Opinion ID: 588163
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Improper Reference to Swindall's Failure to Testify

Text: 112 Swindall next argues that his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination was violated when the prosecutor improperly referred to his failure to testify, and that the district court committed reversible error when it gave a curative instruction instead of ordering a mistrial. The government contends, and we agree, that the prosecutor's question, rather than being a comment on Swindall's failure to testify, was instead directed to defending the credibility of a government witness.
113 Kirk Smith (Smith) was a defendant in a related money-laundering trial who was convicted of conspiracy. He had testified that Swindall, while attempting to trade trial dates in order to go to trial before the November 1988 election, had boasted that he would not be convicted of perjury because, Kirk, I'm a lawyer, and in front of the grand jury I used phrases like 'to the best of my recollection' and 'I don't recall,' and they can't convict me for having a bad memory. 114 A mini-trial on the truthfulness of Smith's testimony ensued. The government called Dr. Edwin Hall (Dr. Hall), Smith's psychologist, who corroborated Smith's testimony, stating that Smith had repeated the comment to him contemporaneously. In its case in chief, the defense called Robert G. Fierer (Fierer), who had been Smith's lawyer at the time of the meeting with Swindall. 28 Smith had testified that after the meeting, Fierer had told him that they could possibly use Swindall's statement in the future by going to the government with it. Fierer testified that he never heard Swindall make such a statement, nor had he commented to Smith about it. 115 The defense also called Bobby Lee Cook (Cook), a criminal defense lawyer, to attack the credibility of Dr. Hall. The defense theory was that either (1) Smith lied about Swindall's testimony hoping for a sentence reduction or (2) Smith's ability to tell the truth was impaired by Dr. Hall's manipulations. 116 On cross-examination, the prosecutor asked Cook: 117 Would it also be a fair statement or assumption to make that, particularly in a criminal case, if a defendant were to testify and he knew that certain things that he testified about could help him win his case that he would be more prone to testify in that regard ? 118 (Emphasis added.) Defense counsel immediately objected and, out of the presence of the jury, asked for a mistrial on the ground that the prosecutor had impermissibly commented on Swindall's failure to testify. Both defense counsel and the court apparently misheard the prosecutor's question because the district court agreed with defense counsel's assertion that the prosecutor had asked whether a defendant would choose to testify if he thought it would help his case. 29 As quoted above, the prosecutor actually asked about a defendant who already had decided to testify. 30 119 The prosecutor stated that his question was part of an effort to defend Smith's credibility. According to the prosecutor, he first planned to ask Cook, as an experienced criminal defense attorney, about defendants' motivations when testifying about certain matters. Second, he planned to recall Fierer to the stand in the government's rebuttal case and adduce testimony that, preparing for Smith's trial, Fierer had told Smith that his best chance of winning was by testifying that he had withdrawn from the conspiracy, but that Smith had not given such testimony, later explaining to Fierer that he could not give untrue testimony.
120 The test for determining whether a prosecutor's remark constitutes an impermissible comment on a defendant's failure to testify is whether 'the statement was manifestly intended or was of such character that a jury would naturally and necessarily take it to be a comment on the failure of the accused to testify.'  United States v. Carter, 760 F.2d 1568, 1578 (11th Cir.1985) (quoting United States v. Carrodeguas, 747 F.2d 1390, 1395 (11th Cir.1984) (quoting United States v. Wilson, 500 F.2d 715, 721 (5th Cir.1974), cert. denied, 420 U.S. 977, 95 S.Ct. 1403, 43 L.Ed.2d 658 (1975)), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 816, 106 S.Ct. 60, 88 L.Ed.2d 49 (1985)). The burden is on appellant to establish either one of these two criteria. Carter, 760 F.2d at 1578.
121 In applying this test, the court cannot find that counsel 'manifestly intended' to comment on the defendant's failure to testify if some other explanation for his remark is equally plausible. Id. at 1578 (quoting Carrodeguas, 747 F.2d at 1395) (quoting United States v. Rochan, 563 F.2d 1246, 1249 (5th Cir.1977)). We review the district court's determination of whether manifest intent was present under an abuse of discretion standard. United States v. Watson, 866 F.2d 381, 386 (11th Cir.1989). 122 We agree with the district court that the prosecutor's explanation for his remark is, at the very least, as plausible as an interpretation that the prosecutor intended to comment on the defendant's failure to testify. Swindall argues that the explanation is not plausible because (1) Fed.R.Evid. 608 prohibits specific instances of a witness's conduct probative of character for truthfulness from being proved by extrinsic evidence, such as direct examination of another witness; (2) an attorney with the prosecutor's experience would therefore not lay the groundwork for evidence that could not be admitted; and (3) the only remaining explanation is that the prosecutor commented on Swindall's failure to testify. 123 We note first that appellant's Rule 608(b) argument fails because in fact the prosecutor did call Fierer to the stand on rebuttal and did question Fierer about the specific instance of Smith's conduct, and defense counsel did not object on Rule 608(b), or any other, grounds. We also note that Rule 608(b) provides that evidence of specific instances of a witness's conduct may, in the discretion of the court, if probative of truthfulness or untruthfulness, be inquired into on cross-examination of [a] witness ... concerning the character for truthfulness or untruthfulness of another witness as to which character the witness being cross-examined has testified. Fierer already had testified for the defense that Smith had falsely testified about the meeting with Swindall. Arguably, the prosecutor could be allowed to recall Fierer on rebuttal and ask him, as if he were still cross-examining him, about specific instances of Smith's character for truthfulness. At the very least, the closeness of the question renders the prosecutor's explanation as plausible as any other. 124
125 The second part of the test requires a determination of whether the jury would naturally and necessarily take the statement to be a comment on [the defendant's] failure to testify. [T]he question is not whether the jury possibly or even probably would view the remark in this manner, but whether the jury necessarily would have done so. Carter, 760 F.2d at 1578 (quoting Carrodeguas, 747 F.2d at 1395) (quoting Williams v. Wainwright, 673 F.2d 1182, 1185 (11th Cir.1982)). If the jury correctly heard the prosecutor's question, it would not have construed the question to be an impermissible comment about a defendant's decision to take the stand. Further, the trial court's curative instruction was adequate. See United States v. Capo, 693 F.2d 1330, 1335 (11th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1092, 103 S.Ct. 1793, 76 L.Ed.2d 359 (1983). 126