Opinion ID: 1938908
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Evidence of Victim's Prior Conduct

Text: Harkness, one of the two Navy men who was present at the 602 Club on the night of the shooting, testified on direct examination that he had seen Bucino at the 602 Club, and had seen him earlier in the evening, at about 5 or 6 p.m., at the Tack Room. He said, [t]he reason he stuck in my mind was because he was a little bit rowdy at the last place I'd seen him. On cross-examination, when defense counsel began to ask about events at the Tack Room, the prosecutor objected and requested a bench conference. The trial judge instructed defense counsel to state what he intended to ask the witness concerning the earlier events, and counsel replied I'm going to ask him if [Bucino] got thrown out. He explained that he wished thereby to show that Bucino was drunk and intoxicated and unruly that night. The prosecutor questioned the probative value of the proposed testimony, and argued that you [can] be drunk and unruly in one place and then nice in another. The trial judge sustained the objection. The ruling was not error. The defendant was attempting to show that because Bucino was rowdy at one bar at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. in the evening, it was likely that he was also rowdy later in the evening at another bar. [5] The inferential value of proof of the existence of a condition at one point in time to prove its existence at a later point of time depends on a variety of circumstances. When the existence of an object, condition, quality, or tendency at a given time is in issue, the prior existence of it is in human experience some indication of its probable persistence or continuance at a later period. The degree of probability of this continuance depends on the chances of intervening circumstances having occurred to bring the existence to an end. The possibility of such circumstances will depend almost entirely on the nature of the specific thing whose existence is in issue and the particular circumstances affecting it in the case in hand. That a soap-bubble was in existence half-an-hour ago affords no inference at all that it is in existence now; that Mt. Everest was in existence ten years ago is strong evidence that it exists yet; whether the fact of a tree's existence a year ago will indicate its continued existence today will vary according to the nature of the tree and the conditions of life in the region. So far, then, as the interval of time is concerned, no fixed rule can be laid down; the nature of the thing and the circumstances of the particular case must control. (Emphasis in original.) 2 Wigmore on Evidence § 437 (3d ed. 1940). In Hammond v. Inloes, 4 Md. 138, 172 (1853), our predecessors held that where seisen of an estate has been shown its continuance will be presumed. And, in Stitzel v. Kurz, 18 Md. App. 525, 538, 308 A.2d 430, cert. denied, 269 Md. 761 (1973), the Court of Special Appeals held that evidence concerning the condition of a road sign was properly admitted: When it is shown that a condition existed at a certain time, and the condition is one which by its nature is relatively permanent, rather than transitory or changeable, it is rational to infer that the same condition existed before and after the time shown, for a length of time reasonably consistent with the circumstances, unless there is evidence from which a change in the condition could reasonably be inferred. In dealing with conditions more likely to change, however, this Court has recognized that evidence of the earlier condition may not have sufficient probative value to be admissible. In Transit Company v. Metz, 158 Md. 424, 453, 149 A. 4, (1930) appeal dismissed, 282 U.S. 801, 51 S.Ct. 40, 75 L.Ed. 720 (1929), the Court held that evidence of the manner in which a truck was driven when it passed a detour about 1,000 yards from the place of the accident was properly excluded. In Reid v. Humphreys, 210 Md. 178, 185, 122 A.2d 756 (1956), the Court found no error in the exclusion of evidence of the speed of a vehicle just prior to the accident, but one and one-half miles distant therefrom, saying: Generally, the admissibility of testimony as to the speed or reckless operation of a motor vehicle at some distance from the place where it afterwards collided with another vehicle is discretionary with the trial court, and a ruling admitting such evidence will not be disturbed on appeal in the absence of a clear abuse of discretion. To the same effect, see Bennett v. Bass, 248 Md. 260, 266, 235 A.2d 715 (1967) (speed of vehicle at various points ranging from one and one-half miles to six blocks from scene of accident properly excluded). The defendant did not proffer any facts that Harkness might have been able to add to his previous testimony that Bucino had been a little bit rowdy. He did not proffer that Harkness had knowledge that Bucino had been thrown out of the Tack Room, or if so, that Harkness knew what Bucino had done that may have brought about his ejection. He did not proffer that Harkness was able to offer an opinion concerning the Bucino's sobriety when he saw him earlier. Given these circumstances, and considering the inherent impermanence of the condition that Sims sought to show by earlier conduct, we cannot say the trial judge abused his discretion in excluding the evidence. JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS AFFIRMED; COSTS TO BE PAID BY PETITIONER.