Opinion ID: 2794494
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Testimony Concerning A.R.’s Character for Truthfulness

Text: ¶ 6. Vermont Rule of Evidence 608(a) provides: The credibility of a witness may be attacked or supported by evidence in the form of opinion or reputation, but subject to these limitations: (1) the evidence may refer only to character for truthfulness or untruthfulness, and (2) evidence of truthful character is admissible only after the character of the witness for truthfulness has been attacked by opinion or reputation evidence or otherwise. ¶ 7. The trial court permitted defendant’s ex-wife and A.R.’s friend, J.H., to testify concerning A.R.’s reputation for truthfulness. In particular, the state asked J.H.: “You know that there’s some kids who have a reputation for lying, some kids who have a reputation for being truthful. One way or the other . . . did [A.R.] have a reputation?” J.H. responded that: “She was always very truthful.” The court overruled defendant’s objection to this testimony. Similarly, when defendant’s ex-wife testified, the prosecutor asked her essentially the same question. Defendant’s ex-wife replied that A.R. “is very truthful” and agreed that “she had a reputation as a truthful kid.” ¶ 8. Defendant argues that allowing this testimony was error, both because his defense did not attack A.R.’s character for truthfulness, thereby “opening the door” to testimony concerning A.R.’s truthfulness, and because in both cases the State failed to lay a sufficient foundation. ¶ 9. Defendant never asserted that A.R. outright lied, but did offer the jury a narrative in which A.R. fabricated the accusations to get attention because she was jealous of her friend’s success. In opening argument, defense counsel stated: “What happens with teenagers and girls is relationships split. Things change. One girl becomes popular; one girl doesn’t. One girl is involved; one girl isn’t. One girl remains in the shadow; the other one blossoms. And they see these things happening. . . . [A.R.] was a senior in school going nowhere. [Defendant’s daughter] was going everywhere. And what [A.R.] did is brought the attention back to her.” ¶ 10. Additionally, defendant suggested that A.R.’s prior accounts were inconsistent, unclear, or excessively delayed. For example, defendant offered testimony from A.R. to show that she could not recall, or may have been equivocal, on precisely how long the gap was between incidents, and attempted to show inconsistencies between what A.R. told investigators initially and what she said later. Specific issues that defendant addressed included whether A.R. was given alcohol by defendant or took it for herself, whether A.R. had been haying earlier in the day or did not remember what she did earlier in the day, whether the drawstring pajamas she was wearing were tied or untied, whether A.R. was wearing plaid pajamas or jeans at the time of an incident, whether she was wearing a bra, the precise characterization of defendant’s movements and how he was touching her, and what exactly A.R. had told her friend, the first person she had ever told about the abuse. Defendant also questioned A.R. about her depression. ¶ 11. Defendant argues that the testimony he elicited at trial was impeachment by prior inconsistent statements or by lack of memory, and that testimony “to show that [A.R.’s] memory of these alleged incidents was vague and she changed her story frequently” is not an attack on A.R’s character for truthfulness. The State argues that by attacking “every aspect” of A.R.’s testimony, “including her mental health, her motives, her memory, the plausibility of [her testimony], and her supposed inconsistencies,” defendant attacked A.R.’s character for truthfulness. We must decide, then, whether defendant made an “attack” on the “character of the witness for truthfulness” within the meaning of Rule 608. This issue is one that has not been substantially addressed by this Court. ¶ 12. The rationale for the general rule that “[t]he character of a witness may not be supported until it has been attacked” is that “[i]t is thought that the trier will assume that witnesses have normal character for veracity until there is evidence to the contrary,” and “[i]t would be a waste of time and money to put in good character evidence about witnesses whose character has not been called into question.” 5 R. Park & T. Lininger, New Wigmore: A Treatise on Evidence: Impeachment and Rehabilitation § 9.2 (2014). If character-for-truthfulness testimony was admitted “when there is only a conflict in the testimony of opposing witnesses, the opposing witnesses on both sides could be supported by sustaining testimony in regard to their standing and character by reputation as witnesses, and the trial would be prolonged indefinitely.” Stevenson v. Gunning’s Estate , 64 Vt. 601, 609, 25 A. 697, 699 (1892). “The purpose of Rule 608(a)(2) is to encourage direct attacks on a witness’s veracity in the instant case and to discourage peripheral attacks on a witness’s general character for truthfulness.” United States v. Dring , 930 F.2d 687, 690 (9th Cir. 1991). ¶ 13. The question of “what constitutes an ‘attack’ on