Opinion ID: 2338879
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: psychiatric record and testimony re buck

Text: In the course of the trial, Ralph Buck was called to testify as a witness for the state as to the contents of conversations which he allegedly had with the defendant while both were incarcerated at the Connecticut Correctional Institution at Somers. Prior to the time when Buck was called as a witness, defense counsel informed the court that it had been confirmed that Buck had been incarcerated at the Security Treatment Center in Norwich from May of 1973 until August, 1973. Upon the basis of that representation, and without objection by the state, the court granted the defendant's motion that the prospective witness be ordered to submit to a psychiatric examination by Dr. Robert C. Doherty to determine his competency in connection with his testimony. Subsequently, defense counsel further informed the court that a subpoena previously issued for the production of Buck's psychiatric records had been complied with by the Whiting Forensic Institute and that it was understood that Buck had no objection to Dr. Doherty's examining those records although he did object to the examination of them by defense counsel. On December 5, 1975, Dr. Doherty was called as a witness by the defense and testified, in the absence of the jury, in part, as follows: He was a psychiatrist and he performed a psychiatric examination on Ralph Buck at his office on December 4, 1975; he took a history and reviewed available psychiatric information from the Security Treatment Center and he performed a present-day mental status test; he had reviewed Whiting Forensic Institute records and concluded that Buck did not suffer from any mental disease process which would make him incapable of presenting testimony as a witness; it was his opinion that Buck's mental status would have been the same on July 28, 1975, and that there would have been no change between then and December 4, 1975; Buck presented no evidence of a psychosis or neurosis; at the Security Treatment Center, Buck was labeled an antisocial character, which was consistent with his past criminal record and his past drug usage; an antisocial personality is one whose behavior patterns bring him into repeated conflict with society; the condition has no relationship to the ability of the individual to tell the truth; and Buck was capable of understanding the nature and obligations of the oath. Thereafter, in the jury's absence, Buck testified as to an admission allegedly made to him by the defendant while at Somers, his contacting of the police regarding this information, and the instructions thereafter given to him by the police following his disclosure of these matters. During cross-examination, still in the absence of the jury, defense counsel requested the court to rule on his motion for permission to inspect Buck's psychiatric records. After a discussion with counsel appointed by the court to confer with the witness, Buck indicated that he had no objection to having the record of his psychiatric treatment exposed to defense counsel or to any other person or persons involved in the case. Thereupon, the record from the Security Treatment Center was marked for identification and defense counsel was granted permission to inspect it. Subsequently, defense counsel offered the psychiatric record as a full exhibit; at that time, however, the court sustained the state's objection to its admissibility. Preliminary cross-examination of Buck continued in the absence of the jury during which he was questioned, inter alia, regarding his history of treatment at two psychiatric institutions. [26] Due to some confusion over the extent of Buck's waiver of any objections he may have had to the disclosure of his psychiatric records, he was again briefly questioned on this matter in the jury's absence, at which point he expressed his desire to consult with his appointed counsel. With the permission of the court, Buck's counsel explained that his client completely objects to any disclosure directly or indirectly of this report, any reference to it, or even anything in connection with the report or any information showing that such a report exists, to any member of the public, to the jury, or to anyone other than the Court, [the prosecuting attorneys and the defense attorney]. [27] In response to the defendant's claim that the witness should not be permitted to testify if cross-examination were not allowed regarding his psychiatric records, the court concluded that, in the interests of fundamental fairness, the defendant would be permitted to cross-examine Buck with respect to the record. Thereupon, after informing the court that Buck's treating psychiatrist, Dr. Claude Ballard, was dead, the defendant again offered the psychiatric record as a full exhibit under §§ 52-174 and 4-104 of the General Statutes. The state's objection to the admission of the record was again sustained, and Buck was called to testify in the presence of the jury. On direct examination before the jury, Buck testified, in part, as follows: He met the defendant while at Somers and had a conversation with the defendant regarding the bakery murders within the first nine days of July, 1975; the defendant stated that he was there and that he did it, but no one could put him there; the defendant stated he was supposed to be waiting outside while the other individual was inside, but he had to go in to help his partner when an