Opinion ID: 1452791
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Davis v. Alaska and Progeny

Text: In Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974), the Supreme Court held that the state trial court violated the defendant's Confrontation Clause rights by barring him from impeaching a prosecution witness with the witness's prior criminal record. In Vasquez's case, the state courts found no constitutional infirmity in barring Vasquez from impeaching Brown's hearsay testimony with evidence of Brown's prior criminal record. That determination represented an unreasonable application of Davis. In Davis, the state charged the defendant with stealing a safe. To insulate the credibility of its star witness, the prosecution sought a protective order barring the defense from referring to the witness's juvenile record. See id. at 310-11, 94 S.Ct. 1105. The defense protested that because the witness feared his probation would be revoked, he was subject to undue police pressure and therefore possibly biased against the defendant. Id. at 311, 94 S.Ct. 1105. The trial court granted the protective order, relying in part on an Alaska law giving it discretion to admit a juvenile record in these circumstances, id. at 311 & n. 1, 94 S.Ct. 1105, and the defendant was convicted. In the passage relevant to Vasquez's case, the Supreme Court explained: Subject always to the broad discretion of a trial judge to preclude repetitive and unduly harassing interrogation, the cross-examiner is not only permitted to delve into the witness' story to test the witness' perceptions and memory, but the cross-examiner has traditionally been allowed to impeach, i.e., discredit, the witness. One way of discrediting the witness is to introduce evidence of a prior criminal conviction of that witness. By so doing the cross-examiner intends to afford the jury a basis to infer that the witness' character is such that he would be less likely than the average trustworthy citizen to be truthful in his testimony. The introduction of evidence of a prior crime is thus a general attack on the credibility of the witness. A more particular attack on the witness' credibility is effected by means of cross-examination directed toward revealing possible biases, prejudices or ulterior motives of the witness as they may relate directly to issues or personalities in the case at hand. Id. at 316, 94 S.Ct. 1105. The Court reversed the defendant's conviction because the state courts had prohibited him from probing the witness's possible bias. Id. at 317-18, 94 S.Ct. 1105. In Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 106 S.Ct. 1431, 89 L.Ed.2d 674 (1986), the Supreme Court refined the meaning of Davis. Although Davis had recognized the importance of cross-examining a witness regarding bias, id. at 678-79, 106 S.Ct. 1431, Van Arsdall stressed that [i]t does not follow . . . that the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment prevents a trial judge from imposing any limits on defense counsel's inquiry into the potential bias of a prosecution witness. Id. at 679, 106 S.Ct. 1431. For example, the judge may impose reasonable limits to avoid harassment, prejudice, confusion of the issues, the witness' safety, or interrogation that is repetitive or only marginally relevant. Id. The Confrontation Clause `guarantees an opportunity for effective cross-examination, not cross-examination that is effective in whatever way, and to whatever extent, the defense might wish.' Id. (quoting Delaware v. Fensterer, 474 U.S. 15, 20, 106 S.Ct. 292, 88 L.Ed.2d 15 (1985) (per curiam)). Applying these principles, Van Arsdall acknowledged a Confrontation Clause violation because the trial court had prohibited all inquiry into the possibility that [the witness] would be biased as a result of the State's dismissal of his pending public drunkenness charge. Id. The Court then restated its rationale: [A] criminal defendant states a violation of the Confrontation Clause by showing that he was prohibited from engaging in otherwise appropriate cross-examination designed to show a prototypical form of bias. . . . Id. at 680, 106 S.Ct. 1431 (citing Davis, 415 U.S. at 318, 94 S.Ct. 1105). These cases demonstrate that the Confrontation Clause affords the right to impeach a witness with his criminal record, subject to the trial court's discretion to impose reasonable limitations to prevent harassment and annoyance of the witness. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. at 679, 106 S.Ct. 1431. Impeachment with prior crimes is precisely the otherwise appropriate cross-examination permitted under Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. at 680, 106 S.Ct. 1431. It is a prototypical form of cross-examination, even if it goes only to the witness's credibility. See Davis, 415 U.S. at 316, 94 S.Ct. 1105; see also, e.g., Ohler v. United States, 529 U.S. 753, 757, 120 S.Ct. 1851, 146 L.Ed.2d 826 (2000) ([O]nce the defendant testifies, she is subject to cross-examination, including impeachment by prior convictions. . . .); Grunewald v. United States, 353 U.S. 391, 420, 77 S.Ct. 963, 1 L.Ed.2d 931 (1957) ([W]hen a criminal defendant takes the stand, he . . . becomes subject to cross-examination impeaching his credibility just like any other witness. . . .). Therefore, the state courts' failure to recognize that the trial court's exclusion of Vasquez's impeachment evidence amounted to a Confrontation Clause violation represents an unreasonable application of Supreme Court precedent, most notably Davis.