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State v. Mollman12/23/2003
On May 28, 2002, Mollman and Gary Severson were involved in a collision near the intersection of West Main and Whitewood Streets in Rapid City. Severson was riding a motorcycle, Mollman was driving a car. At the time of collision, Mollman was making a left turn and Severson was approaching on the inside lane from the opposite direction. Severson had the right-of-way. When they collided, Severson was thrown from his motorcycle. Severson suffered massive head injuries and never recovered consciousness before his death two days later.
. Officer Amanda Dubridge of the Rapid City Police Department was the first officer to arrive on the scene. After seeing that Severson was being cared for, Dubridge began questioning witnesses. She quickly discovered that Mollman was the other driver. She testified that when she approached him she noted a "moderate" odor of alcohol and that Mollman failed all of the field sobriety tests she administered. The chemist who tested Mollman's blood samples estimated that his blood alcohol level at the time of the accident was between .128 and .13. Mollman was originally charged with vehicular battery, driving or control of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or alternatively, driving or control of a vehicle while having .10 percent or more of alcohol in his blood. When Severson passed away, the complaint was amended to change the first count from vehicular battery to vehicular homicide under SDCL 22-16-41. A jury found Mollman guilty of vehicular homicide. The trial court sentenced Mollman to fifteen years in the state penitentiary. Mollman appeals his conviction and sentence raising four issues:
1. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by granting the State's motion to preclude evidence that the decedent did not have a motorcycle endorsement.
2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by permitting the State to show the jury a photo of the decedent and his wife.
3. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by denying Defendant's motion for a mistrial.
4. Whether Mollman's sentence violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
We affirm.
. 1. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION BY GRANTING THE STATE'S MOTION TO PRECLUDE EVIDENCE THAT THE DECEDENT DID NOT HAVE A MOTORCYCLE ENDORSEMENT.
. The State filed a motion in limine requesting that Mollman be prohibited from referring to the fact that the decedent did not have a valid motorcycle endorsement on his driver's license at the time of the accident.*fn1 The trial court granted that motion after the defense made an offer of proof on the issue.
. In its offer of proof, the defense argued that the lack of endorsement was evidence that the decedent was not a competent motorcycle rider. The defense planned to offer this evidence as part of a larger trial tactic of showing that the decedent was an inexperienced and incompetent rider. The Defendant intended to introduce this evidence coupled with testimony that the decedent may have been driving very slowly, that he may have been wearing sunglasses for eye protection, that the motorcycle had low mileage and that he may have "darted" into traffic from a casino parking lot.
. Mollman argues on appeal that granting the State's motion in limine denied him a fair trial because it "invaded the province of the jury by virtually finding, as a matter of law, that the State had satisfied the element of proximate cause." The State responds that evidence of the lack of endorsement was not relevant to the decedent's ability to ride and had no connection to the question whether Defendant's driving proximately caused the decedent's death.
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