Opinion ID: 1265335
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: appeal concerning the motion for appropriate relief

Text: Defendant's remaining assignments of error are addressed to alleged error in the hearing and resolution of her motion for appropriate relief heard by Judge Long in June 1979. The first four grounds for relief alleged in defendant's motion were also subjects of her assignments of error heretofore discussed in connection with her appeal concerning the trial proceedings. We will not discuss them again. We affirm Judge Long's denial of relief upon each of these first four alleged grounds. The fifth alleged ground for relief is set out in defendant's motion as follows: 5. The District Attorney, during the course of the trial which began May 1st, 1979 and prior to the submission of the case to the jury had information that the defendant, Peggy Massey Leonard, had been found not guilty by reason of insanity of the killing of Nellie Somner in Polk County, Florida, on March 14th, 1973, and for this reason the defendant did not receive a fair and impartial trial. The point in question relates to the propriety of the prosecutor's cross-examination of defendant about her alleged killing of a woman in Florida in 1973, and the failure of the prosecutor to timely disclose to the court and defense counsel, information that defendant was found not guilty of that offense by reason of insanity. When defendant was first tendered for cross-examination, the prosecutor asked her if she had been admitted to a mental hospital in Florida in 1973 for six or seven months. Without objection she answered that she had been. She was then asked, [w]hy were you in that hospital?, and she replied: They said I killed a woman. Defense counsel objected to the answer and moved to strike. The court overruled the objection, but instructed the jury not to consider what they said she did. The court advised the prosecutor you may examine her concerning any specific conduct. Defendant was then asked if she killed a woman. Defense counsel's objection to the question was overruled but his request for a voir dire was granted. Pursuant to questioning by the prosecutor in the absence of the jury, defendant testified that she shot Nellie Somner on 15 May 1973; that they said I was temporarily insane. After I came out of the hospital I wasn't convicted. They let me go. They put me back in the hospital and then the doctor let me go. In response to a question from the court, the prosecutor stated that he wished to introduce the evidence relating to the Florida killing for the purpose of impeachment by specific act of misconduct. The court overruled defendant's objections, and allowed the defendant's testimony to be considered by the jury. The court also refused to recognize defendant's continuing objection to the whole line of questions, and advised counsel to bring my attention to the objectionable questions as they arise. Following the voir dire, over objection, defendant testified on cross-examination that she pulled a gun on a woman in Florida and that woman was Nellie Somner. Defendant's unobjected to cross-examination is summarized in pertinent part as follows: The shooting of Nellie Somner took place in 1973. Prior to the shooting, defendant had worked with Nellie Somner in a beauty shop. At the time of the shooting, defendant and Nellie Somner were by themselves in an automobile. Defendant does not remember firing any shots but she remembers the gun being in her hand and hearing more than one shot. After the Somner shooting, defendant was put in a mental hospital in Florida where she remained for six or seven months. After that time, she was released without ever being tried for any offense related to the shooting. Prior to the Somner shooting, and while she was in Florida in 1973, she shot at her then husband, James Masterson, because he was going to rape me. She shot at Masterson with the same .22 pistol she had in her hand when Nellie Somner was shot. It is settled law in this jurisdiction that for purposes of impeachment, it is permissible to cross-examine a witness, including the defendant in a criminal action, by asking disparaging questions concerning collateral matters relating to his criminal and degrading conduct, so long as the questions are asked in good faith. State v. Williams, 279 N.C. 663, 675, 185 S.E.2d 174, 181 (1971), and cases cited therein. It is true that in Williams, this Court held that for purposes of impeachment, a witness may not be asked if he has been arrested or indicted for a specified offense. However, the decision in Williams did not change the rule that for purposes of impeachment a witness may be asked whether he has committed specific criminal acts or been guilty of specified reprehensible conduct. (Citations omitted.) State v. Gainey, 280 N.C. 366, 373, 185 S.E.2d 874, 879 (1972). Also, in State v. Herbin, 298 N.C. 441, 451, 259 S.E.2d 263, 270 (1979), this Court speaking through Justice Copeland held that it is permissible to cross-examine a defendant about a specific act of misconduct even though he has been acquitted of the charge, provided the questions are asked in good faith. In the present case we hold the prosecutor was entitled to cross-examine defendant about the Somner shooting. The questions were properly directed at matters within the defendant's own personal knowledge and were solely intended to elicit information of a specific prior act of degrading conduct. See State v. Williams, supra . In State v. Purcell, 296 N.C. 728, 732-33, 252 S.E.2d 772, 775 (1979), Justice Exum writing for the Court noted: . . . a criminal defendant who takes the stand may be cross-examined for purposes of impeachment concerning any prior specific acts of criminal and degrading conduct on his part. Such acts need not have resulted in a criminal conviction in order to be appropriate subjects for inquiry. . . . (Emphasis ours.) The purpose of permitting inquiry into specific acts of criminal or degrading conduct is to allow the jury to consider these acts in weighing the