Opinion ID: 765918
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Cross-Examination of Kenny Givens

Text: 11 During its case-in-chief, the government questioned Kenny Givens about the accuracy of the police department duty rosters. Givens testified that with the exception of a few isolated incidents, the duty rosters accurately reflected the times police officers worked. On cross-examination, Turner's counsel attempted to elicit testimony regarding comp time. In particular, Givens was asked if he knew of a practice whereby an officer would submit an overtime slip, take a day off, and then the slip would be destroyed upon the officer's return. Givens testified that he was not aware of any such practice in the intelligence division, the division where he and Turner were partners. In an attempt to impeach Givens's credibility on this issue, Turner's counsel sought to question Givens regarding statements Givens had allegedly made to defense attorneys, including Kelly's attorney, Kurt Schultz, regarding comp time. The district court refused to allow questions relating to conversations Givens had with defense attorneys and would not let Mr. Schultz testify. 3 On appeal, Turner and Kelly contend that the district court infringed their confrontation rights by limiting their cross-examination of Givens. 12 The Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment secures a defendant's right to be confronted with the witnesses against him. U.S. Const. amend. VI. The defendant's right to confront witnesses, however, does not prevent a trial Judge from placing reasonable limits on defense counsel's cross-examination of government witnesses, and the court has wide latitude to impose such limits. United States v. Ortega, 150 F.3d 937, 941 (8th Cir. 1998) (quotations and brackets omitted), cert. denied, 119 S. Ct. 837 (1999). Therefore, [a]bsent a clear abuse of discretion and a showing of prejudice, we will not reverse a district court's ruling limiting cross- examination of a prosecution witness on the basis that it impermissibly infringed [a defendant's] right of confrontation. United States v. Stewart, 122 F.3d 625, 627 (8th Cir. 1997). 13 Having carefully reviewed the relevant portions of the trial transcript, we cannot say that the district court clearly abused its discretion in limiting the cross-examination of Givens. Even if we assume that Givens made prior inconsistent statements regarding comp time to Mr. Schultz or other defense attorneys, those statements were not given under oath and thus did not qualify as substantive evidence under Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(1)(A) (prior statement by a witness). As such, Givens's alleged statements would have only been admissible for the limited purpose of impeaching Givens's credibility, and not as substantive evidence that the alleged comp time practice actually occurred at the police department. See Fireman's Fund Ins. Co. v. Thien, 8 F.3d 1307, 1311 (8th Cir. 1993) (noting that a prior inconsistent statement may be admissible under Fed. R. Evid. 613(b) for impeachment purposes, but not for the truth of the matter contained therein). In fact, had defense counsel been allowed to cross- examine Givens with respect to the statements he allegedly made to Mr. Schultz, the government would have been entitled to have the jury instructed that the evidence was admissible only to impeach [Givens] and not as evidence of a material fact. Id. at 1312. 14 In any event, the district court allowed the defendants to cross-examine Givens extensively on issues related to Givens's credibility. The district court permitted defense counsel to question Givens regarding any prior inconsistent statements Givens may have made to non-lawyers regarding comp time. Further, the district court permitted questioning that directly undercut the accuracy of the duty rosters. For example, defense counsel questioned Givens regarding a personal trip Givens had taken to North Carolina when the duty roster showed him as being on duty. In response, Givens admitted that it was possible that the duty roster inaccurately showed him as being on duty when he was in North Carolina. Finally, defense counsel cross-examined Givens regarding his motivation to testify favorably for the government due to his plea agreement. In view of the foregoing, we conclude that [t]he jury's ability to Judge [Givens's] reliability was not significantly reduced when the district court excluded from the scope of cross-examination questions regarding what Givens had allegedly told defense attorneys about comp time. United States v. Dempewolf, 817 F.2d 1318, 1321 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 903 (1987). Consequently, we cannot say that the district court clearly abused its discretion, given its history with the prior mistrial. 15 We further conclude that the defendants have failed to show any meaningful prejudice attributable to the district court's decision to limit the cross-examination of Givens. See Stewart, 122 F.3d at 627 (noting that the court will not reverse a district court's evidentiary ruling absent a showing of abuse of discretion and prejudice). Turner and Kelly contend that Givens's testimony was critical to the government's case, and that the case against them essentially boiled down to a swearing match between Givens and the defendants. Therefore, according to Turner and Kelly, it was crucial to their defense that they be allowed to cross-examine Givens as to what he told Kurt Schultz, and possibly other defense attorneys, about the existence of comp time. 16 Although Givens's testimony was no doubt damaging to the defendants' cases, we cannot ascribe such critical significance to his specific testimony regarding comp time. Givens was not the only witness to testify as to the accuracy of the police department duty rosters. For example, Ed Naeger, a detective in the St. Louis police department during the time in question, also testified that the duty rosters accurately reflected the hours officers worked. Mr. Naeger further testified that he had heard of comp time, but that such a practice did not occur in the intelligence division of the police department, the division in which Turner and Givens were partners while they moonlighted at Cochran Gardens. (See Trial Tr. Vol. 4 at 63.) Furthermore, Rodney Brunson's testimony provided substantial evidence against the defendants that did not hinge on the accuracy of the police department duty rosters. According to Brunson, the four men worked approximately 40 percent of the hours reflected on the Cochran Gardens time cards, and the men coordinated who would be responsible for punching each other's time cards. Brunson also testified that although the four had been assigned to a special investigative unit at Cochran Gardens, he could not recall that the unit ever actually performed those duties. Finally, as a sergeant, Kelly was ineligible for overtime pay, thus he could not claim, as did Turner, that he received unofficial comp time in lieu of paid overtime. 17 Turner and Kelly further maintain that the district court infringed their confrontation rights when the court limited Turner's cross-examination of Givens with respect to video surveillance conducted by Givens. According to the defendants, Givens conducted the video surveillance in an effort to defend himself prior to the time that he pleaded guilty. The district court allowed counsel for Turner to make an offer of proof, but concluded that the surveillance evidence was not admissible because, inter alia, it related to events occurring after the indictment. We have reviewed the relevant portions of the record, and we cannot say that the district court clearly abused its discretion in limiting the cross-examination of Givens with respect to the video surveillance. Furthermore, the defendants have failed to attribute any legally meaningful prejudice to this evidentiary decision of the district court. 18 In sum, we hold that the district court did not clearly abuse its discretion in limiting the cross-examination of Givens. We further hold that the defendants are not entitled to a reversal because they have failed to show any meaningful prejudice attributable to the district court's decision to limit the cross-examination of Givens. Because of our decision on this issue, we do not reach the separate question of whether Givens's alleged statements to defense counsel regarding comp time were also independently excludable under a joint-defense privilege.