Opinion ID: 2001847
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: defense counsel's ability to cross-examine the victim

Text: The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, section 10, of the Rhode Island Constitution guarantee a criminal defendant the right to cross-examine effectively any witnesses presented by the state. See State v. Canning, 541 A.2d 457 (R.I. 1988). It is within the trial justice's discretion to determine the proper scope of inquiry on cross-examination, and this court shall not disturb the trial justice's ruling unless he or she has clearly abused his or her reasonable discretion. Id. at 461. The defendant contends that the trial justice violated his constitutional right to effective cross-examination by limiting defense counsel's ability to inquire into Julio's status as an illegal alien and his fraudulent use of an alias. In particular, defendant alleges that the trial justice's refusal to allow inquiry into Julio's posting of a bond in San Diego precluded defendant from showing bias on the part of Julio. After reviewing the transcript, we believe that sustaining the state's objection to defendant's question about the posted bond in no way limited defendant's ability to cross-examine Julio. After the trial justice refused to allow the question of whether Julio was required to post a bond, defense counsel continued with his cross-examination. During this intensive questioning, Julio revealed his true identity and admitted that he had purchased Edward Vargas's social security card for the purpose of gaining employment. Moreover, defense counsel was able effectively to cross-examine Julio regarding whether he was offered prosecutorial immunity in exchange for his testimony against defendant. The defense counsel pursued the issue through the following exchange: Q Did [the prosecution] make any promise to you that they weren't going to take any action against you as an illegal alien once you became a witness in this case? A [Prosecutor]: I have no power to do that. THE COURT: I'll allow it. A They can do it. This exchange was followed by twenty-one pages of additional impeaching cross-examination. We therefore conclude that precluding the defense from asking the question regarding Julio's posting of a bond did not affect defendant's ability to cross-examine Julio and establish his bad character and bias. Furthermore we find the bond issue to be wholly irrelevant to the issues before us. As stated in Rule 401 of the Rhode Island Rules of Evidence, relevant evidence is evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. The case at hand involved a prosecution for, among other things, kidnaping and attempted murder. Julio admitted that he entered the country illegally and used an alias to obtain employment, and defendant amply explored these issues on cross-examination. The fact that Julio posted a bond in San Diego had nothing to do with his bias against defendant, nor did it have the tendency to make any fact consequent to the determination of this case more or less probable. We therefore find that the trial justice did not abuse his discretion in sustaining the state's objection.