Opinion ID: 1205526
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Limiting cross-examination of an accomplice witness

Text: Defendant contends that by twice limiting his cross-examination of Barker, the trial judge violated his right under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to confront a key witness. In one instance the judge prohibited the defense from asking Barker what his attorney had said to him about his chances of receiving the death penalty without a plea bargain. In the second instance, the judge barred the defense from probing Barker about his belief in the occult. Defendant charges that both of these rulings infringed his right to effectively cross-examine an important witness and were fundamental error.
To show Barker had a motive to testify for the State and inculpate Defendant, even if he had to lie, Defendant cross-examined Barker about benefits he expected in return for his plea agreement. Defendant asked Barker whether his attorney had told him that the State might seek the death penalty if Barker did not cooperate with the prosecutor. Barker's lawyer was present and objected on grounds of attorney-client privilege, and the judge sustained the objection. A defendant has great latitude to cross-examine an accomplice or co-defendant who has turned State's evidence and testifies on behalf of the State in a trial of his co-defendant. State v. Morales, 120 Ariz. 517, 520, 587 P.2d 236, 239 (1978) (citations omitted). A trial judge who excludes testimony that would show bias and interest in this circumstance may commit reversible error. Id. Even if the defendant fails to object or give an offer of proof when such testimony is precluded, error may be found if the context of the questions makes their purpose clear. Ariz. R. Evid. 103(a). If cross-examination into privileged areas is necessary to show a witness' bias, the United States Supreme Court has held that the interest of confidentiality can be outweighed by [the defendant's] right to probe into the influence of possible bias in the testimony of a crucial identification witness. See Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 319, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 1111, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974). In the few reported cases in which the confrontation right has collided with the attorney-client privilege, courts have employed a fact-specific balancing test to resolve the competing interests of confidentiality and the defendant's right to impeach an important government witness. See, e.g., State v. Cascone, 195 Conn. 183, 487 A.2d 186, 190-91 (1985) (trial court's exclusion of a co-defendant's pretrial statement to his attorney that would exculpate the defendant was not harmless error). In United States ex. rel. Blackwell v. Franzen, the court balanced the relevant interests: [T]he question in each case must finally be whether defendant's inability to make the inquiry created a substantial danger of prejudice by depriving him of the ability to test the truth of the witness's direct testimony. To answer that question the court must look to the record as a whole and to the alternative means open to the defendant to impeach the witness. The court must ultimately decide whether the probative value of the alleged privileged communication was such that the defendant's right to effective cross-examination was substantially diminished. 688 F.2d 496, 500-01 (7th Cir.1982) (citations omitted), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1072, 103 S.Ct. 1529, 75 L.Ed.2d 950 (1983). In Franzen, the defendant cross-examined his accomplice, who had agreed to testify for the state. The defendant elicited testimony from the witness that he had told his own attorney he was beaten [by the prosecutor] into making that statement [that inculpated defendant] to show that the prosecutor had induced the accomplice to incriminate the defendant. Id. at 499. The state objected, and the trial court sustained the objection on grounds that the attorney-client privilege overrides any relevancy it may have to the issues in [the] case. Id. However, because there was already ample evidence in the record to impeach the accomplice's testimony, the circuit court upheld the trial court's ruling. Id. at 501; see also Neku v. United States, 620 A.2d 259, 263 (D.C. 1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1003, 114 S.Ct. 577, 126 L.Ed.2d 476 (1993). As long as the jury heard evidence relevant to Barker's possible motives for testifying against Defendant, we assume it could then fairly assess Barker's truthfulness. No doubt Barker's plea agreement was relevant to his bias and interest. The jury apparently realized this and sent a note to the judge during deliberations asking what benefits Barker received in exchange for his testimony. Reporter's Transcript (R.T.), Aug. 13, 1992, at 110. The jury's note asked, Does Randy Barker have anything to gain if Towery is convicted? Are we allowed to see the plea agreement? In response to the note, the judge told the jurors they had all the evidence and instructed them to rely on their personal recollections and collective notes. At issue then is whether the jury knew what benefits Barker would receive from his plea bargain. If the statement made to Barker by his lawyer was sufficiently probative of Barker's credibility to outweigh the interests protected by the attorney-client privilege, [6] then the judge abused her discretion in prohibiting Defendant from asking about a privileged communication. The record shows that even without disclosure of whether Barker's lawyer told Barker that the State would seek the death penalty if he did not cooperate, other evidence informed the jury that Barker knew he could escape death by cooperating and testifying. The jury knew that the State would have pursued the death penalty if Barker were convicted of first-degree murder. Earlier in the day, the jury heard a stipulation that prior to Barker's plea agreement the State had filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty if Barker were convicted of first-degree murder. The jury knew that Barker then made a plea agreement with the State for second-degree murder. In short, although the jury questioned Barker's benefits if Defendant were convicted, as evidenced by the note to the judge, the jury must have understood all of the benefits Barker received from his plea agreement and testimony when it decided Defendant's guilt. The evidence would have been merely cumulative had the judge permitted Defendant to ask about Barker's privileged communication with his attorney. Moreover, in protecting the attorney-client privilege, the judge did not impair Defendant's ability to obtain the information he wanted. Defense counsel could have established a motive for Barker to lie without invading the attorney-client privilege. He simply could have asked if Barker knew or believed he would have been eligible for the death penalty or a life sentence had he not agreed to testify. In upholding the privilege, therefore, the judge did not abuse her discretion.
