Opinion ID: 1528698
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Credibility of state's witnessMcDuffie

Text: Larry McDuffie testified that Ray Dansby confessed to him about the murders while both were in jail, as follows. He took a .32 caliber revolver with five extra bullets to Brenda's residence on the day in question, and upon his arrival, Brenda told him that she wasn't going to take the papers off so he might as well leave, and Ronnie told him to leave too. He then shot Ronnie twice in the chest with the .32, grabbed Brenda around the neck, shot her, and took her gun. Ronnie then found out his gun wouldn't shoot, so he ran behind the couch, and Ray shot twice in that direction. When Ronnie ran, he shot him once in the back or the ass somewhere, and Ronnie fell in the kid's room. He then walked up to Ronnie and kicked him once, shot him, kicked him two more times, then shot him again, stating, you die mother f___. After going outside to Brenda, she pleaded, well Ray please don't kill me, to which he replied, well b___ you done f___ up cause I'm not gonna leave you out here in these streets when I done killed this man inside. He then put the pistol to her head and blowed her brains out. According to McDuffie, Ray stated that he was just glad Brenda was dead, and that she was playing both ends against the middle and he just got tired of it. Ray further commented that Ronnie's gun never did fire, that Brenda's gun was in her purse, and that he should have picked up and fired Ronnie's gun at the door to make it look like self-defense. Dansby argues that the trial court erred in excluding evidence of all prior criminal activity of McDuffie, thereby precluding Dansby from presenting a complete picture on the issues of bias and credibility, as Dansby was attempting to prove that McDuffie, while in jail, was acting as a police informant, and in this capacity, solicited Ray's confession. There were numerous motions filed prior to trial by each side relating both to the admissibility of McDuffie's testimony, and to what the State was required to disclose to Dansby in terms of McDuffie's prior dealings with police. After hearing Dansby's request to admit certain jail records and booking cards in an attempt to show that McDuffie had received preferential treatment after being arrested and was thus biased in favor of the State, the court issued a detailed ruling on this issue, finding that any evidence of guarantees of immunity or promises of leniency were proper subjects for cross-examination, which was fully exercised by Dansby, but that in the absence of any direct evidence of such an agreement or promise, no extrinsic evidence would be allowed. As to the credibility issue, the trial court's ruling was right on the mark. As we stated recently in Biggers v. State, 317 Ark. 414, 878 S.W.2d 717, Arkansas Rule of Evidence 608(b) governs the credibility question, which states as follows: Specific instances of the conduct of a witness, for the purpose of attacking or supporting his credibility, other than conviction of crime as provided in Rule 609, may not be proved by extrinsic evidence. They may, however, in the discretion of the court, if probative of truthfulness or untruthfulness, be inquired into on cross-examination.... (Emphasis added.) In Biggers , a witness for the State admitted on cross-examination that he had previously lied to his supervisors at work which resulted in suspension, and that he had been the subject of an investigation for theft of property. We stated that Rule 608(b) expressly prohibits the introduction of extrinsic evidence to prove such misconduct, even if the witness denied the event. Biggers v. State, supra . The trial court was likewise correct in its ruling dealing with reference to the issue of proof to show bias. Granted, we have said that a matter is not collateral if the evidence is relevant to show bias, knowledge, or interest. See Pyle v. State, 314 Ark. 165, 862 S.W.2d 823 (1993), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 114 S.Ct. 1306, 127 L.Ed.2d 657 (1994). Stated another way, if a witness denies or does not fully admit the facts claimed to show bias, the attacker has a right to prove those facts by extrinsic evidence. Wood v. White, 311 Ark. 168, 842 S.W.2d 24 (1992). Here, Dansby was allowed to explore the area of bias in his cross-examination of McDuffie as a witness. He did not deny that he had been a confidential informant for the police, and further admitted that he had signed a contract with law enforcement. Dansby asserts, however, that he proffered substantial testimony of McDuffie's bias that the jury should have been allowed to hear. The proffered testimony was as follows. Paula Henderson, the chief deputy clerk with the Union County Municipal Court, testified that she could not tell whether bond was set for Mr. McDuffie's felony charge for which he had been incarcerated at the time of Dansby's alleged confession, nor could she determine whether bond had been set or a plea had been entered on subsequent misdemeanor charges. Calvin Leveritt, a probation officer, testified that there was no indication from the records as to whether McDuffie had a first appearance on subsequent misdemeanor charges, whereas Officer Terry Davis with the El Dorado Police Department testified that he had made the arrests and that McDuffie was to be so held. W.D. Brewster, an administrator of the Union County Jail, testified that a booking card for a subsequent misdemeanor offense reflected the notation, Hold for Detectives, and allowed for McDuffie's release on his own recognizance. In making its ruling, the trial court observed that while McDuffie advised the authorities of Dansby's confession to him only a few days after the murders, none of the extraneous evidence which Dansby sought to admit into evidence took place prior to McDuffie's relating Dansby's statement to the authorities. We agree with the trial court's assessment that the proffered testimony falls short of direct evidence of an agreement or promise of immunity, and that the admission of McDuffie's subsequent arrests on misdemeanor charges through booking cards and jail records would call upon the jury to perform a feat of speculation or conjecture in order to relate it to [the] alleged bias. In sum, Dansby's proffered evidence was not relevant to show bias, and the trial court's well-reasoned ruling was correct.