Court Opinion

ID: 9852909
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:38:50.395168+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:22:37.144971
License: Public Domain

Blackburn, Judge,
concurring specially.
Although concurring with the majority opinion, I wish to emphasize the trial court’s error in ruling that if the defense expert witness assisted defense counsel during cross-examination of the State’s witnesses, that expert would not be permitted to testify. As explained by the majority opinion, OCGA § 24-9-61 generally requires examination of a party’s own witnesses out of the hearing of each other, upon invocation of the rule by the other party; it does not prohibit one party’s witness hearing the testimony of the other party’s witnesses. See Stevens v. State, 247 Ga. 698, 702 (6) (278 SE2d 398) (1981); Hayes v. State, 182 Ga. App. 26, 28 (2) (354 SE2d 655) (1987). That statute provided no basis for the trial court’s limitation on the defendant’s use of his sole witness, who happened to be an expert on DNA evidence.
The purpose of the sequestration statute “is to prevent a witness who has not testified, or who has not completed his or her testimony, from overhearing and having his or her testimony affected by the testimony of another witness.” Lackey v. State, 246 Ga. 331, 334 (5) (271 SE2d 478) (1980). Certainly, the purpose of the statute was not served by forcing upon the defendant the choice of giving up the testimony of his one and only witness, if that witness assisted him as a DNA expert during the trial.
Where the sequestration rule has been properly invoked, it is within the discretion of the trial court to permit a witness to remain in the courtroom to assist either party. Dye v. State, 220 Ga. 113 (2) (137 SE2d 465) (1964); Justice v. State, 213 Ga. 166 (97 SE2d 569) (1957). “The trial judge should exercise his discretion so that ‘the fair rights of the opposite party are secured or the impairment of the efficiency of the court avoided. . . .’ [Cits.]” Parham v. State, 135 Ga. App. 315, 321 (217 SE2d 493) (1975).
In the instant case, the State relied heavily upon DNA evidence in proving the charges against the defendant. Familiarity with the use of DNA evidence has not yet become common knowledge in the courtroom, and even the Supreme Court has noted the beneficial assistance of an expert witness in defending against such evidence. See Caldwell v. State, 260 Ga. 278, 290 (1) (f) (393 SE2d 436) (1990). Allowing the defense expert witness to assist during cross-examination and also testify would not have deprived the State of its “fair rights,” as it had the benefit of several DNA experts, and would not have impaired the efficiency of the court. In fact, by enabling defense counsel to engage in a more informed cross-examination, it might even have increased the efficiency of the proceeding. Accordingly, even if OCGA *517§ 24-9-61 were applicable when a party has only one witness, the trial court’s limitation on the defendant’s use of the DNA expert witness in this case constituted an abuse of discretion.
Decided February 24, 1993.
Richard E. Hicks, for appellant.
Thomas J. Charron, District Attorney, Jack E. Mallard, Debra H. Bernes, Nancy I. Jordan, Assistant District Attorneys, for appellee.
In contending that OCGA § 24-9-61 authorizes sequestration of a solitary defense expert witness to prevent the expert’s hearing the testimony of the other witnesses, the State misplaces its reliance upon Bartell v. State, 181 Ga. App. 148 (1) (351 SE2d 495) (1986). With regard to the question of whether the statute even applies to such a situation, Bartell is silent as to whether the other witnesses were the State’s witnesses, defense witnesses, or both. However, assuming the applicability of the rule to a solitary witness, the sequestration of the expert witness in Bartell resulted from the trial court’s concern that to do otherwise would give the defense an unfair advantage, and such a concern was not present in the instant case. Further, the need for and use of the witness as an accident reconstruction expert differed greatly from the need for and use of a DNA expert witness here.
Nevertheless, despite the trial court’s erroneous limitation on the use of the defense expert witness, it appears that the defense counsel was able to develop fully the evidence contesting the validity of the DNA evidence. For that reason, as concluded by the majority opinion, the trial court’s error was harmless under the particular circumstances presented in this case.