State v. Torres-Rivas

• Court: Oregon Court of Appeals
• Area(s) of Law: Evidence
• Date Filed: 12-14-2011
• Case #: A142542
• Judge(s)/Court Below: Brewer, C.J. for the Court; Haselton, P.J.; & Armstrong, J.

A trial court’s refusal to admit evidence of a victim’s bias toward a defendant is harmless if there is other evidence in the record that tends to prove such bias.

Defendant was convicted of menacing and disorderly conduct. On appeal, defendant argued that the trial court erred in refusing to admit the victim’s purported statement that “the Mexicans are taking all the jobs,” which he argued demonstrated that the victim was biased toward defendant, who is Hispanic. The Court of Appeals affirmed, finding that although the trial court did err in concluding that the statement did not tend to prove the victim’s bias, there was other evidence in the record sufficient to prove such bias. Thus, the error was harmless and reversal was unnecessary. Affirmed.

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