Opinion ID: 2252960
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Impeachment of Steven Pecoraro

Text: Defendant asserts that the trial court erred in prohibiting him from crossexamining Steven Pecoraro about the details of Pecoraro's convictions. Defendant contends that he was deprived of his right to meaningfully impeach Pecoraro and, therefore, his constitutional right to confront the witnesses against him was abridged. We disagree. Steven Pecoraro had been convicted of stealing human body parts, including sexual organs, from a chiropractic school. Prior to trial, the trial court granted the State's motion in limine to prevent the defense from eliciting this information on cross-examination. On direct examination at trial, Pecoraro testified that, when he and defendant were in jail together, defendant had related his involvement in the Nicarico kidnapping and murder. Pecoraro also testified that he had been convicted of theft, burglary, robbery and had received psychiatric treatment. On cross-examination, Pecoraro again admitted his convictions and psychiatric treatment. He denied receiving any special benefits in exchange for his testimony. In response to defense counsel's query about whether he was currently under psychiatric care, Pecoraro replied that he was told by the psychologist that he was perfectly normal. Defense counsel then attempted to cross-examine Pecoraro concerning the reasons for his psychiatric treatment. The State's objection to this line of questioning was sustained. Defendant asserts that Pecoraro's response opened the door to crossexamination concerning the details of his convictions. The scope of cross-examination concerning the circumstances of a witness' prior convictions is within the trial court's sound discretion, and, absent an abuse of that discretion which results in manifest prejudice to the defendant, the ruling will not be overturned on review. ( People v. Boclair (1989), 129 Ill.2d 458, 477-78, 136 Ill.Dec. 29, 544 N.E.2d 715.) Although the prosecution may open the door on direct examination by inquiring about a witness' past convictions, limits may be placed on the scope of crossexamination once the door has been opened. The opening is not a funnel through which the circumstances of prior convictions can be poured. ( Boclair, 129 Ill.2d at 478, 136 Ill.Dec. 29, 544 N.E.2d 715.) The basis for this prohibition is the avoidance of collateral and extraneous issues. Somewhat similarly, this court has also held improper the direct examination of the prosecution's own witness concerning details of the witness' past convictions. ( People v. DeHoyos (1976), 64 Ill.2d 128, 132-33, 355 N.E.2d 19 (prosecution's eliciting details of prior convictions from own witness, who had associated with defendant, held improper).) The basis for recognizing these limits was that the prejudicial effect of such evidence outweighed its probative value. Defendant asserts that, nonetheless, evidence which would ordinarily not be admissible to impeach becomes admissible to rebut affirmations made by a witness. Defendant relies on People v. Bey (1969), 42 Ill.2d 139, 246 N.E.2d 287, People v. Nastasio (1963), 30 Ill.2d 51, 195 N.E.2d 144, and People v. Ford (1987), 163 Ill.App.3d 497, 114 Ill.Dec. 611, 516 N.E.2d 766. He contends that Pecoraro's response that he was perfectly normal constituted an affirmance which was properly rebuttable with evidence concerning the details of his convictions. The cited authorities concern instances where defendants testified on direct examination about certain convictions and then either asserted ( Nastasio ) or implied ( Bey) that they had no other convictions. Ford concerned an instance where the defendant gratuitously asserted both on direct examination and under cross-examination that he had never committed a certain crime. In each instance, the defendant was considered to have opened the door to his impeachment. In the present case, however, we are not concerned with an attack upon a defendant's credibility, but with an attack upon a witness' credibility. Furthermore, we cannot say that Pecoraro's response to the defense's crossexamination was either gratuitous or an affirmation. A defendant cannot seek to evade the court's ruling by asking a question which elicits a certain response and then assert that the witness has opened the door to that particular subject. This court has found no abuse of discretion where either the jury was informed of a witness' prior convictions and any benefits received in exchange for testifying ( People v. Brisbon (1985), 106 Ill.2d 342, 362, 88 Ill.Dec. 87, 478 N.E.2d 402), or was in the position following testimony and probing cross-examination to judge the witness' demeanor and credibility ( Boclair, 129 Ill.2d at 478, 136 Ill.Dec. 29, 544 N.E.2d 715). The jury here was fully advised that Pecoraro had been convicted of several crimes and had received psychiatric treatment. The jury was also provided the opportunity to fully assess Pecoraro's demeanor and credibility as he underwent extensive cross-examination. Under these circumstances, we find no abuse of discretion in the exclusion of evidence concerning the macabre details of his past convictions.