Opinion ID: 1155936
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Michigan Incident

Text: The motion in limine was to preclude reference in the video tape to prior bad acts of appellant in Michigan in the presentation of the prosecution's case in chief. The motion was granted, but the video tape was not edited to delete the reference before it was shown to the jury. It was shown without objection. In fact, appellant stipulated to its admission into evidence. When the objecting motion was made the next day, the tape was edited before it went to the jury, and a limiting instruction was given to the jury: You are instructed that a certain portion of State's Exhibit 21, the same being a video tape recording, admitted into evidence has been deleted. You are therefore instructed that the deleted portion must not be considered by you as evidence. In view of the passing reference to the Michigan charges, viz. I had a polygraph taken in reference to my daughter's charges against me, which were totally erroneous, and inasmuch as juries are presumed to follow the instructions given to them, Hursh Agency, Inc. v. Wigwam Homes, Inc., Wyo., 664 P.2d 27 (1983); State Highway Commission v. Peters, Wyo., 416 P.2d 390 (1966), there was no error  particularly plain error  in the court's ruling on admission based on this aspect of the video tape. The cases cited in the majority opinion to support a holding that a limiting instruction is insufficient in such situation concern factual situations far more aggravated than here. In United States v. Brevard, 739 F.2d 180 (4th Cir.1984), one of those cited in the majority opinion, repeated warnings were given to the witness to not refer to polygraph tests. At least three references were made to it after objections and warnings by the trial court. In exasperation, the trial court instructed the jury that the polygraph references had nothing to do with the case, and they were to draw no inferences from them. In reversing the conviction, the Fourth Circuit recited the general rule to be:    Where an impermissible reference to a polygraph has been interjected, the court usually may cure the error by striking the evidence and instructing the jury to disregard it.    739 F.2d at 182. However, the repetition and aggravated nature of the references in the case were held to be sufficient to overcome the presumption. Objections were properly and promptly made, and the references were repeated and aggravated in United States v. Brevard , contrary to that in this case. In Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), another of the cases cited in the majority opinion, the problem was the admissibility of a co-defendant's statement which implicated the defendant. The co-defendant was not available for cross-examination; it was a joint trial and there was a substantial threat to defendant's constitutional rights. The Supreme Court recognized the general rule thus:    Not every admission of inadmissible hearsay or other evidence can be considered to be reversible error unavoidable through limiting instructions; instances occur in almost every trial where inadmissible evidence creeps in, usually inadvertently.    88 S.Ct. at 1627. The court found the facts of the case to provide an exception wherein the risk is great that the jury cannot or will not follow the limiting instructions, and the consequences are vital to the defendant. The facts in this case do not start to match those in Bruton so as to warrant an exception to the general rule. In the other case cited in the majority opinion, Throckmorton v. Holt, 180 U.S. 552, 21 S.Ct. 474, 45 L.Ed. 663 (1901), the essential holding was that the instruction was not clear on what part of the evidence was not to be considered by the jury, and that the uncertainty did not result in a clear direction to not consider the evidence; i.e., the result was that there was no withdrawal of evidence from jury consideration, not that the withdrawal itself was insufficient to cure the error. The court did note the general rule that withdrawal of evidence cures any error in its admission, but that there may be instances where such a strong impression is made by the evidence that withdrawal will not erase it. In Throckmorton, there were several witnesses involved in the questioned evidence and long argument concerning its admissibility. Such aggravations do not exist in this case. The limiting instruction in this case was well within the general rule with reference to the Michigan incident.