argument or fight developed inside; the defendant said he fired the shotgun and the other individual fired the 9 mm. pistol; the defendant said they were about to leave and four people had been killed, and two more people came in, which made a total of six; the defendant stated that the proprietor of the bakery was involved in bookmaking and was supposed to have a large sum of money; and that Buck wrote a letter to the state police on or about July 21. On cross-examination, Buck testified as to his anticipated parole possibilities and his criminal record; that he had spent fifteen of his thirty years in prisons or institutions; and that his confinement in the prison's segregation unit was voluntary, partly because his brother-in-law was a policeman and partly because certain people thought he (Buck) was an informer. Thereupon, defense counsel conducted an extensive examination of Buck regarding his mental history and the contents of the psychiatric record. Buck testified that at some time appreciably before his most recent hospitalization at Whiting Forensic Institute, he was sent to Newton State Hospital for observation; that, at his request, he was transferred by prison authorities to Whiting on May 7, 1973, where he remained for approximately ninety days; and that upon his return to prison, he received psychotherapy for a few months. Buck further testified that he told the psychiatrist at Whiting that he had talked to another psychiatrist when he was eleven years old. Buck explained that: it was his understanding he had an antisocial personality; the fact that he was manipulative was discussed at the hospital; and he had, for a short time, used amphetamines. He denied, however, that he had made a suicidal attempt; that he was paranoid or had delusional problems; that he had persecutory thoughts; that he exhibited assaultive behavior, autistic thinking, signs of grandiosity, or poor judgment; or that he was diagnosed as a chronic liar or as having other mental disorders. Following Buck's testimony, the defense called a psychiatric social worker, Nancy Kraft, and a psychologist, Raymond Irizarry, who admittedly had some professional contact with Buck while at Whiting Forensic Institute. During the course of and following the direct examination of both these witnesses, the defendant again attempted to introduce the psychiatric record of Buck pursuant to General Statutes §§ 4-104, 52-174 and 52-180, and under the authority of Taborsky v. State, 142 Conn. 619, 116 A.2d 433. The court, stating that the defendant had not established any basis for admitting this evidence, again sustained the state's objection to its admissibility. In addition, the court consistently sustained the state's objections to the testimony of Kraft and Irizarry relating to their contact with him at Whiting on the grounds of relevancy in that it involved inquiry into collateral issues. The defendant claims on appeal that the court erred in refusing to admit into evidence the psychiatric record and testimony offered to impeach the credibility of Buck. According to the defendant, those actions of the court denied the defendant his rights of confrontation and cross-examination and amounted to a denial of due process of law. As noted above, the defendant offered Buck's psychiatric record into evidence on a number of occasions citing a variety of grounds for its admissibility. An examination of the pertinent portions of the transcript, however, reveals that a consistent objection of the state to the admissibility of this record and to the testimony of Kraft and Irizarry relating to its contents, which was cited by the court as a reason for sustaining the objections, was that the record and testimony in question were inadmissible on the grounds of their irrelevancy and collateral nature. Since we conclude that the exclusion of the record on that ground did not constitute reversible error, we need not consider whether the record would otherwise have been admissible under the statutory provisions relied upon by the defendant. See Kelly v. Sheehan, 158 Conn. 281, 259 A.2d 605. Defense counsel made it clear that Buck's psychiatric record was not offered to show prior inconsistent statements by him but, rather, for the purpose of presenting to the jury the psychiatric record of the witness to impeach his credibility. Relying upon cases such as Taborsky v. State, supra; Holcomb v. Holcomb, 28 Conn. 177; and United States v. Guillette, 404 F. Sup. 1360 (D. Conn.); the defendant claims an absolute right to the admissibility of such evidence. As we have previously noted in another context, in Taborsky v. State, supra, a new trial was ordered for the defendant on the basis of newly discovered evidence as to the undoubted and incurable insanity of a crucial state's witness. In that case, evidence of the witness' mental disease was, at the time of trial, neither available to the court as a factor to consider in determining his competency to testify nor presented to the jury for their use in assessing his credibility. Id., 629-30. In ordering a new trial for the defendant in the Taborsky case, this court noted that the evidence of the witness' mental condition shortly before, at and after the occurrence to which he testified, and at the time of trial, goes to the very sanity of the key witness, without whose evidence the accused could not have been convicted. Id., 632. Similarly, in Holcomb v. Holcomb, supra, this court found error in the exclusion of all evidence as