Opinion
Record No. 1261-92-4
August 10, 1993
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF FAIRFAX COUNTY JACK B. STEVENS, JUDGE.
Thomas W. Farquhar for appellant.
Virginia B. Theisen, Assistant Attorney General (Stephen D. Rosenthal, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.
Present: Judges Barrow, Coleman and Koontz.
Argued at Alexandria, Virginia.
Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not designated for publication.
In a jury trial, Shawn Philip Campbell (Campbell) was convicted of five counts of malicious wounding and five counts of use of a firearm. On appeal, Campbell contends that the trial court erred in refusing to admit evidence of his good character for peace and good order. At trial, Campbell called Harlan Stillwell and asked him about Campbell's reputation for peacefulness. The prosecutor objected to this line of questioning; the trial court sustained the objection. Defense counsel stated that he had no further questions for the witness but did not proffer the witness's expected testimony.
Defense counsel's failure to proffer the expected testimony of Harlan Stillwell bars our review of this issue.
"When . . . evidence is rejected, it is incumbent upon the proponent of the evidence to make a proffer of the expected answer." An "appellate court has no basis for adjudication unless the record reflects a proper proffer." As the record now before the Court does not reflect a proffer by defendant of the excluded testimony, we are precluded from a consideration of this issue on appeal.
Mostyn v. Commonwealth, 14 Va. App. 920, 924, 420 S.E.2d 519, 521 (1992) (where defendant failed to make a proper proffer of excluded evidence regarding his reputation for truthfulness) (citations omitted). Accordingly, we affirm Campbell's convictions.
Affirmed.