Opinion ID: 2619
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Government's Cross-examination and Impeachment of Douglas

Text: In cross-examining Douglas, the government elicited answers that, inter alia, highlighted the implausibilities in his story. For example, having begun to carry the shotgun and bullet-proof vest precisely because he was afraid of the unnamed man, and having put them into the back of the SUV on April 21 knowing he would be driving the unnamed man to Yonkers the next morning, Douglas testified that he made no attempt to get the shotgun or vest on April 22 when the unnamed man went off to intercept Moran and left Douglas alone in the SUV. Having testified that he cried after seeing Moran's condition, Douglas admitted that his only attempt to revive Moran was the unsuccessful effort to remove the tape from Moran's mouth, and that although he did not know whether Moran was still alive (he made no attempt to discern whether Moran still had a pulse), it never occurred to him to take Moran into the doctor's office that Douglas knew was in the building. And despite proclaiming his innocence at trial, during the nearly 20 months between his arrest in this case and his testifying at trial Douglas had made no effort whatever to tell the authorities about the unnamed man. The government also asked Douglas about his decision to put Moran's body in the trunk of Moran's car: Q: So the decision to take this dead body and dump it into the trunk of a car, that was your decision, right? A: Yes, that was all mine. ... Q: Now Milton was an ATM tech, right? A: That is correct. Q: And ATM techs are armed, right? A: Yes, I think they are, far as my recollection. Q: And you know that, right? A: Yes. Q: And Milton was armed that day, right? A: I don't know if he was. Q: You have no idea whether he was armed? A: No. Q: You're not sure whether he had a gun on him? You have no idea what happened to that gun? A: No, I didn't do anything. (Tr. at 674-75 (emphases added).) As discussed in Part II.D. below, the government was then allowed to question Douglas with respect to a statement he had made about Moran's gun to the police in Florida, which the government had acknowledged was inadmissible in its case-in-chief because it had been given in response to questioning before Douglas was given warnings pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Douglas had told the Florida police that he had thrown Moran's gun off a bridge. The government continued its cross-examination of Douglas by asking whether, when he put Moran's body in the trunk of the Toyota, he noticed that Moran's gun holster was empty. Douglas responded that he did not observe a holster, and he reiterated that he did not do anything with Moran's gun and did not know what happened to it. The government then asked him about being questioned by Florida police officers who were relaying an inquiry from the police in Yonkers as to the whereabouts of Moran's gun. Douglas denied telling the Florida officers that he had thrown the gun off the bridge. In its rebuttal case, the government called two Florida police officers, who testified that Douglas told them he had thrown Moran's gun off a bridge. The district court instructed the jury that it was to consider this evidence for impeachment purposes only, and not for its truth.