Opinion ID: 496776
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Limitation on the Scope of Cross-Examination

Text: 39 Alan Brown was the only government witness who testified about telling Kaplan himself that a doctor's bill was false in a case in which Kaplan had represented him. 40 During voir dire, the defense sought to introduce impeachment evidence regarding Brown's use (two to four times a month) of non-prescription drugs (specifically cocaine) at the time he made the incriminating statement. Contrary to the government's contentions, Kaplan specifically sought to challenge below Brown's credibility (poor or affected memory, perception, etc.) and to show bias (a motive to falsify in the government's favor). Kaplan offered to prove that if the jury had known that the government became interested in Brown's use of cocaine, and that the government had given Brown immunity in return for his testimony, it could have inferred Brown had reason to lie. But Brown, when confronted outside the presence of the jury about his cocaine use, invoked the fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination. The government argued that limiting cross-examination would merely prevent questions to which there would have been no answer. The district court agreed, apparently ruling under Fed.R.Evid. 401, 403, 611(a)(3), that Kaplan's line of inquiry was marginally relevant, and in any event, its unfairly prejudicial effect outweighed its probative value. The court then refused to permit any questioning that would cause Brown to invoke the fifth amendment before the jury. 41 Kaplan contends that the district court completely foreclosed an opportunity to cross-examine Brown on bias and impeachment in violation of his sixth amendment rights. We have said that a court can, in its discretion, restrict the scope of cross-examination only after it has afforded defendant the constitutional minimum, i.e., an opportunity for effective cross-examination at trial. See United States v. Tracey, 675 F.2d 433, 437 (1st Cir.1982). The first question then is whether Kaplan was afforded such an opportunity. In Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974), a defendant's sixth amendment rights were infringed when the court, by prohibiting all inquiry into a witness' probationary status as a juvenile delinquent, completely foreclosed an opportunity to show bias in favor of the prosecution. Accord Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 106 S.Ct. 1431, 89 L.Ed.2d 674 (1986). 42 This case is unlike Davis in many respects. Most important, defense counsel ably undermined Brown's credibility during cross-examination. Brown admitted at trial that he believed he was testifying under a grant of immunity and that his attorney had negotiated such an arrangement with the government prior to his grand jury appearance in this case. This allows us to conclude that the jury had a sufficient basis to question this witness' motivations and biases even without the cocaine evidence. See Tracey, 675 F.2d at 439. Further, an effective cross-examination in Davis would have been crucial to the defense. In Davis there is no indication that the witness would or could have invoked a right to remain silent about his juvenile record. Consequently, cross-examination in Davis would have revealed specific information strongly suggesting bias. In this case, cross-examination of Brown would have led only to invocation of the fifth amendment. That would have helped to impeach him, because it permitted a negative inference, but would not have been as essential to the defense case as would the specific information in Davis regarding the witness' record and probationary status. 43 As to impeachment generally, counsel successfully attacked Brown's reliability and trustworthiness. Brown concededly lied to a postal inspector investigating the case and to doctors regarding his treatments. Brown also demonstrated at trial poor recollection of details regarding Kaplan's representation in his case and about his own personal life. A juror reasonably could have concluded that Brown's testimony was inherently unreliable especially as to the alleged incriminating statement made about 11 years before trial. We hold that the proscription from inquiring about cocaine use did not insulate Brown's testimony from effective cross-examination as guaranteed by the sixth amendment. 44 Whether the court's evidentiary ruling nevertheless constitutes an abuse of discretion is another matter. Kaplan persuasively argues that, when a non-party government witness invokes the fifth amendment on cross-examination at trial, the court should permit the assertion of the privilege in the presence of the jury. The invocation of the privilege acts as a form of impeachment. 45 In United States v. Johnson, 488 F.2d 1206 (1st Cir.1973), the defense sought to have a witness testify on direct only to have him assert the fifth amendment before the jury. We held that if a witness intends to claim the privilege as to essentially all questions, the court may, in its discretion, refuse to allow him to take the stand. Id. at 1211. Our reference there to Bowles v. United States, 439 F.2d 536, 541 (D.C.Cir.1970) (en banc), cert. denied, 401 U.S. 995, 91 S.Ct. 1240, 28 L.Ed.2d 533 (1971), implied that the witness' assertion of the privilege, intended as permitting an inference of guilt or innocence, could have a disproportionate, probative impact on the mind of the average juror. 46 A different case is presented where, as here, the defense seeks to cross-examine a government witness within the scope of his direct and then the witness asserts the privilege. We note, first, that the impact on the jury's deliberations from asserting the privilege has to be less here than in Johnson from the fact that Brown did not claim the privilege comprehensively. Instead, Brown answered most questions put to him by the defense and would have refused to answer at trial only those bearing on the alleged cocaine abuse. And whatever danger exists that the jury may give too much weight to this line of questioning is small in comparison to its impeachment value. See United States v. Seifert, 648 F.2d 557 (9th Cir.1980). 47 In Seifert, the Ninth Circuit confronted the issue before us and ratified similar questioning by drawing an analogy to Caminetti v. United States, 242 U.S. 470, 37 S.Ct. 192, 61 L.Ed. 442 (1917). Caminetti held that when a defendant voluntarily takes the stand and then refuses to testify on cross-examination (as to matters raised on direct) he can be impeached by letting the jury draw adverse inferences from his silence. 48 We agree with the Seifert court. We hold that the district court's refusal to force Alan Brown to assert his fifth amendment privilege before the jury was error. None of the permissible reasons for circumscribing the scope of a criminal defendant's constitutional right to cross-examination--harassment, prejudice, confusion, repetitiveness, marginal relevance, for example--warranted such a ruling. See Van Arsdall, 106 S.Ct. at 1435. Although the fact that Brown asserted the privilege was only marginally relevant to the issue of his bias, we note Judge Weinstein's observation that [t]he credibility of a witness can always be attacked by showing that his capacity to observe, remember, or narrate is impaired. J. Weinstein & M. Berger, 3 Weinstein's Evidence p 607, at 607-55 (1987). Kaplan was entitled not to be denied the benefit of the jury's likely inference, from Brown's assertion of the privilege, that Brown was using cocaine around the times relevant to his testimony, and to the secondary inference that his powers of memory or observation thus may have been impaired. However, any error in this regard does not warrant a reversal or a new trial. Given the substantial other evidence of guilty knowledge before the jury, and the thorough cross-examination permitted here, the error is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Van Arsdall, 106 S.Ct. at 1438. 49