[DV_listserv] PBA Case

[Domestic Violence issues]

>From DOJ's Appellate Update:

EVIDENCE-PRIOR BAD ACTS / IMPEACHMENT: In prosecution for domestic
assault, defendant's volunteered testimony that he is "a caring man" opened the
door to the victim testifying in rebuttal to other incidents in which he had
committed acts of violence against her.

State v. Oliver, 275 Or App 552, __ P3d __ (2015) (Washington) (AAG Doug
Petrina). During a domestic dispute, defendant knocked his girlfriend to the ground. He
was charged with fourth-degree assault. At trial, defendant testified that the victim
attacked him and he was defending himself with the least amount of force when she fell
to the ground. He volunteered, "I'm a caring man." The court (Judge Andrew Erwin)
permitted the victim to testify in rebuttal about three previous incidents during which
defendant had either used force or put his hands on her. The jury found defendant guilty.

Held: Affirmed (Lagesen, J.). The trial court correctly admitted the prior-acts
evidence to impeach defendant. "[T]he evidence of defendant's previous acts of violence
toward the victim was, at a minimum, relevant to the jury's assessment of defendant's
credibility. Defendant's own testimony made it so. Once defendant testified that he was a
'caring man' who would not use force to harm another person, the evidence of
defendant's prior acts-which tended to refute defendant's characterization of himself-
became probative to impeach that testimony."
http://www.publications.ojd.state.or.us/docs/A157480.pdf


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