the witness’s character for truthfulness” is frequently a “murky” one. 4 J. Weinstein & M. Berger, Weinstein’s Federal Evidence § 608.12[1] (2d ed. 2013) [hereinafter 4 Weinstein]. Our rule is identical to its federal counterpart. Reporter’s Notes, V.R.E. 608 (“This rule is identical to Federal and Uniform Rules 608.”); see F.R.E. 608(a)(2). Where “our rule is substantively identical to the federal rule,” we often “look to federal case law in analyzing [its] meaning.” Coles v. Coles , 2013 VT 36, ¶ 6, 193 Vt. 605, 73 A.3d 681. The advisory committee’s note to the federal rule discusses the kinds of evidence that qualify as an attack on the character of the witness for truthfulness: [Evidence of] [o]pinion or reputation that the witness is untruthful specifically qualifies as an attack under the rule, and evidence of misconduct, including conviction of crime, and of corruption also fall within this category. Evidence of bias or interest does not. Whether evidence in the form of contradiction is an attack upon the character of the witness must depend upon the circumstances. Advisory Committee’s Note – 1972 Proposed Rules, F.R.E. 608 (citations omitted). ¶ 14. Consistent with that guidance, courts generally decline to allow evidence of a witness’s reputation for truthfulness in response to mere evidence of bias or interest. Such evidence “undermines the veracity and credibility of the witness . . . without implicating the witness as a liar in general.” Dring , 930 F.2d at 691. For example, evidence that a witness in the case is a party’s relative would not open the door to rehabilitative testimony to support witness’s character for truthfulness—even though the clear implication is that the witness might lie for his relative’s benefit—because the attack is not made against the witness’s “character for truthfulness” generally. Id . By contrast, when a party suggests that a witness has a predisposition for untruthfulness and invites the jury “to infer that the witness is lying at present, simply because he has lied often in the past,” this constitutes an attack on character for truthfulness sufficient to open the door to rehabilitation testimony. Id . ¶ 15. Impeachment by contradiction—including an emphasis on inconsistencies in a witness’s testimony or inconsistencies between the testimony of different witnesses—also usually does not constitute an attack on a witness’s character for truthfulness. 4 Weinstein, supra , § 608.12[4][a] & n.13 (collecting cases). We recognized this distinction more than a century ago. Gunning’s Estate , 64 Vt. at 608, 25 A. at 699 (“It is observable that a distinction is taken between an attack upon the character of the witness as such for credibility, and the character of the testimony, given for belief . . . . [T]he character of the testimony given by a witness does not directly attack the character of the witness for credibility.” (emphasis omitted)). Such contradiction on specific matters is not usually viewed as sufficiently related to a witness’s general predisposition to constitute an attack on character for truthfulness. 4 Weinstein, supra , § 608.12[4][a]. This is true even if the impeachment by contradiction consists of “[v]igorous cross examination, including close questioning of a witness about [the witness’s] version of the facts and pointing out inconsistencies with the testimony of other witnesses.” [1] Dring , 930 F.2d at 691-92. ¶ 16. On the other hand, “[a] slashing cross-examination may carry strong accusations of misconduct and bad character, which the witness’s denial will not remove from the jury’s mind.” Id . (quoting E. Cleary, McCormick on Evidence § 49, at 117 (3d ed. 1984)). For that reason, “[i]f . . . fairness requires it, [the judge] may permit evidence of good character, a mild palliative for the rankle of insinuation by such cross-examination.” Id . (quoting Cleary, supra , § 49, at 117). ¶ 17. Several considerations inform the analysis of whether impeachment by contradiction has called into question a witness’s general character for honesty. One “is whether the inconsistency or contradiction relates to a matter on which the witness could be innocently mistaken,” or whether the inference is that the witness is lying. 2 K. Broun, McCormick on Evidence § 47 (7th ed. 2013). “Another pertinent consideration is the number of inconsistencies mentioned by the cross-examiner. The larger the number, the stronger is the inference that by character the witness is a liar, not simply a witness who has told an isolated lie.” Id . (citing State v. Eugenio , 579 N.W.2d 642, 648-49 (Wis. 1998) (holding evidence of witness’s truthful character admissible only when court determines “that a reasonable person would consider the attack on the witness to be an assertion that the witness is not only lying in this instance, but is a liar generally”)). The critical question is whether the attack on the witness’s credibility suggests that the witness is lying in this case , or whether it goes further and attempts to show that the witness has a general character for dishonesty. See Dring , 930 F.2d at 692 n.6. ¶ 18. For these reasons, the bar against Rule 608(a) rehabilitation testimony in response to attacks on a witness’s credibility is high. For example, in State v. Carr , the defendant’s wife testified on behalf of her husband, who was charged with committing sex crimes against one of his stepdaughters. 