Oregon v. Naudain
Annotate this CaseThe issue this case presented for the Oregon Supreme Court’s review centered on whether the trial court erred by ruling that defendant Damon Naudain, a Black man, could not pursue a line of questioning on cross-examination that was intended to show that the witness was racially biased against Black people. Defendant sought to ask about the witness’s relationship with the victim, who was the witness’s fiancée at the time and with whom the witness had a child and shared a home. Specifically, defendant wanted to ask questions that touched on the victim’s racial prejudices and refusal to allow Black people in the home that the couple shared. The trial court granted the state’s motion in limine to prevent such questioning, ruling that information about the victim’s racial bias was not probative of the witness’s own bias and, to the extent it had any relevance, it was unfairly prejudicial and inadmissible under OEC 403. Defendant was convicted and appealed. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the trial court erred in its ruling on the evidentiary issue because defendant’s proffered evidence of bias was relevant and not unfairly prejudicial. Concurring with the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court reversed the circuit court, and remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings.
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