Opinion ID: 172774
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Prescription Medications

Text: But the district court did not confine its cross-examination ruling to questions about the CI's mental health. Robinson was also prohibited from inquiring into the CI's prescription medications or even demonstrating why such cross-examination would have been appropriate. Though the district court did not explicitly state that any inquiry into the CI's psychiatric medications was off limits, defense counsel was understandably hesitant to delve into the issue. [2] As the majority points out, a witness's use of drugs or medications is relevant to credibility. See United States v. Jones, 213 F.3d 1253, 1261 (10th Cir.2000) (suggesting prescription medications might affect a witness's memory, perception, or comprehension). Thus, I agree with the majority that the district court's apparent prohibition on cross-examination regarding the CI's use of psychiatric medications improperly preclude[d] an entire relevant area of cross-examination, denying Robinson an opportunity to impeach the CI's memory and perceptive faculties at the time of trial. Montelongo, 420 F.3d at 1175 (quoting Parker, 394 F.3d at 1316). The issue could have been avoided had the district court allowed Robinson to conduct a voir dire of the CI or, at minimum, allowed the parties to present arguments outside the presence of the jury regarding any medications the CI was taking at the time of trial. Robinson could then have attempted to demonstrate why the medications were relevant to the CI's credibility. The prosecutor likely would have responded that the evidence was irrelevant or would have prejudiced the jury against the CI. The court then could have made an informed ruling on the record regarding the admissibility of the evidence as it did with respect to the CI's mental health. But there is no such ruling on the record before us. Thus, this case stands in contrast to other cases involving court-imposed limitations on cross-examination with respect to a witness's mental health and psychiatric medications. On several prior occasions, we have upheld various restrictions on cross-examination, but usually some inquiry into the witness's mental state was allowed. See United States v. LaVallee, 439 F.3d 670, 692 (10th Cir.2006) (concluding that although the district court denied discovery of a witness's privileged medical records, the court did not appear to limit the scope of questions that the defendants could ask [the witness] on cross-examination and therefore did not infringe the defendants' Confrontation Clause rights); Jones, 213 F.3d at 1261 (holding that the district court's prohibition of cross-examination on a witness's mental health was permissible because the court allowed such examination outside the presence of the jury); Hinkle, 37 F.3d at 579 (holding that because the district court did not rule out all testimony regarding the witness' mental health, it did not violate the Confrontation Clause when it excluded evidence that the witness was seeing a psychiatrist). In sum, our precedent suggests the district court should have granted Robinson greater latitude in cross-examining the CI  or at least granted him the opportunity to argue that cross-examination was warranted  regarding the medications the CI was taking to treat his psychiatric problems.