725 P.2d 1287, 1288-89 (Or. 1989). The defendant’s wife testified that the daughters were “rebelling right now” against their parents’ attempts to impose discipline. Id . at 1289. When asked whether she was “ trying to tell the jury that those two children are lying because they don’t like the way you discipline them?” she responded, “Yes, I am.” The wife was then asked, “You’re telling this jury, are you not, that what [the children] said is not true?” and she responded “Yes, I am. All of it is not true. All of it.” Id . The Oregon Supreme Court held that even this flat assertion that the children were lying was not an attack on the character of the witnesses, because, “ testimony suggesting a motive of the victim to lie” does not raise the “issue of the truthful character of the victim” generally. Id . at 1290. ¶ 19. Similarly, in Eugenio , defense counsel “highlighted several inconsistent statements made by the victim concerning the circumstances surrounding her alleged sexual abuse” in opening statement and cross-examination, stated that “repeating a lie doesn’t make it true,” and suggested that the victim was lying for attention. 579 N.W.2d at 646-47. The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that this strategy was not an attack on the victim’s character for truthfulness because “allegations of a single instance of falsehood cannot imply a character for untruthfulness just as demonstration of a single instance of truthfulness cannot imply the character trait of veracity,” and a party may “attack the veracity of a witness’s statements, and the intent or motive with which the witness makes the statements, without calling into question the general character of a witness for truthfulness.” Id . at 648. ¶ 20. Likewise, the New Hampshire Supreme Court found in a sexual-assault case that the character for truthfulness of the witness-alleged victim was not attacked even where “the defendant questioned the complainant extensively about her pending civil suit against him” and “argued to the jury that the criminal prosecution was ‘about money,’ that money was ‘what she’s after.’ ” State v. Ross , 685 A.2d 1234, 1237 (N.H. 1996). The court held that such an attack was an “attempt to demonstrate bias or interest” and “did not amount to an attack on the complainant’s general character for truthfulness,” and thus the admission of two witnesses’ testimony on “the complainant’s truthful character” was improper. Id . See also Michael v. State , 235 S.W.3d 723, 724-28 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) (holding, in child sex-abuse case, that impeachment of alleged victim with prior inconsistent statements to child-welfare workers did not “necessarily impugn[] . . . character for truthfulness”); State v. Siegel , 50 P.3d 1033, 1039-40 (Idaho Ct. App. 2002) (holding, in child sex-abuse case, that prosecution’s suggestion that defendant’s testimony was self-serving was not attack on his character for truthfulness). Cf. United States v. Lukashov , 694 F.3d 1107, 1117 (9th Cir. 2012) (holding, in child sex-abuse case, that alleged victim’s character for truthfulness was attacked where defendant’s entire strategy “from opening statement through closing argument” was to “not merely point out inconsistencies,” but to depict alleged victim as “a liar” who had been directed by her mother to lie and who had given false evidence “not only . . . on the witness stand at trial, but . . . from the beginning,” to police, physician, and child-welfare worker). ¶ 21. Under this stringent standard, we cannot find that defendant attacked A.R.’s character for truthfulness. Accordingly, the admission of testimony on A.R.’s character for truthfulness was improper under Rule 608(a). In suggesting that A.R. was jealous and made the accusations in this case to get attention, defendant undoubtedly called into question A.R.’s honesty concerning the allegations in this case. But defendant did not mount a broader attack on A.R.’s character for truthfulness. Nor did defendant’s strategy of exposing inconsistencies in A.R.’s testimony amount to an assault on her general character for truthfulness. Defendant closely questioned A.R., but the clear focus was on allegedly inconsistent statements made by A.R., and on A.R.’s lack of memory and potential confusion on certain points. We find that defendant’s suggestion that A.R.’s testimony was inaccurate or unreliable falls into the category of routine attempted impeachment by contradiction, and thus the admission of rehabilitation testimony on her good character was error. Were we to hold otherwise, the exception would swallow the rule. See Pierson v. Brooks , 768 P.2d 792, 796 (Idaho Ct. App. 1989) (“It cannot be gainsaid that identification of . . . inconsistencies may reflect incidentally upon a witness’s credibility. However, if this incidental effect were deemed to constitute an attack upon the witness’s character . . . then the rule would be swallowed by its own exception.”).