such testimony or statements would open the door to cross-examination about the fact that Smith allegedly had sexual contact with his sister when she was thirteen and he was seventeen, and that the mother sent Smith to live with his aunt when she learned from her daughter about the sexual contact. The trial court agreed that if these witnesses were called, they would be subject to cross-examination to show the entire picture with regard to Smith's prior actions. Smith ultimately chose not to present either witness. Smith now contends that the ruling of the trial court constituted an abuse of discretion because, had the sister and mother been cross-examined with regard to the alleged sexual conduct between Smith and his sister, the unfair prejudice of this testimony would have substantially outweighed its probative value. See § 90.403, Fla. Stat. (2004). Trial court rulings on evidentiary issues are reviewed under the abuse of discretion standard. See Salazar v. State, 991 So.2d 364, 373 (Fla.2008), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 1347, 173 L.Ed.2d 614 (2009). The State correctly notes that during the trial proceeding, defense counsel contended that the evidence of sexual conduct between Smith and his sister should not be disclosed because it was irrelevant to the instant proceeding. For the first time on appeal, Smith now contends that while this evidence may be relevant, the relevance is far outweighed by its prejudicial value and therefore should be excluded pursuant to section 90.403, Florida Statutes. Accordingly, this challenge in unpreserved and, therefore, procedurally barred for appellate consideration. See Perez, 919 So.2d at 359. However, even if defense counsel had preserved this challenge below, we conclude that Smith would not be entitled to relief because the trial court did not abuse its discretion. This Court has explained that the State shall be provided a full opportunity to rebut the existence of mitigating factors urged by [the defendant] ... and to introduce evidence tending to diminish their weight if they cannot be rebutted. We usually allow the State to rebut the mitigation offered by the defense, and we allow the defense to offer evidence to rebut aggravation proposed by the State. Kormondy v. State, 845 So.2d 41, 51-52 (Fla.2003) (citation omitted) (quoting Ellis v. State, 622 So.2d 991, 1001 (Fla.1993)). During the penalty phase, Smith presented the testimony of various witnesses who testified positively as to Smith's relationship with his family. Smith's aunt testified that Smith is her godchild; that he was more of a son to her than a nephew; that he played with her son every day as the two grew up; that he attended family functions; that he was the best man at her son's wedding; and that when her husband passed away, Smith helped her, and she could not have made it through that time without him. Smith's cousin testified that she and Smith were more like siblings than cousins because they did everything together. She testified that Smith was always around to help her mother after her father died. The cousin also identified photographs of Smith with his sister feeding a baby lamb and Smith with other family members at his sister's communion. This evidence was presented to demonstrate that Smith was a loving family member and that he maintained positive relationships with them. We agree with the State that this evidence opened the door for the presentation of evidence that rebutted the portrayal of Smith as an ideal family member. Indeed, to prohibit cross-examination of Smith's mother and sister would operate to deceive the jury. The defense does not dispute that Smith engaged in sexual conduct with his then thirteen-year-old sister and was subsequently forced to leave his home and live with his aunt as a result of this conduct. If the court had permitted Smith to present witnesses to demonstrate that Smith was a good brother, nephew, and cousin, but then protected those witnesses from cross-examination with regard to the darker elements of Smith's childhood, the State would have been erroneously precluded from rebutting mitigation evidence. See Kormondy, 845 So.2d at 51-52. This also would have presented a skewed portrait of Smith to the jury. Therefore, although the trial court's decision not to allow Smith's mother or sister to testify without being subject to cross-examination may have strategically precluded some mitigation evidence from being presented during the penalty phase, we cannot conclude that the trial court's evidentiary ruling on this sensitive issue constituted an abuse of discretion.