Opinion ID: 198362
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Prosecutor's Cross-examination of Gaines

Text: 71 Gaines contends that the prosecutor erroneously asked him during cross-examination to comment on the credibility of other witnesses, and compounded the error by highlighting this exchange during his closing argument to the jury. 72 Towards the close of his cross-examination, the prosecutor asked Gaines nine times to comment on the testimony of other witnesses or evidence previously introduced: 73 Q: And when Dana Franklin got on the stand and identified you as the crack dealer, he was wrong, right? 74 A: Yes, he was. 75 Q: And when all those people on the tapes identified you as the crack dealer, they were wrong, right? 76 A: I never heard anyone identify me as the crack dealer. 77 Q: Did you hear Geneva Franklin say, Mr. Corwin Gaines has got the stuff? Remember that tape? 78 A: I heard her say, he's got the stuff. 79 Q: And she's wrong, right? 80 A: I never heard her say what stuff. 81 Q: If there's a voice on that tape, Mr. Gaines, that identifies you as a crack dealer, that voice would be wrong? 82 A: Yes, it would be. 83 Q: And Allen Franklin when he got on the stand-- 84 A: Would be lying. 85 Q: He would be wrong, too? 86 A: Yes. 87 Q: And Amy Hatch, she's wrong, too? 88 A: Yes, she is. 89 Q: And even Brian Halliday when he said these were the books-- 90 A: He never said these were books. 91 Q: He was wrong if he did, though, right? He was wrong if that's what he said to this jury? 92 A: He didn't say that. 93 Q: Well, let's set that aside, Mr. Gaines. And your own mother when she testified that video projector, she's wrong, too, right? 94 A: If those are your words. 95 Q: Weren't they hers? 96 A: Similar to it, yes, they were. 97 Q: And if she says it looked just like that, she would be wrong, too, right? 98 A: She didn't say that. 99 The prosecutor alluded to this exchange during his closing argument, stating: And you decide if everyone else in this case is either wrong or lying, even Brian Halliday about the car books, even his own mother about the video equipment. Everyone is wrong in this case, according to Mr. Gaines, except him. 100 This circuit has held that it is improper for an attorney to ask a witness whether another witness lied on the stand. United States v. Fernandez, 145 F.3d 59, 64 (1st Cir.1998); United States v. Sullivan, 85 F.3d 743, 750 (1st Cir.1996); United States v. Akitoye, 923 F.2d 221, 224 (1st Cir.1991); cf. United States v. Boyd, 54 F.3d 868, 871 (D.C.Cir.1995); United States v. Richter, 826 F.2d 206 (2d Cir.1987). Underlying this rule is the concept that credibility judgments are for the jury, not witnesses, to make. Sullivan, 85 F.3d at 750. 101 The prosecutor here did not, however, ask the witness whether he believed the others had lied. Instead, he asked whether the other witnesses or voices on tape recordings were wrong, rather than lying. The witness was not required to choose between conceding the point or branding another witness as a liar. See United States v. Gaind, 31 F.3d 73, 77 (2d Cir.1994) (Asking a witness whether a previous witness who gave conflicting testimony is 'mistaken' highlights the objective conflict without requiring the witness to condemn the prior witness as a purveyor of deliberate falsehood, i.e., a 'liar.' ). When Gaines finished the prosecutor's statement by saying that Allen Franklin [w]ould be lying, the prosecutor's follow-up question clarified, He would be wrong, too? Hence the L word was avoided. Whether this avoidance would suffice in all situations, we need not decide now. As Gaines did not object in the district court to these questions or to the prosecutor's closing argument, our review is limited to plain error. Clearly that standard was not transgressed. The prosecutor's technique was, moreover, duplicated by Gaines's own counsel. 3 102