Opinion ID: 2334712
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Proffered Testimony of Witness

Text: Finally, Mr. Miles argues that he should have been allowed to call a witness to corroborate his assertion that he was beaten by Lt. Sturdivant and Det. Andolina on the side of the road between Des Arc and Lonoke. Irma Brodis was to testify that she had seen a police car stopped along the road between Des Arc and Lonoke with a black man in the back. The trial court refused to allow the testimony, ruling that it was irrelevant because Ms. Brodis could not testify that the man she saw was Mr. Miles. Mr. Miles proffered the testimony of Ms. Brodis. In the proffer, Ms. Brodis stated that she and her sister were driving on the highway between Des Arc and Cabot when they saw a police car stopped on the side of the road. They saw a black man in the back seat of the car and two officers standing on the side of the road. Ms. Brodis could not identify the officers, and she testified that she did not see any contact between the man in custody and the officers. In addition, she did not know the day on which she saw the car, though she knew it was in 1997. She stated that the man in the back seat of the car looked like Mr. Miles, but admitted that she was driving by at fifty-five miles per hour and could not positively identify the man in the back of the car. Mr. Miles contends on appeal that Ms. Brodis's testimony should have been allowed as it was relevant to corroborate his claim that the officers beat him along the side of the road. Relevant evidence means evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. Ark. R. Evid. 401 (2001). A trial court's ruling on relevancy is entitled to great weight and will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion. Webb v. State, 327 Ark. 51, 938 S.W.2d 806 (1997). This court cannot say the trial court abused its discretion in ruling that the testimony of Ms. Brodis was irrelevant and inadmissible. Ms. Brodis did not know the date on which she saw the police car, she could not identify the officers she saw, and she could not positively identify the man in the back of the car as Mr. Miles. In addition, Ms. Brodis could not testify to seeing any contact between the officers and Mr. Miles. Thus, we affirm the trial court's ruling.