credibility of a witness who has committed them. Here, even though the defendant's shooting of Nellie Somner did not result in a criminal conviction, the shooting clearly constituted prior degrading conduct, and was a proper subject of cross-examination. We will now address the facts developed at the post-trial hearing on defendant's motion for appropriate relief. At the hearing, defendant presented evidence tending to show that prior to the cross-examination of defendant, the trial judge preliminarily ruled that if defendant had been tried upon a homicide charge in Florida, and found not guilty by reason of insanity, the State would not be allowed to bring the Florida homicide to the attention of the jury. Evidence was also presented, showing that prior to the cross-examination, defendant's counsel had asked the district attorney to reveal to him any information he had regarding the alleged Florida homicide and that shortly after the prosecutor began his cross-examination of defendant, he received a PIN (Police Information Network) report disclosing that in the Somner homicide case in Florida, defendant was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Further evidence introduced at the hearing showed the prosecutor did not disclose information concerning defendant's acquittal to the court or defense counsel until four days after the trial. Certified copies of the Florida court records presented at the hearing, showed that the homicide charge against defendant was dismissed on the grounds of her insanity. The rule in this jurisdiction is that the prosecutor must act in good faith in his cross-examination of a defendant about prior specific acts of misconduct. That is to say, the prosecutor must have a reasonable and sufficient basis for his belief that defendant committed the specific act of misconduct before he may properly cross-examine a defendant concerning such act of misconduct. Otherwise a prosecutor conceivably could ask a defendant about any act of misconduct which the prosecutor decides to ask whether it has any basis in reality or is only a figment of imagination. Such unfounded cross-examination of a defendant must not be permitted, as its unfairness and prejudice to a defendant is obvious. Therefore bad faith in this fashion on the part of a prosecutor requires a new trial because of prejudice to the defendant. In the case now being considered the defendant would have us extend the good faith rule to the conduct of the prosecutor. This we refuse to do for the PIN report provided the prosecutor sufficient basis for his questions to the defendant. The trial judge so found following the post-trial hearing. We are unable to perceive how defendant was prejudiced by failure of the prosecutor to disclose the PIN report at the time he received it. Under the rule in Williams, the prosecutor still could have asked defendant about the Florida homicide since he did not ask her if she had been arrested or indicted for that offense. The only possible benefit defendant could have received from the report was to corroborate her statement that following the shooting and after her confinement in a mental hospital for six or seven months, she was released without ever being tried for any offense related to the shooting. Her statement was not challenged in any way and there is no reason to believe that the jury did not accept it at face value. Defendant has been placed on trial three times for the merciless killing of her sister, in her sister's own yard and in the presence of her sister's two children. For reasons that do not appear in the record the first trial ended in a mistrial. The second trial resulted in a verdict of guilty of first degree murder and a judgment of life imprisonment. This Court found error in that trial and ordered a new trial because the trial court denied defendant's motion to excuse for cause three prospective jurors who indicated that they would not be willing to return a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity even though defendant presented evidence that would satisfy them that she was insane at the time her sister was killed. At the third trial, a jury, about which defendant voices no complaint, found defendant guilty of first degree murder and the court again entered judgment imposing a life sentence. Certainly, considerable weight should be given to the trial judge's findings and conclusions on defendant's post-trial motions. He had witnessed every minute of the trial, had observed the demeanor of the witnesses, including defendant, and had the feel of the case in general. After patiently listening to evidence and arguments presented at the hearing on the post-trial motions, including a motion for a new trial, he concluded that the verdict and judgment should stand. We agree with that conclusion. Every person charged with crime is `entitled to a fair trial but not a perfect one.' Lutwak v. United States, 344 U.S. 604, 73 S.Ct. 481, 97 L.Ed. 593 (1953). State v. Tolley, 290 N.C. 349, 373, 226 S.E.2d 353, 371 (1976). While we ordinarily would be strongly inclined to publicly censure the prosecutor in this case for his conduct in deliberately attempting to frustrate a preliminary ruling of the trial judge, nevertheless we will not do so for the following reason. The trial judge, who presided at both the trial and the post-trial proceedings had a view as clear, and probably clearer, as we can have from the cold record. He did not see fit to initiate any disciplinary action against the prosecutor and we will defer to his handling of the matter. Although we do not agree with all of the reasons given by Judge Long in Section # 1 of his order denying the motion for appropriate relief, we nevertheless agree that the cross-examination of the defendant with respect to her conduct in the shooting of Nellie Somner in Florida in 1973 is competent for the purposes of impeachment under the prevailing rules in this jurisdiction. In our consideration of the assignments of error to the post-trial proceedings in June 1979, we find no prejudicial error. No error.