Opinion ID: 782204
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Application of Van Arsdall Factors

Text: 133 In Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 684, 106 S.Ct. 1431, 89 L.Ed.2d 674 (1986), the Supreme Court outlined a series of factors to consider when a Confrontation Clause violation should be considered harmless error: the importance of the witness' testimony in the prosecution's case, whether the testimony was cumulative, the presence or absence of evidence corroborating or contradicting the testimony of the witness on material points, the extent of cross-examination otherwise permitted, and ... the overall strength of the prosecution's case. We assess each of these factors in order to determine whether the preclusion of cross-examination of Echevarria was harmless error. 134 The first factor — the importance of Echevarria's testimony in the prosecution's case — weighs in favor of petitioner. Although Echevarria's incriminating statements came in as prior out-of-court statements through the testimony of the police officers, they were extremely important because Echevarria was the only witness to identify Cotto as the shooter. The significance of Echevarria's prior statements is demonstrated by the prosecution's reliance on them in its summation to the jury: 135 You know, he's in my office, Anthony Echevarria ... It's a secured place and he's comfortable enough that he says, hey look, I know who did it. It was Richie Cotto. Richie Cotto did this crime. He says it. Then he comes into the courtroom, right. And he takes the stand he takes a oath. Now, it's a different ballgame again. The defendant is here, he's confronted by the defendant.... [T]hese are different rules. It's different in here. 136 In closing, the prosecution again emphasized Echevarria's identification: The fact that the deceased [Davilla] says it was Richard Cotto who did it, I submit there's no dispute. The fact that Anthony Echevarria says that it is Richie Cotto who does the shooting, I submit there is no dispute. 137 Echevarria's trial testimony and out-of-court statements were not cumulative — the second Van Arsdall factor — as he was the only person besides Davilla to identify Cotto as the shooter. Similarly, looking at the third factor, the degree of corroborating or contradictory evidence on material points of the witness's testimony, the victim's apparent identification of Cotto in the ambulance does corroborate Echevarria's statements to the prosecutor and police. However, Echevarria's trial testimony, and statements shortly after the shooting, are contradictory evidence, as well as (arguably) Officer Anderson's acknowledgment that he saw another man arguing with Davilla shortly before the shooting. 23 Moreover, because the preclusion of cross-examination was complete, the fourth Van Arsdall factor — the extent of cross-examination otherwise permitted — weighs heavily in favor of the petitioner and highlights the unusual nature of this case. 138 The final factor to consider — the overall strength of the prosecution's case — also weighs in petitioner's favor, as the case against Cotto was less than overwhelming. Respondent argues that there is no possibility that Cotto would have been acquitted, even if Echevarria's testimony had been completely discounted by the jury, because of the victim's identification of Cotto as the shooter in the ambulance, as recounted to the jury by Officer Anderson and corroborated by the emergency medical technician who was in the ambulance. According to the officer, Davilla even provided details such as the apartment where Cotto lived and the kind of car that he drove. But the defense raised questions throughout the trial about the reliability of this identification, suggesting that both Davilla and Officer Anderson, each with a history of disputes with Cotto, had a motive to point the finger at the defendant. And the absence of further corroborating evidence might well have led the jury to conclude that the prosecution had not met its burden. 24 It appears there was no ballistics or other physical evidence linking Cotto to the murder, and the prosecution's case rested primarily on the hearsay statements of Davilla and Echevarria. 139 Most importantly, the lack of cross-examination deprived the defendant of the opportunity to highlight and emphasize to the jury Echevarria's potential bias — that Echevarria made the statements when he was incarcerated on an unrelated charge and therefore had a motive to curry favor with law enforcement in return for leniency in his upcoming parole hearing. Given Echevarria's two prior statements to the police shortly after Davilla's shooting, in which he said that he could not identify the shooter, and Echevarria's belated identification of Cotto, such cross-examination may well have influenced the jury's assessment of Echevarria's credibility. 140 Respondent argues that the jury already had sufficient evidence to evaluate Echevarria's credibility. Indeed, arguably Echevarria's direct testimony, where he discussed his prior criminal record and said that he could not identify the shooter, was more than sufficient to raise serious doubts in the minds of the jury about Echevarria's credibility and the reliability of his prior statements. In defense counsel's summation, she was able to tell the jury: Testifying under oath he told you that he never looked at the shooter and that he `went for cover.' Of course, you also heard what he said in the DA's office last week to Police Officers Vargas and Detective Quinones and it's going to be up to you to decide whether this uncorroborated hearsay, in the District Attorney's office, in the face of 6 or 7 law-enforcement officials in a 10 by 10 office can probably or possibly be the truth. Moreover, defense counsel was able to attack Echevarria's credibility in summation by invoking his criminal history, brought out on direct examination. 25 Certainly, the circumstances are unusual in this case, because cross-examination would be targeted at impeaching Echevarria's prior statements rather than the trial testimony. 26 But the harmlessness inquiry is focused on the effect on the jury if the damaging potential of the cross-examination were fully realized. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. at 684, 106 S.Ct. 1431. 141