Precluding the Defendant From Presenting A Defense

• Jurisdiction: Maryland

IX. Precluding the defendant from presenting a defense

Denial of the defendant's right to present evidence may deny the defendant a fair trial. The defendant should object and should proffer what the evidence would have been and what it would have established, including documents and tangible evidence marked for identification purposes.

A. Precluding the defendant from testifying to conversations with the co-defendant

In Terrell v. State, 34 Md. App. 418, 429 (1977), the Court of Special Appeals held that it was "manifestly unfair" for the trial court to refuse to permit the defendant to testify to conversations with the co-defendant, particularly when the co-defendant had testified as to his version of the conversation.

B. Precluding the defendant from impeaching a witness with a prior inconsistent statement

In Yowell v. State, 28 Md. App. 279, 282-83 (1975), the Court of Special Appeals held that the defendant was denied a fair trial when the trial court refused to permit the defendant to impeach a witness with a prior inconsistent statement made to an investigator, noting that prior inconsistent statements need not be sworn statements.

C. Precluding the defendant from calling a witness based on the rule against hearsay when that hearsay is determinative of guilt or innocence

In Foster v. State, 297 Md. 191, 210-12 (1983), the trial court refused, on hearsay grounds, to admit the testimony of a friend of the victim who would testify that the victim said that her husband...