State v. Corliss, 96-035.

• Decision Date: 06 February 1998
• Docket Number: No. 96-035.,96-035.
• Citation: 721 A.2d 438
• Court: Vermont Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE of Vermont v. Adam O. CORLISS.

721 A.2d 438

STATE of Vermont v. Adam O. CORLISS.

No. 96-035.

Supreme Court of Vermont.

February 6, 1998.

Motions for Reargument Denied September 15, 1998.

Motions for Reargument Denied September 25, 1998.

M. Patricia Zimmerman, Windsor County State's Attorney, White River Junction, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Michael Rose, St. Albans, for Defendant-Appellant.

Present AMESTOY, C.J., and DOOLEY, MORSE, JOHNSON and SKOGLUND, JJ.

AMESTOY, C.J.

Defendant Adam Corliss appeals his first degree murder conviction for the killing of Jennifer Little. He argues that the trial court erred by (1) limiting the scope of certain testimony linking another person to the murder, (2) denying defendant's request for a jury instruction that it may convict on a lesser-related offense, and (3) failing to follow statutory guidelines for sentencing in murder convictions. We affirm.

On the night of February 4, 1994, Jennifer Little was repeatedly stabbed in the front seat of her car in Springfield, Vermont. She later died in a nearby snowbank. The defendant and the victim knew each other and were reportedly together that evening to purchase drugs from another individual. Police found defendant's buck knife in the road near the victim's body, and found defendant's footprints in the snow next to her. The medical examiner in the case testified that the victim had sustained nine stab wounds, of which three were made to the victim's hands as she raised them in defense. Later that same evening, defendant purchased marijuana with bills soaked in the victim's blood.

At trial defendant testified that another individual, Justin Durphy, had committed the murder. He contended that Durphy had been in the front seat of the car and had stabbed the victim while defendant sat in the back. Defendant explained that he had lied to police about the details of the murder and provided them with false leads because Durphy had threatened him with harm if he did not do so. There was no physical evidence linking Justin Durphy with the murder, and no testimony placed Justin Durphy with the victim on the night of the murder, except that of defendant.

To support his theory that Justin Durphy had committed the murder, defendant sought to have nine witnesses testify that Durphy had expressed a desire to kill the victim or claimed to have killed her. The State filed a motion in limine to exclude the testimony. The trial court permitted the witnesses to testify about Durphy's admissions, but limited the scope of three of the witnesses so that they would not disclose to the jury certain factual circumstances in which Durphy's admissions were made.

Defendant requested from the court a lesser-related offense instruction for compounding a felony. Defendant based the request on his testimony that he had provided police with false information about the killing because Justin Durphy threatened him with harm if he did not. When the court denied the request, defendant waived his right to have the court instruct the jury on any lesser-included offenses. The jury returned a verdict of first degree murder, and the court sentenced defendant to fifty years to life imprisonment.

I.

Defendant first challenges the trial court's decision to limit the scope of testimony from certain defense witnesses whose testimony was offered to establish that Durphy had committed the murder. Two witnesses testified that, before the murder, they had heard Durphy express anger at Jennifer Little and say he wanted to kill her. The trial court allowed both of these witnesses to testify fully on these matters at trial. Seven other witnesses testified that, after Jennifer Little was killed, Durphy had claimed responsibility for the murder. The court allowed each of them to testify but limited the scope of testimony of six of the witnesses. Defendant takes issue with the trial court's rulings with respect to three of the witnesses.

The first witness at issue, Christina Sanborn, testified in camera that Durphy made a sexual advance toward her, rubbed against her, and threatened to kill her as he had the victim if she did not do as he told. Sanborn reported that Durphy had similarly threatened her on five or six other occasions. Another witness, Tammy Sinclair, testified that after Durphy had allegedly beaten a friend of hers, she confronted Durphy. She alleged that Durphy threatened to kill her as he had Jennifer Little if she didn't leave him alone. A third witness, police lieutenant Barbara Higgins, testified that a thirteen year old girl had reported an identical threat in the course of Durphy's alleged sexual assault of the girl.

