Opinion ID: 345148
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Newly Discovered Evidence and Alleged Promises of Leniency.

Text: 32 Nearly three months after Mastrian's conviction, a letter was taken from the prosecution's star witness, Dick W. C. Anderson, in which he recanted most of his trial testimony incriminating Mastrian and Thompson. He stated that he had not been hired to murder Carol Thompson, but that he had been forced to kill her when she discovered him during a burglary of the Thompson home. He claimed that Sheldon Morris arranged the burglary and that Richard Sharp, Willard Ingram and Henry Butler 13 were aware of their plans. In addition, Anderson stated that the Ramsey County Attorney had promised to accept a plea to second degree murder if Anderson implicated Thompson and Mastrian. He was told that similar deals were being arranged for Morris, Ingram, Sharp and Butler. In a sworn statement on July 8, 1964, Anderson confirmed the substance of his July 5th letter. 33 Based on this letter and the corroborating deposition, the Minnesota Supreme Court remanded the case to Hennepin County District Court for a hearing on Mastrian's new trial motion. At the hearing, Anderson denied the bulk of his recanting letter and reaffirmed his trial testimony. He testified that the portion of his recantation dealing with the involvement of Thompson and Mastrian was the product of threats to his life made by inmates at Stillwater State Prison. The trial court agreed that the recantation was the product of coercion and denied the new trial motion. The Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed. State v. Mastrian, supra at 171 N.W.2d 708. 34 In his habeas corpus petition, Mastrian argued: first, that the newly discovered evidence exonerates the accused and totally discredits all of the state's direct evidence and, second, that the state's witnesses were induced to testify by promises of leniency and that the prosecuting authorities failed to disclose this fact to the jury. The District Court denied both claims and Mastrian raises each on appeal. 35 Respecting the newly discovered evidence contention, both the trial court and the Minnesota Supreme Court found that Anderson's recantation 14 was the product of coercion and, thus, not credible. Mastrian seems not to contest this finding, but does argue that Anderson's new trial hearing testimony corroborated his recanting statements in several respects most notably that he was acquainted with state witnesses Sharp, Ingram and Butler. At trial, he denied knowing any of them prior to the Thompson murder. Neither the trial court nor the State Supreme Court considered this evidence during Mastrian's new trial motion. 36 Although the claim of newly discovered evidence relevant to the guilt of a state prisoner is generally not a ground for relief on federal habeas corpus, Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 317, 83 S.Ct. 745, 9 L.Ed.2d 770 (1963); see generally Developments in the Law: Federal Habeas Corpus, 83 Harv.L.Rev. 1038 (1970), in the interests of judicial economy we believe its prudent to address the contention here. In federal court, the impact of recanted testimony as a basis for a new trial motion depends both on the credibility of the recanting witness and the materiality of his testimony. Unless the recanted testimony would probably produce an acquittal on retrial, a new trial motion on this ground must be denied. United States v. McWilliams,421 F.2d 1083 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 1070, 90 S.Ct. 1515, 25 L.Ed.2d 694 (1970); Batsell v. United States, 403 F.2d 395 (8th Cir. 1968), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 1094, 89 S.Ct. 865, 21 L.Ed.2d 785 (1969); Anderson v. United States, 369 F.2d 11 (8th Cir. 1966), cert. denied, 386 U.S. 976, 87 S.Ct. 1171, 18 L.Ed.2d 136 (1967); Edwards v. United States, 361 F.2d 732 (8th Cir. 1966); McCroskey v. United States, 339 F.2d 895 (8th Cir. 1965). Even assuming that Anderson's recanting testimony was credible, we fail to see how the fact that Anderson knew of Sharp, Ingram and Butler prior to the Thompson murder substantially improves the defense's case. No doubt this fact adds something to the defense's burglary theory, but it is not so probative as to probably produce an acquittal on retrial. Batsell v. United States,supra at 403. 37 Mastrian also alleged that several witnesses for the state were induced to testify by promises of leniency from the prosecuting authorities. At the new trial hearing, Anderson stated that both Morris and Ramsey County Attorney Randall led him to believe that he would be allowed to plead guilty to second degree murder if he testified against Mastrian and Thompson. He also maintained that Randall promised to limit his imprisonment to five or six years if he were elected Governor or Attorney General of Minnesota. Finally, Anderson testified that Morris, Sharp, Ingram and Butler believed they would receive leniency in exchange for their testimony. 38 Mastrian's claim that promises were extended and not revealed depends almost entirely 15 on Anderson's testimony. There is considerable evidence in the record indicating that the alleged promises were not made. By affidavit, Ramsey County Attorney Randall stated that no promises of any sort were extended. Others testified to the County Attorney's unwillingness to bargain for testimony. In fact, Mastrian himself admits that the evidence is contradictory, but contends that the conflicting evidence should have been presented to the jury. We cannot agree. Considering Anderson's credibility and the strong evidence that promises were not extended, we think this newly discovered evidence would not produce an acquittal on retrial. United States v. McWilliams, supra; Batsell v. United States, supra. 39 In the alternative, Mastrian argues that a crucial witness's expectation of leniency must be revealed to the jury regardless of whether there is proof that a promise raised the expectation. The decisions on which Mastrian relies, Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 92 S.Ct. 763, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972), and Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264, 79 S.Ct. 1173, 3 L.Ed.2d 1217 (1959), turn on the very factor which he discounts. In both cases, there was no conflict as to the existence of the unlawful promises. In each case, the prosecuting authorities admitted at a post-conviction hearing that a promise of leniency was made and not revealed. See Giglio v. United States,supra, 405 U.S. at 152, 92 S.Ct. 763; Napue v. Illinois, supra, 360 U.S. at 267, 79 S.Ct. 1173. In Giglio and Napue, the evil which concerned the Court was the misconduct of the prosecuting authorities in failing to reveal known evidence to the jury. We do not read these cases to support Mastrian's claim that a crucial witness's expectation of leniency must be revealed absent evidence of an express or implied promise. 16 Since the evidence here does not persuade us that promises of leniency were in fact extended, we cannot grant Mastrian's relief. 40