People v. Reynolds

• Decision Date: 06 February 1978
• Docket Number: No. 27562,27562
• Citation: 194 Colo. 543,575 P.2d 1286
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jesse Joe REYNOLDS, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

Page 1286

575 P.2d 1286

194 Colo. 543

The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jesse Joe REYNOLDS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 27562.

Supreme Court of Colorado, En Banc.

Feb. 6, 1978.

As Modified on Denial Rehearing March 20, 1978.

J. D. MacFarlane, Atty. Gen., Jean E. Dubofsky, Deputy Atty. Gen., Edward G. Donovan, Sol. Gen., David K. Rees, Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for plaintiff-appellee.

Rollie R. Rogers, Colorado State Public Defender, James F. Dumas, Jr., Chief Deputy State Public Defender, Thomas M. Van Cleave, III, Deputy State Public Defender, Denver, for defendant-appellant.

LEE, Justice.

The defendant, Jesse Joe Reynolds, was convicted by a jury in the District Court of Moffat County of second-degree murder of one George Stuart Green. He was sentenced to a term of twenty to thirty years in the Colorado State Penitentiary.

We reverse the conviction because of the cumulative effect of the errors committed at his trial, which, in our view, precluded Reynolds from receiving a fair trial. As this court has previously stated: "* * * (N)umerous formal irregularities, each of which in itself might be deemed harmless, may in the aggregate show the absence of a fair trial, in which event a reversal would be required. * * *." Oaks v. People, 150 Colo. 64, 371 P.2d 443.

The evidence established that in early July 1975 the defendant met one Danny Lee Williams for the first time in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The next day, they hitchhiked together to Craig and became acquainted with decedent George Green. Green invited the defendant and Williams to his house to clean up from their traveling. Green and the defendant drank a considerable amount of wine. There was evidence that Green made separate homosexual propositions to both defendant and Williams. An altercation eventually ensued. Defendant was a man of large stature, standing 6'2 and weighing over 220 pounds, whereas Green was only 5'6 and weighed approximately 140 pounds. Defendant testified that when he rebuffed Green's advances Green responded by pulling out a knife and threatening him. Williams testified that defendant took the knife from Green and gave it to Williams to hide in the kitchen, which he did.

The evidence is confused as to what happened next. At one point, Williams went into the kitchen to cook some food. Green and the defendant became involved in a fight. Defendant testified that, while Williams was in the kitchen, Green had "grabbed" him in the eye. Defendant admitted that he responded by slapping Green with his open hand many times. Williams testified that he observed the defendant slapping, hitting, and kicking Green. Finally, since Green had suffered a severe nosebleed, the defendant and Williams carried him into the shower to stop the bleeding under cold water. After this, the defendant and Williams left the house.

Following a stop at a Craig tavern, defendant and Williams discovered an abandoned trailer where they could spend the night. Defendant went to sleep and Williams, who was concerned over Green's condition, went to the sheriff to report the events at Green's house. He led the officers to the defendant, who was immediately placed under arrest. It was about five to six hours after the altercation when Green was taken to the Craig hospital for medical attention.

Green was treated for facial cuts and bruises, a broken nose, and a fracture of his right arm. Examination revealed that his pulse rate and blood pressure were within normal limits. After treatment, he was released and returned to his home. Williams visited with Green later that night.

Williams met Green the next morning and the two of them took a one-half hour walk, ending at approximately 11 a. m. Green was later found dead in his living room at about 12:30 p. m.

Dr. Galloway, the People's pathologist who did the autopsy on Green, testified that the immediate cause of death was a severe fatty degeneration of the liver due to alcohol abuse. A physiological result of this type of liver condition is impairment of the ability of the blood to clot when an injury occurs. Dr. Galloway opined that the injuries inflicted upon Green caused him to bleed excessively because of his liver condition, thus producing shock, and ultimately death. No tests, however, were made of Green's blood to ascertain whether its clotting ability had been impaired or whether it was in an anemic condition.

