Court Opinion

ID: 9475871
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:41:07.716495+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:44:59.888230
License: Public Domain

JOHN P. MOORE, J., Circuit Judge, concurring:
I am in agreement with the results reached in this case and with the general analysis undertaken by the court, but because I believe the court has not fully emphasized the precise problem presented here, I feel obliged to write separately.
In this case, the record makes clear that but for the unsolicited application of a rule of sequestration, the sentencing jury would have heard critical mitigating evidence. Moreover, it is also clear that this rule was invoked needlessly and without consideration of the nature of the testimony that would have been presented. Under Oklahoma law, “it is within the discretion of the court to allow or exclude the testimony of ... a witness [whose testimony would otherwise violate a sequestration rule].” Mayes v. State, 560 P.2d 574, 577 (Okla.Crim.App.1976); Edwards v. State, 655 P.2d 1048, 1051-52 (Okla.Crim.App.1982). Nevertheless, the state trial court made no effort to exercise this discretion, despite the knowledge that Mrs. Dutton was a vital witness.
Defense counsel’s opening remarks informed the court of what he intended to show through the testimony of his witnesses. These remarks alerted the judge to the nature of Mrs. Dutton’s testimony, leaving no doubt that she would present relevant mitigating evidence. That conclusion is amplified by the testimony of Mr. Dutton’s trial counsel at the habeas hearing in the district court. As in Skipper, exclusion of this evidence of petitioner’s character improperly deprived him of his right to introduce relevant evidence bearing upon the sentencer’s consideration.1
*604These circumstances compel the conclusion that the application of the Oklahoma rule on sequestration of witnesses to exclude the testimony of the only witness known to the court to be available to give mitigating evidence in his behalf deprived Mr. Dutton of a fair trial.2 Even though the Oklahoma rule is valid and important, its application to this case worked a result which was beyond the underlying purpose of the rule itself. Since the state judge was imbued with discretion to allow Mrs. Dutton to testify, even if her testimony was in violation of the rule, application of the rule in this case was mechanistic and constitutionally Unsupportable. See Green v. Georgia, 442 U.S. at 97, 99 S.Ct. at 2151-52. The action of the state trial judge here was no different in substance from the acts of the trial judge in Skipper; thus, we have no choice but to conclude the writ of habeas corpus must be granted.
Circuit Judge STEPHEN H. ANDERSON joins me in this concurrence.

. Given this jury deliberated over six hours with only the state’s strong aggravating evidence and minimal defense evidence before them, this is no idle concern.

. To the extent the majority opinion can be read to imply that simply because Mrs. Dutton was the defendant’s mother the trial judge should have assumed her testimony would have been relevant, I disagree. It is because the trial judge was told what the defense witnesses were going to say, not because of whom they were, that error was committed. With the knowledge of this testimony, the judge had sufficient information before him to exercise his discretion to allow Mrs. Dutton to testify. His failure to do so under these circumstances is constitutional error.