Opinion ID: 687621
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Cross-examination of Howard

Text: 34 Green contends that he would have been better able to impeach Howard--whom he characterizes as the Government's key witness--had he known about the prior misidentification. We will assume, arguendo, that Howard would have been discredited. As she was just one of many witnesses, however, the question remains whether Howard's impeachment raises a reasonable probability that the outcome of the case would have been different. 35 To address the issue of the other witnesses, Green relies upon a series of cases that he argues stand for the proposition that evidence which allows a defendant to discredit a witness's in-court identification is necessarily material. For example, Green cites Lindsey v. King, 769 F.2d 1034, 1040-43 (5th Cir.1985), in which the defendant was convicted by a jury of capital murder and sentenced to death. One of the witnesses was actually involved in chasing the defendant from the scene of the crime, while the other only saw the defendant run by him at a distance of forty to fifty feet. Both witnesses were able to make an in-court identification of the man. 36 It was not discovered until an evidentiary hearing in the defendant's habeas corpus proceeding, however, that the Government had failed to disclose to the defendant a relevant police report. This report contained an interview with the identifying witness who had observed at a distance of forty to fifty feet the defendant fleeing from the scene. In this interview, which was conducted eight days after the murder, the witness stated that he did not see the defendant's face, that he saw only his silhouette, and that because of this circumstance viewing photographs would be useless. Of course, his testimony at trial was quite the opposite. 37 We stated that a reasonable trier of fact could have convicted the defendant based upon the one positive witness identification remaining. Id. Thus, even if the other witness' testimony had no value, it was possible to say that there was not a reasonable probability that the outcome would have been different. But, we were not coaxed into using this arithmetical approach. Id. Instead, we ruled that the defendant's conviction be reversed, reasoning that: 38 our experience at the bar has been that positive identification by two unshaken witnesses possesses many times the power of such an identification by one only, and that the destruction by cross-examination of the credibility of one of two crucial witnesses--even if the other remains untouched--may have consequences for the case extending far beyond the discrediting of his own testimony. 39 Id. 40 While we do not depart from our prior statement that an arithmetical approach should not be used, it should be recognized that the present case differs in many respects from the Lindsey case. Lindsey itself highlights some of these distinctions: 41 [T]he evidence withheld by the prosecutor in today's case carried within it the potential ... for the destruction of [the observing witness'] identification of [defendant].... That done, given the circumstances that we have recounted of poor lighting, distance, shortness of time to view the assailant, a single unshaken identifying witness, another suspect of very similar appearance on the scene, the degree of proof required for conviction and--perhaps most telling--the degree of conviction in the jurors requisite to imposing the penalty of death, we find our confidence in the results of the trial undermined. 42 Id. 43 In the present case, there are three witnesses other than Howard, all of whom are law enforcement personnel, who were easily able to identify Green as the man who made the drug deal. Furthermore, each of these witnesses was able to view Green at a shorter distance, for a greater length of time, and in better conditions than the one remaining witness in Lindsey. 44 On February 11, 1993, at 12:45 P.M., in broad daylight, Detective Childs and Howard spoke to Ronald Earl Green, who had pulled his car alongside theirs, for three to five minutes. They spoke once again thirty minutes later when Green returned. He was inside Howard's car for two to five minutes. During this time, Detective Childs, who was in the front passenger seat, was in close quarters with Green, who was in the rear seat on the driver's side. In fact, Childs was the person who actually exchanged the money and drugs with Green. Meanwhile, Agent Crawford and Agent Green were in their surveillance position, with Agent Green observing the man through the use of a monocular. Detective Childs and Agent Green both testified in court that Ronald Earl Green was the man who delivered the drugs. 45 On February 24, 1993, in the early afternoon, Howard and Agent Crawford met with Green in Howard's car for the purpose of paying the balance on money owed for the prior drug deal. Once again, Green sat in the rear seat on the driver's side. Agent Crawford was in the passenger seat. Crawford, Green, and Howard engaged in conversation for three to five minutes, with Crawford being able to observe Green from this favorable vantage point. Agent Crawford testified in court that Ronald Earl Green was the man who was present on this occasion. 46 On April 8, 1993, Agent Green observed defendant Green at a stop light while defendant Green was driving the same blue Nissan Maxima that had been used in the February 11, 1993, drug deal. At this encounter, Agent Green had pulled his car next to defendant Green's; both men had their windows down. It should be recalled that Agent Green was the person using the monocular in his surveillance position on February 11. Agent Green testified in court that defendant Green was the man who was driving the Nissan Maxima both on February 11 and April 8, 1993. 47 Thus, the facts of this case are a far cry from those confronted in Lindsey. Here, three law enforcement witnesses gave credible testimony that was strengthened by the vantage points from which they were able to observe Green. Their eyewitness identification testimony in court was not impeached, even to the slightest degree. Any misidentifications of Dirty-Dirty made in some of their reports was sufficiently explored by defense counsel. In fact, the entire misidentification theory was fully tried before the jury, as the record reveals that this issue was argued by Green ad nauseam. Therefore, we are confident that the jury still would have found Green guilty regardless of whether Howard's testimony was discredited.