Opinion ID: 1728613
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Redaction of Testimony Regarding Drug Use

Text: The next issue we address is whether the trial court erred in redacting that part of Watson's preliminary hearing testimony which indicated that she and the defendant had been drinking and shooting cocaine before the Kennedy killing. The defendant contends that it was error for the trial court to exclude this testimony because it would have been relevant to the mental state of the defendant and his intent at the time of the murder. The redacted testimony about which the defendant complains was given by Watson at a later preliminary hearing held a week after the first preliminary hearing. While the defendant raised this issue as error in his motion for a new trial, our review of the record shows that Howell did not request the trial court to include this portion of the record of the Oklahoma proceeding in the proof. Our review of the record also shows that during the trial, the defendant included in the proof other parts of Watson's testimony regarding the defendant's drug use on the ride from Memphis to Oklahoma. Accordingly, since the defendant did not request that the proof be admitted during the trial, and did not bring the issue to the trial court's attention until the motion for a new trial was filed, we conclude that this issue has been waived by the defendant. Tenn.R.App.P. 36(a). In addition, because the jury heard other evidence of drug and alcohol use by the defendants on the weekend of the murder, we conclude that the omission of this part of Watson's testimony would have been harmless error even if not waived, especially in light of the fact that the evidence was relevant to intent and mental state, and the defendant was convicted of felony murder, not premeditated murder.