- Court: Oregon Court of Appeals
- Area(s) of Law: Evidence
- Date Filed: 03-17-2021
- Case #: A170525
- Judge(s)/Court Below: Kamins, J. for the Court; Lagesen, P.J., & James, J.
- Full Text Opinion
Defendant appealed a finding of contempt for contravening the terms of a restraining order under ORS 33.015 and ORS 33.065. Defendant argued the lower court erred by excluding cross-examination as being irrelevant even though the information may have established the victim as untruthful. An evidentiary error is harmless where the trial court’s verdict clearly establishes unaffected credibility determinations. State v. Reed, 299 Or App 675, 694, 452 P3d 995 (2019), rev den, 366 or 382 (2020). The Court held that it was not an error to disallow Defendant’s evidence because the bias evidence clearly would not have affected the credibility of the testimony the court ultimately relied on when finding Defendant in violation of the restraining order. Affirmed.