Opinion ID: 1665225
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Reputation Testimony Regarding Kimberly San

Text: Ibar next argues that defense counsel should have been permitted to impeach Kimberly San's credibility. As discussed above, San testified for the State that Penalver and someone else who said he was Pablo showed up at her house in a black Mercedes on the morning of the murders. Ibar proffered the testimony of Robert James Lillie, a Margate police officer who had, in the past, come into contact with San in his capacity as a police officer. Lillie would have testified that San is not a truthful, truth telling person. She's a liar. Lillie's opinion was based on information from a secretary at the prosecutor's office that San made untrue accusations against Lillie. The secretary did not live in San's community. Lillie also stated that San's mother and brother expressed opinions that San was not truthful. The trial court did not allow the testimony, finding that the testimony was not based on the perception of the community, but only on the opinions of a small number of people. Section 90.609, Florida Statutes (1999), provides as follows: A party may attack or support the credibility of a witness, including an accused, by evidence in the form of reputation, except that: (1) The evidence may refer only to character relating to truthfulness. (2) Evidence of a truthful character is admissible only after the character of the witness for truthfulness has been attacked by reputation evidence. As a predicate to the introduction of such reputation evidence, however, section 90.405, Florida Statutes (1999), requires the witness to be aware of the person's general reputation in the community and that the community must be sufficiently broad to provide adequate knowledge and a reliable assessment. See Larzelere v. State, 676 So. 2d 394 (Fla. 1996); Charles W. Ehrhardt, Florida Evidence, § 405.1, at 257-58 (2005 ed.). Lillie testified that he had known San and her family for many years, but the reputation testimony came only from his discussion with San's brother, mother, and an employee of the State Attorney's office who did not live in the community. In light of these limitations, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the evidence. See Larzelere, 676 So. 2d at 400 (finding no abuse of discretion for the exclusion of reputation evidence when the evidence came from a limited community).