Opinion ID: 1961916
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: solevo's fifth amendment privilege

Text: During the prosecution's case-in-chief the state called Michael Solevo as its first witness. Solevo testified on direct examination on December 6 and 7, 1979. After the state completed its direct examination of Solevo, the defendants moved for and were granted a recess in the trial so that they might better prepare their cross-examinations. The defendants cross-examined Solevo from December 11 through 13, 1979. The state asked only two questions on redirect examination and there was no recross. Solevo answered each and every question put to him by the prosecution and the defendants during the five separate days he was on the witness stand. On January 1, 1980, while the trial was in recess, Kent Kelsey, who had known all three codefendants for varying periods of time, met with Michael Solevo. From there Kelsey went to codefendant John Taddei's home to tell Taddei that Solevo wanted to change his testimony. Thereafter counsel for DeMartin called a representative from the state attorney's office and informed him that Solevo wished to talk to the defense. The prosecution contacted Solevo to find out what his intentions were and recorded this conversation. On January 2, 1980, the defense advised the court of the January 1, 1980 events and the state advised the court and counsel that it had spoken with Solevo. Counsel for DeMartin advised the court that he would be meeting with Solevo to talk with him about his alleged desire to change his testimony. On January 9, 1980, the state rested its case in chief. On January 17, 1980, Altrui called Solevo to testify. Solevo exercised his fifth amendment rights on twelve separate and specific questions. [2] Neither the state nor DeMartin was allowed to cross-examine the witness. Upon the conclusion of this series the defendants moved for a mistrial which the court denied. The critical question is whether in freely testifying both on direct and on cross-examination concerning the shooting incident Solevo waived his fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination. A testimonial waiver is not lightly to be inferred. Smith v. United States, 337 U.S. 137, 150, 69 S. Ct. 1000, 93 L. Ed. 1264 (1949). It should be inferred only in the most compelling circumstances. Klein v. Harris, 667 F.2d 274, 288 (2d Cir. 1981). Vague and uncertain evidence will not support a finding of waiver. Rogers v. United States, 340 U.S. 367, 377, 71 S. Ct. 438, 95 L. Ed. 344 (Black, J., dissenting), reh. denied, 341 U.S. 912, 71 S. Ct. 619, 95 L. Ed. 1348 (1951). Where a witness who has testified fully is recalled to the witness stand under a claim that he has recanted his prior testimony and thereafter upon inquiry the witness claims the privilege, the trial court must conduct a two-prong inquiry to determine waiver. Waiver can be inferred only if (1) the witness' prior statements have created a significant likelihood that the finder of fact will be left with and prone to rely on a distorted view of the truth, and (2) the witness had reason to know that his prior statements would be interpreted as a waiver of the fifth amendment's privilege against self-incrimination. Klein v. Harris, supra, 287. Where ... a witness' prior testimony results in a testimonial waiver of the witness' fifth amendment privilege, the trial judge must, if the witness is subsequently recalled to the stand, direct the witness to testify, if necessary under penalty of contempt. Brown v. United States, 356 U.S. 148, 154-57, 78 S. Ct. 622, 2 L. Ed.2d 589 (1958). If the witness thereafter continues to refuse to testify, and if the refusal precludes the defendant from testing the truth of the witness' prior testimony, the trial judge must strike the prior testimony. United States v. Cardillo, 316 F.2d 606, 611 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 375 U.S. 822, 84 S. Ct. 60, 11 L. Ed.2d 55 (1963). The failure of the trial judge to take such corrective action deprives the defendant of his sixth amendment right of confrontation. Klein v. Harris, supra, 289. Although superficially Klein would seem to apply to the case at bar, because the peculiar facts here are light years away from Klein a different result is justified. Klein and his codefendant Rabinowitz were charged with the murder of one Diane Goodman, who was stabbed to death in her home. Rabinowitz, who told the police that Klein had done the stabbing, was permitted to plead guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter. Klein, for his part, maintained that Rabinowitz had suddenly and unexpectedly killed Goodman while Klein was in an adjoining room. At the trial, Klein's trial counsel adopted the strategy of attempting to persuade the jury that it would be unfair to convict Klein of any offense greater than that to which Rabinowitz pleaded guilty. Klein's counsel, knowing of Rabinowitz's earlier statement to the police, nevertheless called him as a defense witness. Rabinowitz, without asserting a constitutional privilege, testified about the stabbing including a statement that he held the victim while Klein stabbed her. After testifying, Rabinowitz was taken to the detention area. Klein's counsel also went to the detention area to speak with Klein. As Klein's counsel was leaving the area Rabinowitz stopped him and told him that under pressure from the assistant district attorney, he had lied on the stand, that, in fact, he and not Klein had actually killed Goodman. Thereafter when the defense called Rabinowitz to the stand and asked him a number of questions concerning the conversation in the detention area and about the events at the scene of the crime he refused to answer, invoking the privilege against self-incrimination. Rabinowitz, having by his later statement characterized his earlier statement as a patent falsehood, could not be permitted to leave that statement before the jury as the unblemished truth without impairing the integrity of the judicial process. It must be conceded that the privilege [against self-incrimination] is to suppress the truth, but that does not mean that it is a privilege to garble it; although its exercise deprives the parties of evidence, it should not furnish one side with what may be false evidence and deprive the other of any means of detecting the imposition. The time for a witness to protect himself is when the decision is first presented to him; he needs nothing more, and anything more puts a mischievous instrument at his disposal. United States v. St. Pierre, 132 F.2d 837, 840 (2d Cir. 1942), cert. dismissed as moot, 319 U.S. 41, 63 S. Ct. 910, 87 L. Ed. 1199 (1943); note, Testimonial Waiver of the Privilege Against Self-Incrimination, 92 Harv. L. Rev. 1752, 1760 (1979). The situation in this case presents an entirely different picture. After Solevo was visited by Kelsey, DeMartin's attorney called the assistant state's attorney and advised him that Solevo wanted to talk to the defense attorney. The prosecutor called Solevo immediately to find out what his intentions were and recorded the conversation. Solevo told the prosecutor (1) that he was caught between the [expletive] and the sweat; (2) that he didn't want to have to carry a gun home anymore; (3) that he had to live in [this] town; (4) that he couldn't go under the [expletive] strain; (5) that he couldn't take it any longer, he couldn't [expletive] take it and (6) that nobody could be with him as many hours as there is [sic]. At that point in the conversation, after being repeatedly asked by the prosecutor what it was that he was supposed to say, Solevo stated, [m]aybe I made a mistake, maybe it wasn't Charlie DeMartin. The defendants moved for a mistrial. The general principle is that a mistrial should be granted only as a result of some occurrence upon the trial of such a character that it is apparent to the court that because of it a party cannot have a fair trial. State v. Turcio, 178 Conn. 116, 143, 422 A.2d 749 (1979). In passing on a motion for mistrial the trial court has a wide discretion. Ibid. If curative action less drastic is appropriate the court should take such action before terminating the trial. In view of the principle that waiver of the privilege against self-incrimination is not lightly to be inferred it is not at all clear that Solevo was not justified in claiming the privilege in this case. It is a fair inference that Kelsey attempted to tamper with a key state witness. Though justice may be blind it is not stupid. The mind of justice, not merely its eyes, would have to be blind to attribute such an occurrence to mere fortuity. Avery v. Georgia, 345 U.S. 559, 564, 73 S. Ct. 891, 97 L. Ed. 1244 (1953) (Frankfurter, J., concurring). Without further inquiry the defendants could not derive the benefit of a possible change of testimony obtained by questionable means. Had the defendants insisted on Solevo's testimony they could have pressed the claim of waiver before the trial judge in the absence of the jury. If upon inquiry the trial judge concluded that if Solevo persisted in the claim of privilege he would be obliged to strike Solevo's earlier testimony, then the prosecutor faced with the prospect of losing Solevo's testimony could have saved the testimony by granting Solevo immunity from prosecution. The defendants avoided this possibility by gaining the advantage of leaving with the jury the impression that the earlier testimony was untrue without the jury learning about the circumstances under which the recantation [3] occurred. This is not a case where the state attempted to offer evidence of tampering by Kelsey in order to show consciousness of guilt on the part of the defendants. Such evidence would be inadmissible without a further showing that Kelsey was acting at the request of the defendants or at least with their knowledge, consent or authorization. State v. Sorbo, 174 Conn. 253, 256, 386 A.2d 221 (1978); McCormick, Evidence (2d Ed.) § 273. Here the defendants seek to use tainted evidence as a basis for striking untainted evidence under a claim that to do otherwise would deny them their constitutional right of confrontation. Corruption of evidencewhether by bribery, intimidation, spoliation or the likeobstructs the discovery of truth by manufacturing or suppressing testimony. 3A Wigmore, Evidence (Chadbourne Rev.) § 956. The confrontation clause does not give the defendants a license to avail themselves of the benefits of tampering with the integrity of the judicial process. Had Solevo, when recalled, testified that he may have been or was mistaken in his earlier positive identification of DeMartin, the prosecutor would have been able, by the introduction of the tape recording, to show that Solevo had changed his testimony out of fear. Kelsey was not a disinterested observer. He had known the codefendant Taddei for some twenty-five years. He also had a symbiotic relationship with him as evidenced by his becoming a willing receiver of answers signalled to him in the courtroom by Taddei while Kelsey was on the witness stand. Kelsey also knew DeMartin for some four to five years and frequently saw him at GG's Lounge. Solevo's sudden change of heart after being visited by Kelsey can hardly be attributed to coincidence. Solevo was being placed by Kelsey in a no-win situation. Unless he recanted his earlier testimony it is a fair inference that he feared he would be subjected to violence. If he did recant, on the other hand, he faced being prosecuted for having given false information to the police. General Statutes § 53a-180. In these circumstances the privilege against self-incrimination removed him from the horns of his dilemma. Whether he was entitled to assert the privilege in the circumstance is not free from doubt. A witness who testifies freely and voluntarily has a right to assume that he will not be intimidated to change his testimony. On the record before us, and applying the standard that waiver will not be inferred in the absence of compelling circumstances, we cannot conclude that Solevo had reason to know that his prior statements would be interpreted as a waiver of the fifth amendment privilege in a situation where he faced possible incrimination resulting from changes in testimony produced by intimidation. We also cannot conclude that under the peculiar circumstances of this case permitting Solevo to exercise his fifth amendment privilege left the jury with a distorted view of the truth. [4] DeMartin makes two claims. First, he claims that he was denied the right to cross-examine Solevo. This claim is without merit. Solevo was called as a witness by the defendant Altrui. When Solevo refused to answer any questions put to him by Altrui the trial court properly ruled that in the absence of any testimony from Solevo on direct examination there was nothing on which he could be cross-examined. The purpose of ... cross-examination is to test the credibility of the witness and the accuracy and reasonableness of his direct testimony. Floyd v. Fruit Industries, Inc., 144 Conn. 659, 667, 136 A.2d 918 (1957). In the absence of direct testimony there is nothing to test. Second, insofar as DeMartin's motion for mistrial raises the constitutional issue involved in Klein v. Harris, supra, what we said above with respect to Altrui's claim applies with equal force to DeMartin.