Opinion ID: 469447
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: admissibility of scott's prior shoplifting conviction

Text: 42 At trial, Reiger sought to impeach Shannon Scott by proof of a prior shoplifting conviction. The trial court sustained the prosecutor's objection and rejected Reiger's offer of proof. The Hawaii Supreme Court affirmed, finding that the theft was not a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude within the meaning of applicable state evidentiary rules. 64 Hawaii at 515, 644 P.2d at 964. The district court adopted the state supreme court's reasoning. Reiger apparently claims a denial of the right to confront adverse witnesses secured by the sixth amendment. 43 The sixth amendment guarantees criminal defendants the right to cross-examine adverse witnesses to uncover possible bias and to expose the witness's motivation in testifying. Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 315-16, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 1109-10, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974); United States v. McClintock, 748 F.2d 1278, 1289 (9th Cir.1984), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 75, 88 L.Ed.2d 61 (1985); Chipman v. Mercer, 628 F.2d 528, 530 (9th Cir.1980). This right, however, is not absolute. The matters that the defendant intends to pursue on cross-examination must be at least relevant: [S]ome topics may be of such minimal relevance that the trial court would be justified either in totally prohibiting cross-examination about them or in allowing only limited questioning. Skinner v. Cardwell, 564 F.2d 1381, 1389 (9th Cir.1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 1009, 98 S.Ct. 1883, 56 L.Ed.2d 392 (1978). Moreover, the defendant's right to attack the witness's general credibility enjoys less protection than his right to develop the witness's bias. Hughes v. Raines, 641 F.2d 790, 793 (9th Cir.1981); see Davis, 415 U.S. at 321, 94 S.Ct. at 1112 (Stewart, J., concurring) ([T]he Court neither holds nor suggests that the Constitution confers a right in every case to impeach the general credibility of a witness through cross-examination about his past delinquency adjudications or criminal convictions.). 44 Scott's prior conviction for shoplifting does not suggest any bias against Reiger. Its introduction would not prove that she bore any personal ill will against him, see, e.g., Chipman, 628 F.2d at 532, or that she had any special reason to cooperate with the government, see, e.g, Davis, 415 U.S. at 317-18, 94 S.Ct. at 1110-11. Moreover, the conviction was only marginally relevant to Scott's overall credibility. See United States v. Ortega, 561 F.2d 803, 806 (9th Cir.1977) (shoplifting does not involve dishonesty or false statement within the meaning of Rule 609(a)). The trial court's refusal to allow its introduction did not violate Reiger's confrontation rights. See Hughes, 641 F.2d at 792-93 (trial court's ruling precluding a rape defendant from questioning the victim about an attempted rape accusation she had made previously against another person did not violate the defendant's right to confrontation). 45 The district court properly dismissed Reiger's claim that his sixth amendment confrontation rights were infringed by the trial court's refusal to admit Scott's prior shoplifting conviction for impeachment purposes. 46