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State v. Sheehan12/6/2005
t the District Court was aware of the specific evidence Sheehan intended to offer in support of his defense theory of an "alternative scenario to explain his apparent state of intoxication." The defense did introduce other evidence, through witnesses O'Connor and Hofer, that would have supported other plausible explanations for Sheehan's behavior--specifically, the effects of going into shock and Sheehan's possible suicidal actions. It would not have been possible, however, from the arguments given following the objection, for the District Court to have gleaned the broader defense intentions which Sheehan now argues were denied to him and ruled accordingly. Indeed, Sheehan's assertion on appeal that he was deprived of a meaningful opportunity to present a complete defense which violated due process was not raised before the District Court.
Based on the record and the briefs, it appears that Sheehan alerted the District Court, in response to the State's objection, of his intention to introduce nothing more than the fact that Sheehan was sent to Glendive for psychiatric examination. If his intention was actually to elicit further testimony from Nurse O'Connor or other witnesses relating the psychiatric examination or his mental condition to his behavior on February 20, 2003, he had an obligation to make the District Court aware of this testimony so that the court could properly rule on it. See State v. Miller (1988), 231 Mont. 497, 508, 757 P.2d 1275, 1282 ("An offer of proof should be specific as to the facts to be proven."). By failing to do so, the defense also failed to test against the District Court's ruling other evidence he may have wished to introduce concerning Sheehan's mental condition, and we therefore cannot construe the court's ruling as applying to anything more than O'Connor's answer to defense counsel's question.
Hence, the contested ruling of the District Court encompassed only Nurse O'Connor's specific testimony, as opposed to the entirety of Sheehan's "alternative scenario to explain his apparent state of intoxication." As previously explained, the court, the prosecutor, and defense counsel all assumed during arguments in chambers that this testimony was going to be that Sheehan went to Glendive for a psychiatric evaluation after he was released from the hospital. Unbeknownst to all parties, however, O'Connor had already answered defense counsel's question, stating that she did not know what happened to Sheehan after he was released from the hospital. There is no reason to believe that she would have given a different answer had the court overruled--instead of sustained--the State's objection.
Thus, the District Court's ruling on the State's objection was moot. Because a party cannot appeal from what amounts to an academic exercise, Sheehan's claim must be denied.
Affirmed.
JIM RICE
We concur:
KARLA M. GRAY
JAMES C. NELSON
PATRICIA O. COTTER
BRIAN MORRIS
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