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State v. Harris2/20/1998
that the court should not admit the evidence, or, if the court admitted it, that it should grant a continuance for the defense to look at the information and obtain its own expert. The court ruled that the state could not introduce these tests into evidence in its case in chief because it did not comply with discovery, but the evidence would be admitted in rebuttal if warranted. The court observed that there had been no questions to the witnesses regarding the distance between the victim and the gun. When the defense counsel expressed concern over the state's calling Mr. Churchman as a witness, the court stated that Mr. Churchman could not testify about any tests he conducted pursuant to the prosecutor's request.
The defense later objected to any testimony by Mr. Churchman. The defense counsel argued that any testimony by Mr. Churchman regarding the weapon in this case would be inappropriate due to the late disclosure of the testing. The court stated that the prosecutor had a right to call Mr. Churchman as a witness, that he could testify about any relevant matter, and that the defense did not have to be informed in advance.
Mr. Churchman's testimony was based solely upon his experience as a firearms expert and was not based on results obtained from the scientific tests he had conducted that morning. In response to the question of whether there would be soot of any quantity if a gun was fired over a foot away from its target, Mr. Churchman stated, "The training that I've received and if I was asked an offhand question, given this weapon and this ammunition, and that's important. Given this .357 six inch revolver, .38 caliber P.M.C. and C.C.I. ammunition, I would Ä ." The defense counsel objected and Mr. Churchman did not complete his answer. The defense counsel also objected to the fact that the weapon was in front of tile witness, such that Mr. Churchman's testimony referring to "that weapon" was improper. The court advised the prosecutor to rephrase the question to elicit a more general answer and the court also noted that Mr. Churchman had given his general testimony with the weapon in front of him. When the testimony resumed, the prosecutor asked Mr. Churchman a more general question.
The defense counsel later objected when the prosecutor asked Mr. Churchman to look at the photographs of the victim. The defense counsel argued that if Mr. Churchman were to testify about the photographs, it was beyond the purview of the court's ruling. The court overruled the defense counsel's objection, stating that Mr. Churchman's opinion as to the amount of soot or stippling based upon the photographs was not the result of testing he did, but was based on his expertise in ballistics. The defense counsel then appeared to indicate that if the question were limited to whether there was soot on the victim, he would have no problem. Thereafter, Mr. Churchman testified about the photographs from his general expertise. The prosecutor concluded his questioning by asking Mr. Churchman if he had test-fired the weapon involved in this case, to which Mr. Churchman replied that he had not. On cross-examination, the defense counsel asked whether the coroner would be in a better position to testify regarding the stippling because he examined the victim's body, to which Mr. Churchman replied affirmatively. The defense counsel also asked whether Mr. Churchman's testimony was based on his general expertise and whether he had tested the weapon involved in this case, to which Mr. Churchman replied that he had tested " any, many weapons," but not the weapon in this case.
The trial court prohibited the state from introducing Mr. Churchman's test results into evidence and prohibited Mr. Churchman from ref
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