Opinion ID: 2233188
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Exclusion of Evidence Relating to Witness Bias.

Text: Hope Voshel testified on behalf of the State. She indicated that, on the night defendant broke out the windows in her apartment, she had stayed at her brother's home because she and defendant had argued. In questioning her as to this matter on cross-examination, the following occurred: Q. Now, that argument that you had with Mr. Campbell, was your nephew's name, Justin, brought up? A. Yes, sir. Q. Now your nephew Justin, is he in a training school up in Eldora? At this point, the State objected as follows: PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: Your Honor, I'm going to object. I believe it's essentially 404( b ) evidence that is not relevant to this case. The colloquy then took place outside of the jury, and defendant made the following offer of proof: DEFENDANT'S COUNSEL: Your Honor, the substantive facts that I believe that we will get from Ms. Voshel herself is that the argument that was had between Mr. Campbell and Ms. Voshel was concerning this nephew in particular by the name of Justin in conjunction with other nephews accusing him of doing something because they were, in fact, confronted by Mr. Campbell himself as that they shouldn't be doing it, meaning the burglaries themselves, and so that's the information that we expect to get from Ms. Voshel, that she will testify that Mr. Campbell, in fact, indicated that these nephews shouldn't be doing this and that they believed that they were, that he was going to turn them in, and, in fact, reported this to Ms. Voshel. That's what I believe at least the substantive facts are that I believe will come out. The district court sustained the State's objection, stating its ruling as follows: Nevertheless, if the only evidence that these other individuals may be responsible for these crimes is the defendant's statement of such to thisto Ms. Voshel, then I do believe that it's nothing more than mere suspicion and there are no substantive facts, and so I agree with the state in its analysis. . . . I further agree with the state that thisthat this is hearsay as it stands and for both those reasons, I will not allow the defendant to get into that . . . . In seeking to uphold the district court's ruling on appeal, the State relies on two propositions. First, it urges that Iowa Rule of Evidence 5.404( b ) applies so as to exclude the proffered evidence of other bad acts and, second, that evidence offered by a defendant tending to incriminate another must be confined to substantive facts and create more than a mere suspicion that another person committed the offense. Defendant argues that neither of these theories justifies the denial of cross-examination of Voshel designed to show her bias as a result of defendant's intention to turn her nephew or nephews in for the same burglaries with which he was charged. We agree. Defendant is correct in contending that rule 5.404( b ) has no application to the present evidentiary problem. Perhaps some of the blame for the State's reliance on that rule is attributable to unnecessary language contained in State v. Roth, 403 N.W.2d 762 (Iowa 1987). In Roth we held that a second-degree murder conviction could not be used to impeach a witness under a rule of criminal procedure that, at the time, limited impeachment based on prior convictions to only those offenses showing dishonesty or false statements. In making that determination, an unnecessary reference was made to Iowa Rule of Evidence 404(b) (now 5.404( b )), and with respect thereto, we stated: Although the principle codified in Iowa Rule of Evidence 404(b) has surfaced frequently with respect to the conduct of accused persons in criminal trials, this rule is equally applicable to witnesses generally. Roth, 403 N.W.2d at 765. This was clearly a misstatement of the applicability of rule 5.404( b ). It is not a rule pertaining to witnesses, but, rather, a rule pertaining to evidence of past conduct in order to prove subsequent conduct. Moreover, it only relates to proof of the conduct that is at issue in the case. See United States v. Morano, 697 F.2d 923, 926 (11th Cir.1983) (evidence of extraneous bad acts of those not on trial do not implicate the policy of Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b)); United States v. Krezdorn, 639 F.2d 1327, 1332-33 (5th Cir.1981) (same). The second proposition on which the State relies is misapplied. As the State notes, we have previously determined that evidence offered by a defendant tending to incriminate another must be confined to substantive facts and create more than a mere suspicion that such other person committed the offense. State v. Wilson, 406 N.W.2d 442, 447 (Iowa 1987); State v. Harrington, 349 N.W.2d 758, 761 (Iowa 1984). We are satisfied, however, that this was not the primary purpose sought to be accomplished through the cross-examination of Voshel. The evident purpose of the attempted cross-examination was to show bias in the sense that the witness was motivated to protect her nephews from defendant's accusations and intentions to inform the police. As stated by a leading evidence text: Case law recognizes the slanting effect on human testimony of the witness's emotions or feelings toward the parties or the witness's self-interest in the outcome of the case. Partiality, or any acts, relationships, or motives reasonably likely to produce it, may be proved to impeach credibility. . . . In criminal cases the defendant has a qualified constitutional right to show the bias of government witnesses. 1 John W. Strong, McCormick on Evidence § 39, at 144-45 (5th ed. 1999) (citing Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 316-18, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 1110-11, 39 L.Ed.2d 347, 354-55 (1974)) (footnotes omitted). In State v. Rowe, 238 Iowa 237, 26 N.W.2d 422 (1947), this court reversed a criminal conviction in which the trial court limited cross-examination of a state's witness on matters aimed at affecting the credibility of a witness. Rowe, 238 Iowa at 242, 26 N.W.2d at 425. In so doing, we stated: We hold that cross-examination along the line of that offered should have been permitted as bearing on the interest and activities of witness, Conaway, and we think that the court erred in so ruling. It is a well-established rule of law that in a criminal case the ill-will or hostility of a witness testifying against one charged with the commission of a crime may be shown and that it is proper to do so by cross-examination. Such evidence may be considered by the jury in testing the credibility of such witness. Id. Applying these principles to the issue now before us, we are convinced that the district court erred in limiting the cross-examination of Hope Voshel on the subject of defendant's accusation of her nephews. If the facts were as suggested in defendant's offer of proof, they would provide a plausible motive for Voshel to attribute guilt for the burglaries to defendant in order to protect her nephews. This would not be any less the case because the defendant was the source of her knowledge of the nephews' involvement and defendant's intention to turn them in. Voshel was a critical witness for the State, testifying to admissions by the defendant concerning the burglaries and identifying some of the stolen property as having been under defendant's control. Her credibility was certainly not beyond reproach. She provided an entirely unsatisfactory explanation of the source of the jewelry that she produced for the police and attributed to a burglary by defendant. [2] We are convinced that the trial court's restriction of the cross-examination of Voshel produced a sufficiently high potential for prejudice that defendant should be afforded a new trial.