Court Opinion

ID: 9853897
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:56:55.196047+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:20:13.661821
License: Public Domain

FINNEY, C.J.,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent and would remand this case for a new sentencing hearing at which appellant would be permitted to call and examine Pearce before the jury.
First, I disagree with the majority’s adoption of a rule which would bar a defendant from ever calling a witness solely for the purpose of having the witness invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege. My research indicates that of the four jurisdictions cited by the majority, all except Louisiana have not, in fact, adopted an absolute prohibition on this practice. New York vests the discretion in the trial judge to determine whether to allow this type of evidence;1 Connecticut has acknowledged that in situations where there is substantial evidence implicating the witness in the crime, such testimony may be proper;2 *156and New Jersey has left the door open to this type of evidence by explicitly acknowledging, “There may be constitutional issues and questions of fundamental fairness projected by the inability of a defendant in certain circumstances to call a witness for purposes of asserting his Fifth Amendment privilege before the jury and obtaining a beneficial inference.” State v. Robinson, 253 N.J.Super. 346, 601 A.2d 1162, 1173 (1992). I believe these jurisdictions, and perhaps Louisiana as well, would find the circumstances of this case compelling: A man, on trial for his life, seeks to mitigate his sentence by evidence that his codefendant was the more culpable individual, the one who planned the crime, obtained the weapon, and repeatedly shot the dying victim. If we are to change the holding in Perry, then we must acknowledge that in some cases the new rule must yield to “fundamental fairness.” This is such a case. The trial court erred in refusing to allow appellant to call Pearce, and should therefore be reversed.
Just as disturbing as the majority’s decision to abandon Perry in favor of a rigid rule, however, is its determination that the error in this case was harmless. The majority points to three inferences appellant sought to draw from questioning Pearce:
1. that the crime was planned by Pearce;
2. that Pearce alone obtained the gun from his uncle; and
3. that as Pressley lay dying, Pearce reentered the Blue Diamond and shot him two more times.
The majority deems this evidence merely cumulative to evidence that Pearce admitted his guilt and claimed he had shot both victims; that Pearce and appellant had procured the gun; and evidence that Pearce was more aggressive in general than appellant. Clearly this evidence did not show Pearce to be the planner nor sole procurer of the gun, nor did it show him to have mercilessly shot the dying man. This evidence cannot properly be deemed cumulative to the inferences which would have been drawn from Pearce’s silence. The majority attempts to bolster its cumulative conclusion by emphasizing appellant did not contest his guilt, and by noting that appellant’s counsel was allowed to argue his theory to the jury, albeit a theory unsupported by evidence. That appellant did not contest his liability is simply not relevant to the Pearce *157issue: Appellant sought to call Pearce not to cast doubt on his own guilt, but rather in an attempt to mitigate his sentence. Further, to suggest that counsel’s theoretical (and improper);3 argument substitutes for evidence is contrary to both common sense and the law, since it is well-settled that argument of counsel is not evidence, e.g., Sosebee v. Leeke, 293 S.C. 531, 362 S.E.2d 22 (1987).
Where, as here, evidence has been improperly excluded, this Court has deemed the error harmless only where the excluded evidence was cumulative to other evidence in the record or irrelevant, or where the record contained overwhelming evidence of guilt. None of these conditions are met in this case. I would reverse and remand for a new sentencing proceeding where appellant would be permitted to call Pearce.

. People v. Yager, 226 A.D.2d 830, 640 N.Y.S.2d 642 (N.Y.App.Div.1996).

. State v. Bryant, 202 Conn. 676, 523 A.2d 451 (1987).

. Defense counsel is limited to arguing evidence in the record and the inferences which can be drawn from it. e.g., State v. Robinson, 238 S.C. 140, 119 S.E.2d 671 (1961).