Opinion ID: 1451491
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: dalton's cross-examination was appropriate

Text: Appellant's next allegation of error is that the Commonwealth asked co-defendant Dalton inappropriate questions during cross-examination. Appellant argues that these questions caused her to impermissibly bolster the credibility of witnesses Rocky and Bryant. See Moss v. Commonwealth, 949 S.W.2d 579 (Ky.1997) (holding that it is generally impermissible to have one witness comment on the credibility of other witnesses). These questions included: Commonwealth: Now Danny Bryant and Rocky King have testified that Ricky was the last one to get in the car, so you agree with them, don't you? Now, that's what Rocky and Ricky testified to, or what Danny testified to, excuse me, Danny testified to, and he was correct, wasn't he? . . . And all through this Danny is testifying . . . That's what Rocky said. That's what Danny said. That's what you said. You all agree on that . . . so from the time you got out of the bar down at the Wooden Nickel at least up to the time everybody changed cars and changed drivers, you and Rocky, or you, Rocky and Danny are one-hundred percent in agreement, aren't you? That's exactly what Danny said, almost identical to what he said. [Objection from Appellant and Dalton. Court overrules objection] You agree with what Danny Bryant said, don't you. You heard him testify. . . That's exactly what Rocky said, wasn't it. [Appellant objects and the court overrules him] You agree with him, don't you? [Appellant objects and asks for a mistrial here. The Court denies the request] Now you heard the people at the bar testify . . . they had no reason to lie about you, that you know of, did they? So, when Danny Bryant stated that he got his share in beer, you're saying that's not truth? And Rocky King said that you got the money and you gave everybody their share. He was not telling the truth? Now, Ms. Dalton, we've heard [Appellant] testify, who confessed to pretty much what you said about the shooting. You've heard Danny Bryant confess to his role and what he observed in the shooting. In their testimony, they gave very damaging testimony against close relatives, a brother and cousins. You've confessed, to an extent, the truthfulness of what these people said. You dispute, I'm going to ask you if this is your understanding, you dispute anything they say that makes you responsible for this, don't you? . . . Even though everything else they said, and they said it against their own relatives, you agree is true. You dispute people at the bar, their testimony as to what you did down at the bar . . . You dispute your own roommate as to that note and what she saw at the bar, don't you . . . So, in conclusion, Ms. Dalton, everybody is lying about what you did that night. From the record it appears that the questions the Commonwealth asked Dalton were an attempt to impeach her testimony. The Commonwealth wanted to show the jury that Dalton testified consistently with the other witnesses' testimony to the extent that it did not incriminate her, but that she vehemently disagreed with any of the testimony which incriminated her. Thus, throughout the cross-examination, the Commonwealth wanted to show that Dalton testified in a self-serving manner. Appellant has cited to Moss, supra , for the proposition that any questioning which causes a witness to comment on the credibility of another witness is error. However, this case is distinguishable from Moss . In Moss , the witness being forced to comment was the defendant himself. Id. at 583. The prosecutor badgered the defendant into calling a well-respected police officer a liar. The Court found that this line of questioning could potentially undermine his entire testimony. Id. In this matter, the Commonwealth's questions attempted to impeach Dalton's testimony. The goal was to show the likelihood that Dalton was lying on the witness stand. Any implications that could be drawn that Dalton was lying would affect her and not Appellant. Additionally, the fact that Dalton's testimony was substantially similar to Rocky and Bryant's testimony alone bolstered their statements. There is no error here.