Court Opinion

ID: 9668279
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 02:08:23.071631+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:44.312170
License: Public Domain

White, J.,
concurring.
I concur with the majority in affirming the appellant’s conviction. However, I cannot agree with the court’s interpretation of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-109(19) (Reissue 1985). This court holds that the definition of “recklessly” contained in *325§ 28-109(19) is “purely objective,” and therefore the subjective intent of the appellant in this case was wholly irrelevant. I believe such an interpretation is contrary to the plain meaning of the statute.
Section 28-109(19) provides:
Recklessly shall mean acting with respect to a material element of an offense when any person disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that, considering the nature and purpose of the actor’s conduct and the circumstances known to him, its disregard involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a law-abiding person would observe in the actor’s situation.
This language supports an inference that the Legislature, in adopting § 28-109(19), intended the subjective mental state of the defendant to be an element of the definition of “recklessly.” Section 28-109(19) requires the fact finder to determine whether the defendant was reckless by finding that the risk the defendant disregarded was “of such a nature and degree that, considering the nature and purpose of the actor’s conduct and the circumstances known to him . . . .” (Emphasis supplied.) This language connotes an element of subjectivity.
The statute does not say the risk must be of such a nature and degree that consideration must be made of the actor’s conduct and the circumstances as seen by a reasonable person, but instead contains the phrase “and the circumstances known to him.” It seems inconceivable that the majority could ignore this language and instead interpret the statute as containing only the objective standard of a reasonable person.
In State v. Hoffman, 227 Neb. 131, 139, 416 N.W.2d 231, 237 (1987), in language relied on by the majority, we stated,
A reckless act [as defined in § 28-109(19)] involves a conscious choice in a course of action, made with knowledge of a serious danger or risk to another as a result of such choice of action or with knowledge of the attendant circumstances which, to a reasonable person, would indicate or disclose a serious danger or risk to another as a result of the course of action selected.
*326(Emphasis supplied.) The emphasized language contained in Hoffman is clearly contrary to the express words contained in § 28-109(19). In Hoffman, we held that the attendant circumstances must be examined as seen through the eyes of a hypothetical reasonable person. Yet, the statute states that we must view the circumstances as known to the defendant, before we can determine whether a disregard of the risks involved is a gross deviation from the acceptable standard of conduct. I believe that this court is required to follow the plain words contained in the statute, and any language in Hoffman misconstruing those words should now be disapproved. Therefore, the testimony of Dr. Radecki as to the subjective mental state of the defendant, that Brent Kistenmacher was “very desensitized to the great risk [of pointing a gun at the victim] and didn’t realize ... by any means, the great dangers that he was taking” was relevant in this case.
Whether this exclusion of psychiatric testimony was reversible error is another question. Expert testimony is admissible when it would assist the trier of fact to understand evidence or determine a fact in issue, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 27-702 (Reissue 1985), and State v. Birge, 223 Neb. 761, 393 N.W.2d 713 (1986), and evidence of an accused’s mental condition at the time of the offense is always admissible to prove absence of intent, State v. Vosler, 216 Neb. 461, 345 N.W.2d 806 (1984). In addition, in State v. Ammons, 208 Neb. 797, 305 N.W.2d 808 (1981), this court recognized that the right of a defendant to present his own witnesses to establish a defense is a fundamental element of due process of law under the sixth amendment right to compulsory process, as established by the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington v. Texas, 388 U.S. 14, 87 S. Ct. 1920, 18 L. Ed. 2d 1019 (1967). However, “No judgment shall be set aside, or new trial granted, or judgment rendered in any criminal case, on the grounds of . . . the improper . . . rejection of evidence ... if the Supreme Court, after an examination of the entire cause, shall consider that no substantial miscarriage of justice has actually occurred.” Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2308 (Reissue 1985); State v. Turner, 221 Neb. 852, 381 N.W.2d 149 (1986).
Harmless error exists in a jury trial of a criminal case when *327there is some incorrect conduct by the trial court which, on review of the entire record, did not materially influence the jury in a verdict adverse to a substantial right of the defendant. State v. Watkins, 227 Neb. 677, 419 N.W.2d 660 (1988). Error in admitting or excluding evidence in a criminal trial is prejudicial unless it can be said that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Watkins, supra; State v. Lenz, 227 Neb. 692, 419 N.W.2d 670 (1988). Upon a full review of the record, I find that the exclusion of Dr. Radecki’s testimony, although error, was nonetheless harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, and therefore no reversal is required.
In the defendant’s offer of proof, Dr. Radecki stated that the defendant was desensitized to violence such that he did not appreciate the “great risk” of his behavior. However, the doctor also stated that “ [o]bviously, he realized there was some danger. He told me just the day before [the fatal shooting] he had gotten angry at his roommate for doing the same thing with a neighbor.” If the defendant appreciated that his conduct posed some risk to the life of Jason Cuellar, enough of a risk that just the day before he had yelled at his roommate for doing precisely the same act, subjectively disregarding the existence of that risk was an act sufficiently reckless to be covered by the definition of “recklessly” contained in § 28-109(19).
I would therefore affirm the conviction on the basis that the exclusion of Dr. Radecki’s testimony constituted harmless error.