Court Opinion

ID: 9576373
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:23:45.617633+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:06:30.056881
License: Public Domain

STEPHENSON, J.,
dissenting.
The defendant was tried by a twelve-member jury. Seven of the jurors were women. These jurors were responsible not only for determining the defendant’s guilt or innocence, but for fixing his punishment. In this setting, the trial court permitted the Commonwealth to prove that the defendant said, “Woman don’t mean a mother fucking thing to me, buddy, if they ain’t on their toes.”
I believe that this portion of the defendant’s statement was wholly irrelevant and highly inflammatory, and that the failure of the trial court to excise that portion of the statement constituted reversible error. As we said in Bunting v. Commonwealth, 208 Va. 309, 314, 157 S.E.2d 204, 208 (1967), “Evidence which has no tendency to prove guilt, but only serves to prejudice an accused, should be excluded on the ground of lack of relevancy.” Therefore, I would reverse the judgment and remand the case for a new trial.