The defense admitted that Green and the defendant had fought, but vigorously disputed that the defendant had caused Green's later death. During the defendant's case, Dr. Wood, a pathologist, disagreed with Dr. Galloway's analysis. Dr. Wood testified that in his opinion Green died from aortic heart disease that had been complicated by his fatty liver condition. He specifically rejected Dr. Galloway's loss of blood-shock theory of death. When he was asked whether Green's normal blood pressure and pulse rate at the Craig hospital showed that his blood's clotting ability was not significantly impaired, on objection by the district attorney he was not permitted by the court to answer the question. Another physician, Dr. Johnson, also testified that it was highly unlikely that Green's death had been caused by the injuries inflicted by the defendant.

I.

Initially, we reject the defendant's constitutional attack on the second-degree murder statute (section 18-3-103(1)(b), C.R.S.1973). Defendant argues that he has been denied equal protection of the law because the same conduct is punished by two different penalties under the manslaughter and second-degree murder statutes.

Defendant misinterprets our decision in People v. Calvaresi, 188 Colo. 277, 534 P.2d 316. There we held that when conduct proscribed under two statutes is indistinguishable the legislature may not constitutionally impose different degrees of punishment for it. The facts in this case do not fit under Calvaresi because the manslaughter and second-degree murder statutes do not punish identical conduct. While the manslaughter statute requires that one "recklessly" cause a death, the second-degree murder statute requires an "intent to cause serious bodily injury." Since a different mens rea is required, different conduct is being punished, and there is no equal protection violation. Accord, People v. Sexton, Colo., 571 P.2d 1098; People v. Hulse, Colo., 557 P.2d 1205.

II.

The defendant contends that the trial court erred in curtailing defense counsel's direct examination of defense witness Dr. John Wood. We agree.

The control over the extent of allowable examination of witnesses is generally a matter within the sound discretion of the trial court. Ewing v. People, 87 Colo. 6, 284 P. 341; Burson v. Bogart, 18 Colo.App. 449, 72 P. 605. This court, however, has not hesitated to reverse a trial court's decision if there has been abuse of discretion in restricting direct or cross-examination. E. g., People v. Fresquez, 186 Colo. 146, 526 P.2d 146; Ohr v. Ohr, 30 Colo.App. 540, 495 P.2d 1156. On the facts of this case, we find such an abuse of discretion.

The crucial issue in this case was whether the unlawful conduct of defendant was the criminal cause of Green's death. Defendant admitted that he had fought with Green, but contended that Green had quickly recovered from that fight. When Green was found dead the next day, the defendant had been in jail for about eighteen hours.

The district attorney's theory of the cause of death was that Green's severe fatty liver condition impaired the ability of his blood to clot. When he was beaten by the defendant, he bled excessively, causing him to go into shock and finally to die on the next day. The prosecution did not conduct any tests on the clotting ability or possible anemic condition of the blood to substantiate its theory. Thus, the prosecution's causation theory necessarily rested upon the testimony of Dr. Galloway, the pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Green. Dr. Galloway was of the opinion that Green died from the causes hypothesized by the prosecution.

To rebut this crucial testimony, the defense called Dr. Wood, a Denver pathologist. Utilizing the same information set forth in the autopsy report prepared by Dr. Galloway, Dr. Wood was of the opinion that the efficient cause of Green's death was aortic heart disease, complicated by the fatty liver condition. The critical factor in Dr. Wood's analysis was the undisputed fact that when Green was treated at the Craig hospital, about six hours after the fight, his vital signs the blood pressure and pulse rate were within normal limits. The defense then attempted to zero in on the crux of Dr. Galloway's damaging testimony that Green's blood was not clotting properly because of his fight with the defendant.

On this point, defense counsel asked Dr. Wood the following question:

"Now, if a hemorrhage occurs such as is depicted in the injury stated as described by the autopsy report a fracture of the arm, the injuries to the face, and five or six hours later there is not instability of the normal signs, the vital signs, would you conclude as a matter of reasonable medical certainty that the impairment of the clotting factor was insignificant?"

The district attorney objected to this question on the ground that it had been "asked and answered," and the trial court sustained the objection on that basis. Again, defense counsel attempted to ask the same question in slightly different form, and the court again sustained the district attorney's objection to the offered evidence on the ground that it had been "asked and answered." Dr. Wood was not permitted to express his opinion on this critical factor in the causal chain resulting in Green's death. The People now admit that the question had not previously been asked or answered and that the court erred in excluding this evidence.

The People erroneously assert that this evidence was cumulative because Dr. Wood had already given his opinion as to the cause of...