to the insanity of the sole eyewitness before and after the transaction to which he testified, which evidence was offered to impeach the credibility of that witness. And, in United States v. Guillette, supra, the District Court ordered a new trial on due process grounds where a crucial government witness deliberately falsely denied any past psychiatric examination, evaluation or treatment and the government negligently failed to disclose to the defense information in the witness' military records, which were in the government's possession, relating to his past psychiatric history. Id., 1370-72. In the present case, there can be no doubt that Buck's testimony as to the defendant's alleged admission of his participation in the murders was extremely incriminating. Nevertheless, it is important to note that, as appears from a reading of other portions of this opinion, there was substantial testimony and evidence linking the defendant to the crimes, including testimony of a witness indicating that she saw the defendant present inside the bakery at about 8:25 p.m. on the night of the murders. (See Part XIII, infra.) Moreover, this is not a case like Taborsky v. State, supra, or United States v. Guillette, supra, where the trier of fact is completely deprived of any evidence of a crucial witness' past mental problems. The defendant in the present case was afforded wide latitude in his cross-examination of Buck regarding his past mental history and treatment. In fact, Buck's psychiatric record was used by defense counsel to refresh the recollection of the witness when he stated that he could not remember whether he was ever diagnosed as a chronic liar or whether he had ever told his treating psychiatrist that he had attempted suicide or that he had experienced persecutorial thinking after a bad trip with amphetamines. As noted earlier, the jury were generally made aware of Buck's past psychiatric treatment and of specific problems relating to his mental health. While we agree with the defendant that psychiatric records and testimony may be admissible in order to impeach the credibility of a witness; Taborsky v. State, supra; we cannot agree that the admission of such evidence is an absolute right without limitation. As a general rule, psychiatric evidence and testimony as to the mental unsoundness of a witness (i.e., relating to a trait importing in itself a defective power of observation, recollection or communication), at or around the time of the trial or of the occurrence about which he is to testify, are admissible to impeach the credibility of a witness. See Taborsky v. State, supra; 3A Wigmore, Evidence (Chadbourn Rev.) § 931; annot., 20 A.L.R.3d 684, § 18; 81 Am. Jur. 2d, Evidence, § 540. Nevertheless, the admission of such evidence must be left to the discretion of the trial court which is better able to assess the probative value of such evidence as it relates to the particular case before it. United States v. Demma, 523 F.2d 981, 986-87 (9th Cir.); United States v. Barnard, 490 F.2d 907, 912-13 (9th Cir.); Peckham v. United States, 210 F.2d 693, 698 (D.C. Cir.); People v. Spano, 57 App. Div. 2d 715, 395 N.Y.S.2d 548; State v. Pinkus, 550 S.W.2d 829, 839-40 (Mo. App.); McCormick, Evidence (2d Ed.) § 45; see 2 Wigmore, op. cit., § 233 (3). In the present case, the record does not reveal that the details of Buck's hospitalization, treatment and diagnosis more than two years before the incidents to which he testified and nearly two and one half years before his testimony at trial affected his powers of observation, recollection or communication so as to have probative value on the question of his credibility. [28] Moreover, the record, which was available to the defense, prosecution and the trial court for their inspection contained matters which related to Buck's psychological make-up from the time he was twelve years of age, and earlier. In sum, on the basis of the evidence before the trial court, the extensive cross-examination of Buck regarding his past psychiatric history, and our own review of the contents of the record in question, which was marked as an exhibit for identification, we cannot conclude that the trial court's refusal to allow the record into evidence constituted such a clear abuse of discretion so as to warrant reversal. What has been said above applies equally to the restriction of the defendant's examination of both Kraft and Irizarry. The scope of examination of an impeachment witness is likewise within the discretion of the trial court, which must take into account the probative value of the proffered testimony. See State v. Stamm, 16 Wash. App. 603, 604-605, 559 P.2d 1. In the absence of a clear abuse of discretion, the trial court's determination of relevancy will not be disturbed. State v. Schaffer, 168 Conn. 309, 317, 362 A.2d 893. In view of the defendant's access to the psychiatric record of Buck and the virtually unrestricted cross-examination of the witness regarding those matters, it cannot be said that the defendant was either deprived of his rights to cross-examine and confront the witness or denied due process of law. See Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 94 S. Ct. 1105, 39 L. Ed. 2d 347; cf. State v. Corley, 177 Conn. 243, 246, 413 A.2d 826. The jury in the present case were adequately apprised of the relevant factors in Buck's background to enable them, as the sole triers of fact and credibility, to make a sound judgment as to the reliability of the witness.