On cross-examination, the defense asked Barker about his belief in the occult after he revealed that he had dialed straight sixes while feigning a telephone call from the victim's house. [7] The judge sustained the State's objection on grounds of relevance, basing her ruling on Ariz. R. Evid. 610 and art. 2, § 12 of the Arizona Constitution. [8] These provisions bar questioning a witness about religious beliefs as a way to enhance or attack the witness' credibility. On appeal, Defendant contends that testimony about Barker's religious beliefs, if such they were, was not offered to impeach his credibility but to show that the antisocial tenets of his beliefs disposed Barker to engage in criminal conduct and to commit the murder. A witness' religious beliefs are admissible if offered for some legitimate purpose other than attacking witness credibility. See State v. West, 168 Ariz. 292, 296, 812 P.2d 1110, 1114 (1991) (reference to religion is proper when used to justify defendant's conduct); State v. Stone, 151 Ariz. 455, 458, 728 P.2d 674, 677 (App. 1986) (if evidence of religious belief is probative of something other than veracity, it is not inadmissible simply because it may also involve a religious subject as well.). Defendant argues that the evidence was relevant to an issue other than Barker's veracity. Had he been allowed to develop testimony about Barker's satanic beliefs, the jury might have been persuaded to believe that Barker, not Defendant, was the killer. In addition, although the jury nevertheless could have found Defendant's involvement sufficient to convict him for felony murder, his death eligibility was not a foregone conclusion. Although the judge found beyond a reasonable doubt that Defendant was the killer, evidence that Barker was profoundly touched by some satanic belief might have altered that finding. Defendant, however, made no offer of proof of what Barker's testimony would have shown. Nor does the context of the question indicate the nature of Barker's satanic belief or show it was substantively relevant. When an objection to the introduction of evidence has been sustained, an offer of proof showing the evidence's relevance and admissibility is ordinarily required to assert error on appeal. State v. Bay, 150 Ariz. 112, 115, 722 P.2d 280, 283 (1986); MORRIS K. UDALL ET AL., ARIZONA PRACTICE: LAW OF EVIDENCE § 13, at 20 (2d ed. 1982). Given that counsel normally does not know in advance what a hostile witness will say on cross-examination, the offer-of-proof requirement for considering a claim on appeal may be relaxed when the court sustains an objection to a question asked on cross-examination. JOHN W. STRONG, ET AL., 1 McCORMICK ON EVIDENCE § 51, at 197 (4th ed. 1992). Even so, something more than speculation about possible answers is required to show prejudice. At a minimum, an offer of proof stating with reasonable specificity what the evidence would have shown is required. See id. at 197-98. In Arizona, it has been suggested that counsel be required to discover evidence that would make the proffered testimony relevant and make it known to the court. State v. Quinn, 121 Ariz. 582, 585, 592 P.2d 778, 781 (App. 1978). We recognize, however, that discovery in criminal cases is much more limited than in civil cases. Victims of crimes, for example, can refuse interview requests by defense counsel under the Victims' Bill of Rights. Ariz. Const. art. 2, § 2.1; Ariz. R.Crim. P. 39(b)(11). Nonetheless, when the context of the examination fails to reveal the nature of the expected answer, the proponent of the precluded evidence must seek permission from the trial judge to make the offer of proof so that the reviewing court can determine whether the trial judge erred in precluding the evidence. STRONG, ET AL., supra § 51, at 197 n. 10; see also State v. Affeld, 307 Or. 125, 764 P.2d 220, 222 (1988). It is remotely conceivable that Barker might have revealed he was driven by a satanic force or some other evil belief to commit criminal acts. The only hint of a satanic motive for Barker's participation in the crime, however, was his dialing sixes on the telephone. That alone has little probative value in establishing a motive to kill. Assuming Barker had a satanic altar in his room, Defendant failed to discover how often Barker used it and how its use was related to his criminal conduct. In fact, Barker's claim that he used to believe in the occult indicates that the alleged altar no longer had any religious significance to him. Defendant's failure to establish the connection between Barker's old belief in the occult and the crime by an offer of proof in the record makes it impossible to evaluate whether the trial judge unfairly limited Defendant's cross-examination of Barker. On this record, we see no probative value in the precluded evidence apart from its effect on Barker's credibility. Thus we find no error in the judge's precluding it.