Opinion ID: 2334891
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Cross-Examination of Detective Danks

Text: Appellant next alleges that the trial judge erred in limiting the defense cross-examination of Detective William Danks. In an attempt to discredit the police statement of Roberto Gonzalez, defense counsel sought to elicit testimony indicating that the detective could have tape recorded the statement, but did not. Detective Danks testified that he quickly discovered that Gonzalez had difficulty hearing and that he was mentally slow. N.T. 11/17/92 at 232. On direct examination, the detective described the manner in which he took Gonzalez's statement: Q. You took the statement, C-51A, that's in front of you, correct? A. Yes. Q. And that was a handwritten statement as opposed to a typewritten statement? A. Yes. Q. What was the process that you utilized; what did you do? A. It's as close to verbatim as I could get it. By the way, this is in my hand; I wrote this. I would formulate a question, write it out and ask him the question and then I would record his answer as best I could as he was giving it. Then, after his answer, I would formulate my second question, write it out and then ask him the question. N.T. 11/17/92 at 230-31. The statement from Gonzalez that Detective Danks read to the jury suggested that Gonzalez's responses to the detective's questions were clear and logical, containing references to specific months in which certain events occurred. Appellant argued below, and alleges now, that Gonzalez's more scattered testimony at trial suggested that Detective Danks must have filled in holes in Gonzalez's memory by providing him with the time frame of the events covered in the statement. On cross-examination, appellant's counsel sought to elicit from Gonzalez that Detective Danks had provided him with some of the information contained in the statement: Q. Do you remember  you don't remember the day, but you remembered the date when you talked to the police; correct? A. Yes. Q. Isn't that because the police were helping you fill in the blanks? A. Well, as they read it over to me, some of it would just come to my mind, you know. Q. So, in other words, as the police were reading what your answers should be, it came to your mind, and you said, Yes, I saw him back in December? A. Yes. I also corrected two simple words that came into the statement. Q. So, the police going over this case helped you remember? A. Yes. Q. What I am saying, the police, when they were speaking to you on April 30th, they were helping you remember on that day; correct? A. Yes.     Q. So, when you gave the date of January to the police or when they wrote January down, that was not the truth, that was not your word, it was the policemen's word; right? [Objection by prosecutor overruled] Q. Am I correct in stating that it was the detective's word, January, and not your own word, correct? A. Yes. N.T. 11/17/92 at 190-95. Based upon this exchange and other similar exchanges, appellant argues that Gonzalez's relatively cogent police statement must have been the result of assistance from Detective Danks. Therefore, appellant maintains, his counsel should have been permitted to cross-examine Detective Danks about the availability of recording equipment at the time he took Gonzalez's statement. According to appellant, such a recording would have demonstrated to the jury that Detective Danks supplied some of the information in Gonzalez's statement. When defense counsel attempted to question Detective Danks about the possibility of recording Gonzalez's statement, the trial court sustained the Commonwealth's objection. N.T. 11/17/92 at 266-67. Appellant claims this ruling was erroneous. Cross-examination in criminal cases may extend beyond the subjects of direct testimony and includes the right to examine a witness on any facts tending to refute inferences or deductions arising from matters testified to on direct examination. Commonwealth v. Green, 525 Pa. 424, 581 A.2d 544, 558 (1990) (citing Commonwealth v. Lopinson, 427 Pa. 284, 234 A.2d 552 (1967), vacated on other grounds, 392 U.S. 647, 88 S.Ct. 2277, 20 L.Ed.2d 1344 (1968)). However, the scope of cross-examination is within the sound discretion of the trial judge and, absent an abuse of that discretion, an appellate court will not disturb the trial judge's rulings. Commonwealth v. Auker, 545 Pa. 521, 681 A.2d 1305, 1317 (1996). We conclude that the trial court's ruling provides no basis for relief. Appellant argues that Gonzalez admitted that the police provided him with the answers to some of their questions, and therefore, a recording of the original interview would be relevant to show police manipulation. But the fact that a recording would be relevant or helpful does not mean that police were obliged to make the recording. Of course, although police in this Commonwealth are not required to record statements with witnesses or suspects, neither are they precluded from taking such measures