Opinion ID: 1058925
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Exclusion of Victim's Threat

Text: The defendant next challenges the trial court's exclusion of testimony defense counsel sought to elicit from witness Ruthie Hall. The record reflects that during the direct examination of Ruthie Hall, defense counsel requested a bench conference and informed the trial court that he was going to attempt to elicit testimony regarding a threat made by the victim on the day he died. The trial judge dismissed the jury and held a jury out hearing in which Hall testified that at 1:55 p.m. on the day Case was killed, Case said he was going to kill [Saylor]. This threat was never communicated to Saylor. The State objected to the introduction of this statement and, after a lengthy discussion, the trial judge sustained the objection: [T]he court [is] of the opinion that [the statement's] slight probative value was more than substantially outweighed by dangers of prejudice to the jury's rational and [un]impassioned consideration of the evidence because itif they made the mistake and became confused and considered that in self-defense, or any [sic] than the issue of first aggressor which is clearly not only proved by two witnesses, but, also stipulated then the entire instructionsthat instruction becomes virtually meaningless. Saylor argues that the trial court improperly excluded Hall's testimony that the victim, John Case, had threatened to kill him and that the testimony was necessary to support his self-defense theory. The State argues that the trial court properly excluded Hall's testimony because it was hearsay and irrelevant. In Tennessee, admissibility of evidence is within the sound discretion of the trial judge. See Otis v. Cambridge Mut. Fire Ins. Co., 850 S.W.2d 439, 442 (Tenn.1992). When arriving at a determination to admit or exclude even that evidence which is considered relevant, trial courts are generally accorded a wide degree of latitude and will only be overturned on appeal where there is a showing of abuse of discretion. Id. We addressed the admissibility of uncommunicated threats made by a victim against a defendant in State v. Butler, 626 S.W.2d 6 (Tenn.1981). In Butler , the defendant was convicted of second degree murder for the shooting death of his wife. The defendant admitted to the shooting, but insisted that it was in self-defense. [7] To support this theory, the defense counsel proffered a witness who would testify that the victim had previously brandished a .22 caliber pistol and said[she was going] to get rid of that son-of-a-bitch one way or another. Id., 626 S.W.2d at 12 (bracketing in original). The trial court concluded that the statement was inadmissible because it was not communicated to the defendant. This Court held that the trial court committed reversible error by refusing to allow the jury to hear the evidence. The character of the deceased for violence, as well as her animosity toward the defendant, as indicated by words and actions at the time of the killing and before, are proper matters for consideration of the jury upon the question of self-defense. In some cases where self-defense is an issue, uncommunicated threats made by a deceased against a defendant are admissible as going to the state of mind of the deceased. However, the applicability of this rule is limited and it becomes operative only where relevant to explain the conduct of the deceased in establishing who was the aggressor. Id. at 11 (citations omitted); see also Little v. State, 65 Tenn. 491, 493 (1873). We further held that the statement should not be excluded even where there was other overwhelming evidence showing that the victim was the aggressor. Rather, we found this to be a question of weight of the evidence properly resolved by the jury. Butler, 626 S.W.2d at 11. We think that Butler controls the issue in the case before us. Ruthie Hall's testimony consisted of an uncommunicated threat made by the victim, John Case, towards Saylor prior to the victim's death. Under Butler , such testimony is admissible as an exception to the rule excluding hearsay statements as an indication of the victim's state of mind, and it is relevant to establish the victim's status as the aggressor. Id., 626 S.W.2d at 11. We reject the State's argument that the testimony was properly excluded simply because the parties had stipulated that Case was the aggressor. The State's argument, which is tantamount to concluding that a stipulation always serves as conclusive proof of the facts so stipulated in a criminal case, is not supported by authority. Indeed, we rejected a similar argument in Butler by holding that the uncommunicated threat was admissible even where there was overwhelming evidence because such issues affect the weight of evidence and are thus properly resolved by the jury. Moreover, the State's position conflicts with decisions of our appellate courts that have upheld the admission of stipulated evidence on more than one occasion. See Hunter v. Burke, 958 S.W.2d 751, 755 (Tenn.Ct.App.1997) (upholding admission of confession even though defendant stipulated as to liability); State v. Hill, 885 S.W.2d 357, 360-61 (Tenn.Crim.App.1994) (upholding trial court's decision to allow victim to remove his shirt to show scars even though the defendant had stipulated that victim had sustained bodily injury). Moreover, the State's argument ignores the fact that Rule 403 of the Tennessee Rules of Evidence is narrow in its application and is a rule of admissibility that places a heavy burden on the party seeking to exclude evidence. See State v. James, 81 S.W.3d 751, 757 (Tenn.2002) (quoting Roy v. Diamond, 16 S.W.3d 783, 791 (Tenn.Ct.App.1999)). [E]xcluding relevant evidence under [this rule] is an extraordinary remedy that should be used sparingly, ... and persons seeking to exclude otherwise admissible and relevant evidence have a significant burden of persuasion. White v. Vanderbilt Univ., 21 S.W.3d 215, 227 (Tenn.Ct.App.1999) (citations omitted). In short, the existence of a stipulation by itself is not sufficient to invoke the narrow provisions of Rule 403. [8] Accordingly, we hold that the existence of substantial evidenceincluding a stipulationestablishing the victim as the aggressor does not, by itself, preclude the admission of an uncommunicated threat. By excluding Ruthie Hall's testimony, the trial court in this case effectively denied Saylor an opportunity to present relevant and probative evidence to the jury on a critical element of his claim of self-defense. Case's threat against Saylor was never related to the jury, which ultimately rejected Saylor's self-defense claim. Furthermore, we do not believe that the State carried its burden under Rule 403 to show that the danger of unfair prejudice resulting from the admission of Case's threat substantially outweighed the probative value of Ms. Hall's testimony. We therefore conclude that the trial court erred. Having concluded that it was error for the trial court to exclude Ruthie Hall's testimony, we must now resolve whether such error affected the jury's verdict and requires a new trial. We have previously explained that nonconstitutional errors will not result in reversal unless the error affirmatively appears to have affected the result of the trial on the merits . . . . State v. Harris, 989 S.W.2d 307, 315 (Tenn.1999) (citing Tenn. R.Crim. P. 52(a)) (emphasis in original). Here, the uncontroverted evidence establishing Case as the first aggressor was substantial. Brenda Hull testified that Saylor did not strike the victim until after Case had hit him with the hammer and knocked him to the ground. Kenneth White likewise testified that Case hit Saylor with the hammer before Saylor retaliated. The defendant's videotaped statement repeatedly asserted that Case had hit Saylor with a hammer first and the State stipulated that Case had been the first aggressor. In addition, the evidence demonstrated that by striking the victim at least six times in the head with enough force to shatter the victim's skull, the defendant's actions were not reasonably necessary to protect himself. In sum, we cannot conclude that the exclusion of the victim's uncommunicated threat affected the outcome of the trial on the merits.