Opinion ID: 604665
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Cross-examination of government witness Lamb.

Text: 19 Appellants both claim that the trial judge improperly limited cross-examination of prosecution witness David Jan Lamb, and that those limitations violated their Sixth Amendment rights. We review a trial judge's decision to limit cross-examination for abuse of discretion. United States v. Bonanno, 852 F.2d 434, 439 (9th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 1016 (1989). Whether cross-examination restrictions are so severe as to be violative of the Sixth Amendment's confrontation clause is a legal question that we review de novo. United States v. Vargas, 933 F.2d 701, 704 (9th Cir.1991). 20 Pursuant to the government's motion in limine, the trial court barred appellants' counsel from asking Lamb questions about six different topics. Three of those rulings are disputed on appeal. Appellants contend that the trial judge erred in disallowing questions pertaining to (1) Lamb's 1974 dishonorable discharge from the Army, (2) Lamb's 1972 Army enlistment application, and (3) Lamb's prior cooperation with law enforcement officials on another case. 21 We have made it clear that a trial judge does not abuse her discretion in limiting cross-examination  'as long as the jury receives sufficient information to appraise the biases and motivations of the witness.'  United States v. Guthrie, 931 F.2d 564, 568 (9th Cir.1991) (quoting United States v. Feldman, 788 F.2d 544, 554 (9th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 1067 (1987)). As the government correctly points out, the jury that convicted Margo and Lemke had abundant impeachment evidence with which to assess Lamb's veracity. This material included the fact that Lamb was testifying under a grant of immunity, that he had prior felony convictions (plural), that he had violated his parole, that he had used drugs since the age of eleven (defense counsel queried Lamb about his memory in light of this long-term drug use), that he was a transsexual who dressed as a woman at the time of the murder-for-hire scheme, and that he had been a prostitute at one time. 22 The quintessentially discretionary task of [m]aintaining the proper balance between the impeachment tactics of the prosecution and the defense can only be undertaken by the trial judge. United States v. Jackson, 882 F.2d 1444, 1447 (9th Cir.1989). On the one hand, a defendant has broad cross-examination rights when the prosecution's case against her relies heavily on the credibility of a government witness. United States v. Ray, 731 F.2d 1361, 1364 (9th Cir.1984). Inquiry into specific instances of misconduct may be permitted if those instances are probative of truthfulness or untruthfulness. Fed.R.Evid. 608(b); Jackson, 882 F.2d at 1446. 23 The trial court granted defense counsel wide latitude in cross-examining Lamb. The judge was not required to permit cumulative impeachment. Jackson, 882 F.2d at 1447. Moreover, there were good reasons for precluding cross-examination on each of the three disputed areas. Delving into Lamb's cooperation with police in a 1980 burglary case would likely have required testimony regarding Lamb's misdemeanor conviction in that case, which was inadmissible. 5 The trial judge's decision to preclude questioning that would have led into an impermissible area was neither an abuse of discretion nor error of constitutional magnitude. The trial court could perhaps have permitted cross-examination on other of the disputed issues, but there was no error in refusing to do so. See id. at 1446-47. 24