Opinion ID: 437695
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: admissibility of evidence of other crimes against hans.

Text: 33
34 In July, 1973, Hans was convicted of violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2314 (interstate transportation of forged securities). Holding this to be a crimen falsi, the trial judge allowed the prosecution to use this conviction to impeach Hans on cross-examination. 35 The Federal Rules of Evidence allow impeachment of witnesses by evidence of prior convictions in two different ways. If the conviction was for a crime punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of one year (a felony), then the trial judge may admit it if he determines that the probative value of admitting the evidence of conviction outweighs its prejudicial effect to the defendant. Fed.R.Evid. 609(a)(1). If, on the other hand, the crime involves dishonesty or false statement, the trial judge has no discretion and must admit it even if it was a misdemeanor. Fed.R.Evid. 609(a)(2). Normally such evidence is admissible only if either the conviction or the witness' release from prison occurred within 10 years of the trial. Fed.R.Evid. 609(b). 36 Hans argues that evidence of his interstate transportation conviction was inadmissible under either 609(a)(1) or (2). He contends, first of all, that the prosecution failed to prove that he was convicted of a felony. This argument is frivolous. Section 2314 states that anyone convicted under that section may be fined up to $10,000 or imprisoned for up to 10 years or both. The trial court therefore properly concluded that Hans had been convicted of a felony. 37 Having determined that both this conviction and one for assault with intent to commit armed robbery were felonies, the trial judge then properly applied the balancing test that Rule 609(a)(1) mandates in order to determine whether the probative value of the convictions outweighed their prejudicial effect to Hans. Government of the Virgin Islands v. Bedford, 671 F.2d 758, 761 (3d Cir.1982). The trial judge concluded that, although the interstate transportation issue was admissible, the assault conviction was not. He considered this to be too similar to the charge of bank robbery and therefore potentially prejudicial to Hans. Given the fact that the trial judge explicitly weighed the probative value of the convictions against the danger that their introduction would unfairly prejudice Hans, we find no abuse of discretion and therefore decline to reverse on the basis of Rule 609(a)(1). 38 Nevertheless, even if the interstate transportation conviction was inadmissible under 609(a)(1), it would be admissible under (a)(2). This court recently held that a district court has no discretion to exclude evidence of a prior conviction under Rule 609(a)(2). United States v. Wong, 703 F.2d 65 (3d Cir.1983). If a witness has been convicted of a crime involving dishonesty or false statement, he may be impeached through the conviction, even if it was not a felony. 39 Thus, once the trial judge determines that a crime involves dishonesty or false statement, evidence of conviction of that crime automatically becomes admissible for impeachment purposes. 40 For the jury to have convicted Hans of interstate transportation, it must have believed him guilty of transporting forged securities ... knowing the same to have been ... forged. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2314. The trial judge focused on the requirement of knowledge and held that interstate transportation is a crimen falsi. He therefore ruled that the prosecution could use the conviction to impeach Hans on cross-examination. The only circuit which has examined this question has concluded that the interstate transportation of forged securities encompasses precisely the kind of dishonesty which makes it admissible for impeachment purposes. United States v. Jackson, 680 F.2d 561, 564 (8th Cir.1982). We agree with the Eighth Circuit and find no error on this issue. 41
42 During the government's case-in-chief, the prosecutor questioned Agent McCarthy concerning how Grzybowski and Hans became suspects. Hans' attorney objected to that line of questioning, but was overruled. When the prosecutor asked McCarthy how the Bureau came to focus on Hans, McCarthy replied: 43 After we learned the identity of Norman Bauman and that he was from Michigan, I talked to some agents in our Detroit, Michigan office. I ran by the MO of the robbery to them and the description of the other bank robbers, asked them if they had anyone from that area who might logically fit as a suspect in this matter. 44 Hans objected to the testimony and at a sidebar the prosecutor told the judge that McCarthy would state that the Detroit agents came up with Hans as a likely suspect. After initially overruling Hans' objection and denying his motion for a mistrial, the trial judge sustained the objection to McCarthy's last statement and told the jury to disregard it. 45 Hans argues that the cautionary instruction was insufficient because of the highly prejudicial impact of McCarthy's testimony. The government, on the other hand, dismisses the testimony as vague in character and in no way indicating that Hans had ever been convicted of bank robbery. Appellee's brief at 36. The government also argues that McCarthy's testimony was admissible under Rule 404(b) to prove association, i.e., to show that Bauman and Hans knew one another prior to the commission of the bank robbery for which Hans is now charged. Id. at 37, n. 10. Both the government's arguments are disingenuous and attempt to gloss over the seriously prejudicial nature of the testimony. McCarthy's testimony was anything but weak. Stripped to its essentials it was that, based on the modus operandi (three armed robbers wearing halloween masks, windbreakers and dark gloves and ranging in height from 5'5 to 5'9), the Detroit F.B.I. could almost immediately come up with a prime suspect, i.e. Leslie Hans. Even though McCarthy never named Hans to the jury, the only reasonable inference that a reasonable juror could draw from the testimony was that Hans was well-known as a bank robber to the Detroit F.B.I. 46 Moreover, even if this testimony were admissible under Rule 404(b), it still has to meet the balancing requirements of Rule 403. Not only is this testimony highly prejudicial, but the government had no need to introduce it to show that Bauman and Hans knew each other. The prosecution had already established that Hans, Grzybowski and Hans' girl friend were present when the Detroit F.B.I. arrested Bauman. McCarthy's testimony was therefore cumulative, and excludable on that ground as well. 47 Because it is difficult to imagine testimony more prejudicial than McCarthy's implication that Hans was known to the Detroit police as a professional bank robber, we feel that the trial judge's error occurred when he failed to sustain Hans' objections to the entire line of questioning from the outset. This is especially true in light of the judge's ruling excluding all evidence of Hans' conviction for assault with intent to commit armed robbery. The judge ruled that inadmissible because the offense was too similar to that charged in this case. Nevertheless, as a result of McCarthy's testimony, the jury was left the probably indelible impression that, like Bauman, Hans was a professional bank robber. 48