Opinion ID: 2974320
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Beverly Murphy as a Rebuttal Witness

Text: First of all, we do not believe that it was improper for the prosecution to call Murphy as a rebuttal witness, but even if it was, none of the testimony elicited from Murphy was at all prejudicial to Defendant. The prosecution called Murphy, over the objection of the defense, to rebut the testimony of Dr. Bertschinger. The district court ruled that Murphy’s testimony did not rebut Bertschinger’s testimony and that the “trial court erred when it permitted Murphy to testify,” but that Defendant was not prejudiced by anything that Murphy said. (J.A. at 236.) We disagree with the district court’s conclusion that Murphy’s testimony did not constitute rebuttal testimony. The trial court allowed Murphy to be called as a rebuttal witness over the defense’s objection because the prosecution had asked Bertschinger questions about the relationship that Defendant, a self-professed Nazi supporter and white supremacist, claims to have had with Murphy, an African-American prostitute. Bertschinger opined that Defendant had a romantic relationship with Murphy, which reflected his personality disorder, given his alleged hatred of AfricanAmericans. In response, the prosecution called Murphy who contradicted this characterization of her relationship with Defendant, testifying that the relationship was nothing more than a business relationship. Murphy testified extensively about the frequency and manner in which Defendant compensated her for sexual services, which included giving her guns. This testimony was appropriate to rebut Bertschinger’s contention that Defendant had a romantic relationship with Murphy. Regardless, however, of whether the testimony was in fact rebuttal, we agree with the district court that even if the testimony was inappropriate, it was not, under the first of the four Carter factors, prejudicial to Defendant. Murphy did not reveal anything new that the jury had not heard before, and her testimony was not inflammatory or damaging to Defendant. She merely recounted facts that the jury had already heard, and offered her perspective that she and Defendant’s relationship was nothing more than a business arrangement. Further, much of the testimony that Defendant challenges, was actually given in response to defense counsel’s questioning on crossexamination. We therefore conclude that Murphy’s testimony did not render Defendant’s trial fundamentally unfair.