in order to provide an objective record of the interview. Such a recording could conclusively confirm or refute a claim of police manipulation. Thus, there is force in appellant's argument that, where there is some basis in fact for the defense to argue police manipulation of a statement which was not recorded, questioning about the availability of a tape recorder should be permitted. Here, there was some basis for the argument of police manipulation, and the better course would have been to permit the line of inquiry. Nevertheless, we conclude that any error in this regard was harmless. Notwithstanding the court's ruling, the defense was able to make its point, and quite forcefully so, concerning possible police manipulation of Gonzalez's statement. The jury observed Gonzalez on the witness stand, and was able to assess for itself his limitations and difficulties. The defense did not need to question the detective to be able to argue that the jury need only compare what they saw on the stand to the contents of the police statement to realize that Gonzalez's statement reflected manipulation by police. Indeed, the defense argued police fabrication at length in closing: Let's talk about Robert Gonzalez. Robert had memory problems; he had hearing problems; he had psychiatric problems.     Now, he says that one day during the two-week stay, [appellant] comes into the kitchen and, more or less, out of the blue, he starts talking about what happened. Then, Robert says that [appellant] said, well, we broke the front door. Well, you know that's not true because the front door was not broken. If [appellant] was there and the front door wasn't broken, he wouldn't have told Robert the front door was broken. I am suggesting to you, and I'll suggest more later, that the police gave Robert Gonzalez a statement and when the police gave Robert a statement, they had to give it to him in such a way as to be credible in court. So, what they do, they throw in a mistake or two to make it sound like, well, Robert was trying to be honest, but he didn't know everything and he got confused. Robert wasn't confused and the police officer who gave Robert the statement wasn't confused, but he gave it to him to make it seem to you that Robert was being truthful.     What else did he say? He said he remembers in early January, that [appellant] bought some cars, and with regard to the meeting with the Mercedes, my recollection is that Robert said that occurred in December. Whether these things happened in December or January, they happened four or five months prior to the time that Robert gave a statement, so he does remember the time and the place and what happened and he even remembers some of the things that the man in the Mercedes said. Did he remember from the witness box? Do you remember what yesterday morning was? You heard the man testify; you saw the man testify. You saw the manner, way and mode in which he testified and you're going to believe that when he spoke to the police he remembered incidents as to the times and places and dates and what was said five months earlier. Again, reasonable doubt. In the statement that you heard that Detective Danks read, 14 pages of statement that took over four hours. What didn't we see in there. We didn't see one, []I don't remember,[] for an answer. Isn't that strange, the young man who had so much trouble remembering talked to the police for four hours and didn't have any trouble remembering.     Now, if Robert didn't give the statement, where did the statement come from? It came from the police.     Detective Danks is called as a witness and he read the statement. It was interesting because he said, yeah, at first, I was having trouble getting his address. Well, the man had psychiatric problems and he couldn't remember. Then the detective said, it was my fault. So, what did the detective do? In an almost downright neighborly way, he pulled up his chair and sat down at the table and spoke a little louder. Now, you're in a locked room, a closed room down at the P.A.B. The boy can't remember his address and now, the detective is speaking a little louder. If you remember what Gonzalez said, he said, oh yeah, the detective, he kept repeating the answers and filling in the blanks. I think it is crystal clear where the statement of Gonzalez comes from. N.T. 11/25/92 at 782-88. Although the trial court did not permit counsel to question Detective Danks concerning the availability of recording devices, the court did not limit counsel's examination of Gonzalez, or his argument on the salient overriding point: that Gonzalez's police statement should be deemed unreliable, because the distinction between his apparently clear memory at the time he gave his statement and his performance on the witness stand at trial suggested police manipulation of the statement. The excluded inquiry would have supported the point in some respects, but its exclusion was not harmful. Thus, this claim does not entitle appellant to relief.