Opinion ID: 380919
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Improper Impeachment of Arthur Watson

Text: 82 Of the several challenged convictions presented in this appeal we find merit only in the claim of the appellant Watson. He was the victim of improper impeachment and his conviction on the conspiracy count should be reversed. 83 On cross-examination, the prosecutor impeached Watson with a misdemeanor conviction for possessing a pistol without a license, 22 D.C.Code § 3204. The court denied a mistrial motion, and gave a cautionary instruction only the next day and in final instructions. 84 This impeachment was clearly improper under Rule 609(a), Fed.R.Evid., which allows use of a prior conviction to impeach a witness only if the crime 1) was punishable by death or imprisonment for more than one year or 2) involved dishonesty or a false statement. The crime of carrying a pistol without a license is not one that may be used for impeachment. United States v. Millings, 175 U.S.App.D.C. 293, 535 F.2d 121 (1976). See also United States v. Dorsey, 192 U.S.App.D.C. 313, 591 F.2d 922 (1978). 85 Since this error does not reach constitutional dimensions, United States v. Smith, 179 U.S.App.D.C. 162, 180, 551 F.2d 348, 366 (1976), the question on appeal is whether the impeachment was more than harmless if the Court, looking at the case as a whole, can say, with fair assurance, . . . that the judgment was not substantially swayed by the error. Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 765, 66 S.Ct. 1239, 1248, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946). 86 The Court cannot make such a statement here. The jury did not believe most of the evidence against Watson. He was acquitted of four substantive counts. The two informants were the principal prosecution witnesses on those counts and Ward's identification was not the strongest. (Tr. at 571-72 and 1566). The proof on one of the counts also included expert testimony that Watson's fingerprints were on a tinfoil of drugs. 87 The four counts covered four of the six overt acts naming Watson in the conspiracy count. Two overt acts concerned meetings with informant Allen Whaley in early September, 1977. In the final analysis, the jury had to balance Whaley's testimony plus evidence that Watson's fingerprint appeared on a tinfoil recovered from the tree against Watson's testimony that he frequented the area for innocent reasons, in part because he was friendly with other defendants. Whaley was not the most credible witness. The fingerprint evidence could not have been weighty, since Watson was not indicted in connection with the cache of heroin in the tree. 88 Under these circumstances, the Court cannot find that the jury was not ultimately swayed by the improper evidence of Watson's misdemeanor gun conviction to convict him of conspiracy. See Millings, 535 F.2d at 121; Smith, 179 U.S.App.D.C. at 179, 551 F.2d at 365-66. Compare United States v. Belt, 169 U.S.App.D.C. 1, 514 F.2d 837 (1975). This is especially so where an attempt at a curative instruction did not come until the day following the testimony. United States v. Carter, 157 U.S.App.D.C. 149, 151-52, 482 F.2d 738, 740-41 (1973). In fact, because the judge repeated the impermissible testimony about Watson's gun possession conviction in making the instruction, the prejudice was highlighted and likely compounded. 89 Examining this record as a whole we find that the impeachment of Watson's credibility with a misdemeanor gun conviction was reversible error. His conspiracy conviction is reversed and his case is remanded for a new trial.