Court Opinion

ID: 9711764
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:38:35.947505+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:07.342492
License: Public Domain

POPOVICH, Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent from the opinion of the majority. Instantly, the majority, concluding that the lower court *28abused its discretion when it quashed the defense subpoena of Robin Watkins, determined:
... It was not the function of the trial court to determine whether the witness had been truthful and accurate when he gave a statement to defendant’s investigator. The witness’s credibility was an issue for the jury. It was enough that Watkins had been an eyewitness to the shooting and had supplied appellant’s investigator with information favorable to the defense. Because the witness in this case had favorable information to the defense, the trial court erred when it denied defendant the right to call the witness.
The majority, in so ruling, has misconstrued the lower court’s determination. The court did not assess the credibility of Watkins, but rather, merely recognized that Watkins’ testimony was not favorable to the defense. The fact that Watkins had previously informed the defense investigator that the driver of the white Cadillac had done the shooting is not relevant to the court’s determination of whether to quash the subpoena. Watkins testified, in court, that he did not see the driver of the white Cadillac fire a weapon. Such testimony would have, in fact, refuted appellant’s defense that the driver of the white Cadillac was the “shooter”. Accordingly, it was not an abuse of discretion for the trial court to refuse to compel Watkins’ attendance at trial. United States v. Valenzuela-Bernal, 458 U.S. 858, 102 S.Ct. 3440, 73 L.Ed.2d 1193 (1982).
As a practical matter, the defense could not present Watkins’ prior testimony concerning the shooting, except by declaring Watkins a hostile witness and examining him on his prior inconsistent statement, i.e., calling his own witness a liar. I dare speculate that if defense counsel had put a witness on the stand whose direct testimony contradicted his defense, we would currently be faced with an ineffective assistance of counsel appeal.
Accordingly, I would affirm the decision of the court below.