Court Opinion

ID: 9503242
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 19:39:05.194702+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:03:20.891176
License: Public Domain

DE MUNIZ, C. J.,
concurring.
With one exception, I concur in both the reasoning and the result of the majority’s opinion in this case. The exception involves the sixth assignment of error, which dealt with the alleged statement “How do you like me now?” by witness Robert Cameron as he was stepping away from the witness stand. The majority concludes that the alleged error was preserved, but concludes that, even assuming Cameron’s statement was evidence of bias, the trial court did not err in refusing to admit the evidence. 349 Or at 189-95. In my view, defendant failed to preserve any error regarding Cameron’s alleged statement. I, therefore, would not reach the merits of the assigned error.1
The pertinent facts are correctly set out in the majority opinion. After Cameron had left the witness stand — and after the court had taken a recess — defense counsel informed the court that, as Cameron was leaving the witness stand, he *206had stated “How do you like me now?” loud enough for counsel and co-counsel to hear the statement. The judge and the prosecutor both indicated that they had not heard it. Defense counsel stated that he “would like to make sure that the jury is informed that he [Cameron] made that statement.” Defense counsel did not request that Cameron be retained as a witness and counsel did not attempt to recall Cameron to the witness stand. Neither did defense counsel offer to call any other witness to the statement. The substance of defense counsel’s offer of proof was the assertion that the statement had been made and a request that the jury be “informed” about it.
It has long been the preferred practice in this state that offers of proof ordinarily be made by questioning a witness outside the presence of the jury, not by counsel summarizing the expected testimony. “Unless the calling of witnesses is waived by the court or by the adverse party, we think the better practice is to call the witnesses relied on and ask appropriate questions.” Columbia R. I. Co. v. Alameda L. Co., 87 Or 277, 291, 168 P 64 (1917), on reh’g, 168 P 440 (1918); see Ashmun v. Nichols, 92 Or 223, 178 P 234, on reh’g, 180 P 510 (1919) (quoting Columbia with approval). Offers of proof involving the mere “avowals of counsel” often are problematic. See Null v. Siegrist, 262 Or 264, 267, 497 P2d 664 (1972) (evidentiary hearing conducted outside presence of jury “was in the nature of an offer of proof and, assuming that plaintiff did change doctors for the reason his counsel indicated, he should have so testified” (footnote omitted)); First Nat. Bank v. Oregon Paper Co., 42 Or 398, 402, 71 P 971 (1903) (“If the appellants were not allowed to prove their claims, they should have called witnesses, and stated to the court the testimony which it was expected would be elicited from them, and upon a refusal to receive such testimony take an exception.” (Citation omitted.)).
Here, defendant made no effort to recall Cameron, and defendant offered no additional witness to testify to what was said. Defendant merely asked that the jury be “informed” about the statement. Simply put, there was no *207offer of proof, because defendant did not offer to prove anything. Requesting that the court inform the jury of a statement that the court did not even hear is not sufficient to preserve the evidentiary error, and this court errs in concluding otherwise.
Although I concur in the majority’s decision to reject defendant’s sixth assignment of error, I do so only because the error was not preserved.
Gillette and Durham, JJ., join in this concurring opinion.

 Because I would not reach the merits of the assigned error, I am not required to express an opinion about the correctness of the majority’s conclusion regarding the trial court’s ruling. I note in passing, however, that the witness’s expressed defiance of defendant (if it actually occurred), while it might have a benign or insignificant impact on a jury, also could be seen as an outburst of animosity that had finally found an outlet. If the latter, I think that a reasonable juror could have considered it the pivotal piece of evidence concerning the witness’s credibility, and a valid reason to question that credibility.