Opinion ID: 883934
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The questioning of witnesses.

Text: Ahmed argues that the District Court demonstrated bias against him by excessively questioning witnesses and by terminating a given line of questions. In particular, Ahmed assigns error to the District Court's questioning of himself and a clerk from the sporting goods store. He also assigns error to the District Court's curtailing of a certain line of questions pursued by the prosecution. The District Court questioned Ahmed at trial regarding his immigration status after Ahmed had invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself and after defense counsel objected to the line of questioning. After trial, the District Court determined that it had erred in questioning Ahmed regarding his immigration status. It therefore sustained the defense's objection and ordered the pertinent testimony stricken. Since this was a bench trial, the manner in which a jury might interpret such questions was not and is not an issue. Ahmed nevertheless contends that the mere asking of improper questions regarding his immigration status is evidence of the District Court's bias against him. Racial prejudice or bias against a defendant is a heavy charge to make against a court. Such bias is, of course, antithetical to the fundamental proposition that all people are entitled to a fair trial by an impartial court of law. Such a serious accusation must be backed by evidence which tends to show its validity, not simply by mere speculation which cannot be traced to a single fact in the record. Although in this case the questions put to the defendant by the District Court were admittedly improper, there is no evidence that the District Court considered the stricken testimony when reaching its verdict. If a defendant's objection is sustained, the offending testimony is stricken from the record, and the jury is instructed to disregard the evidence (in cases of jury trials), the error which was committed is presumed to be cured. State v. West (1992), 252 Mont. 83, 91, 826 P.2d 940, 945. Ahmed fails to offer any specific evidence of bias to rebut the presumption that the District Court adequately cured its error. Far from rebutting the presumption of cure, Ahmed asks this Court to presume bias from the mere posing of such questions. We refuse to do so. While the District Court admittedly erred in asking Ahmed about his immigration status, it properly cured its error by sustaining the defense's objection and striking the offending testimony. Ahmed also argues that the District Court improperly questioned a sporting goods store clerk regarding a receipt, found in J.F.'s apartment, which reflected the purchase of a box of 9 mm. bullets two days before the incident in question. He also argues that the District Court erred by curtailing a certain line of questioning being pursued by the prosecution. However, Ahmed did not preserve either of these assertions of error by means of a contemporaneous objection as is required by § 46-20-104(2) and § 46-20-701(2), MCA. This Court has made it clear that where a defendant does not object at trial to the remarks and conduct of the trial judge, the issue will not be considered upon appeal. State v. Martin (1987), 226 Mont. 463, 467, 736 P.2d 477, 480 (citing State v. Lloyd (1984), 208 Mont. 195, 676 P.2d 229). Because these issues were not properly preserved for appeal, we decline to address them.