The trial court found that the proffered testimony was relevant in that it tended to show that Durphy, not defendant, had committed the murder. The court found that, although the proffered testimony was hearsay, each of the threatening statements in which Durphy claimed to have killed the victim qualified as a hearsay exception because, at the time it was uttered, the statement "so far tended to subject him to . . . criminal liability . . . that a reasonable man in his position would not have made the statement unless he believed it to be true." V.R.E. 804(b)(3).¹ The court also considered the requirement that "[a] statement tending to expose the declarant to criminal liability and offered to exculpate the accused is not admissible unless corroborating circumstances clearly indicate the trustworthiness of the statement." Id. Satisfying this condition requires defendant to establish that the other person had both motive and opportunity to commit the crime. See State v. Gilman, 158 Vt. 210, 214, 608 A.2d 660, 663 (1992).

Defense counsel conceded that, apart from the hearsay testimony, the only other evidence of Durphy's connection to the crime would come from defendant's testimony.² The trial court concluded that the defense had not technically met its burden to provide corroborating evidence of Durphy's commission of the crime, and that the testimony was thus excludable. The court nonetheless found the testimony credible and decided to allow its admission. The court limited the scope of certain witness testimony to exclude matters deemed irrelevant or otherwise inadmissible under the rules of evidence.

Accordingly, the court ruled that Sanborn could testify to the jury about Durphy's actual threats, but not mention Durphy's unwelcome sexual advance along with which the threat was made. The court found the incident irrelevant and remote in time to the murder of Jennifer Little and thus excludable under V.R.E. 402. Moreover, the court reasoned, evidence of Durphy's "bad act" of an unwelcome sexual advance amounted to inadmissible character evidence. See V.R.E. 608 (character evidence of witness who is not defendant or victim admitted only if probative of credibility; specific incidents of witness conduct may not be proved by extrinsic evidence). The court similarly limited Tammy Sinclair's testimony to Durphy's claims that he murdered Jennifer Little, and excluded reference to Durphy's alleged beating of their mutual friend. Lieutenant Higgins's testimony about the thirteen year old girl's reported sexual assault by Durphy was limited by the court to Durphy's threats, and not the alleged assault on the girl. The trial court ruled that acts other than Durphy's threats — to the extent they were relevant — were substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice and confusion of the issues. See V.R.E. 403.

Defendant contends that the trial court's limitations on the scope of testimony by these three witnesses unfairly "sanitized" the testimony. Defendant claims that without the latitude to explore the full factual context in which Durphy uttered the threats, he was deprived of his constitutional rights to present exculpatory evidence and confront witnesses against him. We find on these facts no error in the court's evidentiary rulings.

A defendant has a right to present exculpatory evidence to aid his defense and to confront witnesses brought against him. U.S. Const. amend. VI; Vt. Const. ch. I, art. 10. Defendant's proffered evidence, however, must be relevant and otherwise admissible under the rules of evidence. See Gilman, 158 Vt. at 214, 608 A.2d at 663; State v. Kelly, 131 Vt. 582, 588, 312 A.2d 906, 909 (1973). A defendant does not have the right to introduce any and all evidence that he deems will aid his defense. See State v. Patnaude, 140 Vt. 361, 369-70, 438 A.2d 402, 405 (1981) (defendant not entitled to weigh his Confrontation Clause interest against interests of the State unless the evidence passes tests of logical and legal relevancy). Thus, where evidence proffered by a defendant is irrelevant to the case being tried, it may be properly excluded. See V.R.E. 402. Where evidence is relevant, it may nonetheless be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice or other considerations. See V.R.E. 403; State v. Larose, 150 Vt. 363, 368, 554 A.2d 227, 231 (1988). Evidence of the character of a witness is admissible only to the extent it is relevant to the credibility of that witness. See V.R.E. 608(b); State v. Blair, 155 Vt. 271, 275 n. 1, 583 A.2d 591, 593 n. 1 (1990) (evidence of witness's character is relevant, if at all, if it relates solely to witness's character for truthfulness). Even then, the witness's character for veracity or duplicity may be supported or impeached only in the form of opinion or reputation. See V.R.E. 608(a). Specific instances of conduct of a witness may be referenced only through cross-examination of the witness, and may not be introduced by extrinsic evidence. See V.R.E. 608(b), Reporter's Notes (rule prevents cross-examination of prejudicial or unnecessarily embarrassing scope). Resolving evidentiary questions where evidence is admissible for one purpose but excludable for another is given to the discretion of the trial court. See State v. Davis, 165 Vt. 240, 250, 683...