Court Opinion

ID: 9609126
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:22:54.520579+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:35:58.241752
License: Public Domain

PARKS, Judge,
specially concurring:
I write separately to address the issue of prosecutorial misconduct. During cross-examination of the appellant, the prosecutor was allowed to question appellant concerning the age of his wife when he first started dating her and also whether or not they engaged in “acts of intimacy” before his wife reached the age of eighteen. Defense counsel did not object until the prosecutor asked whether the appellant had “a particular penchant for young girls?” At that point, counsel’s objection was sustained as to the form of the question, and no further inquiry on this subject was conducted. Defense counsel, however, failed to state any specific ground of objection, nor was a specific objection necessarily apparent from the context, as required by 12 O.S. 1981, § 2104(A)(1). It is doubtful whether such questioning was relevant under 12 O.S. 1981, § 2401, since the appellant was charged with rape and lewd molestation respectively of his wife’s niece and his own niece by marriage. However, no objection *203was made on the grounds of relevancy or any other specific ground. Accordingly, the error was not properly preserved for appeal by making a timely specific objection. On the basis of the foregoing, and in light of the strong evidence of guilt and the nature of the crimes, I cannot say that fundamental error occurred so as to require reversal or modification. See McLeod v. State, 725 P.2d 877, 881 (Okl.Cr.1986).
Thus, I agree that the conviction herein should be affirmed. I cannot concur, however, with the majority’s determination that the alleged error herein was not properly preserved because defense counsel failed to request that the court admonish the jury to disregard the remarks. The statute governing this issue is 12 O.S. 1981, § 2104(A)(1) of our Evidence Code, which provides:
A. Error may not be predicated upon a ruling which admits or excludes evidence unless a substantial right of a party is affected, and:
1. If the ruling is one admitting evidence, a timely objection or motion to strike appears of record, stating the specific ground of objection, if the specific ground was not apparent from the context....
Pre-Code decisional law supports the majority’s holding, but neither the express language of Section 2104(A)(1), or anything in its Legislative history, support the Court’s conclusion that a request for an admonition to the jury is necessary to preserve an error for review on appeal. See 1 L. Whinery, Guide to the Oklahoma Evidence Code 20 (1985). In my opinion, error is preserved for appeal under Section 2104(A)(1) if a timely and specific objection is interposed by counsel, regardless of whether a request for an admonishment or motion for mistrial is made. I believe this to be the Legislature’s clear intent as codified in Section 2104(A)(1).