Opinion ID: 1830839
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: (D) The Recess Argument

Text: ¶ 68. Hughes contends that the trial court also erred when it failed to grant a mistrial after it was revealed that Mrs. Hughes Sanders' husband had communicated with her during a court recess. While such contact was highly improper, it does not constitute grounds for a mistrial. It is necessary to examine Mrs. Hughes Sanders' testimony in some detail to understand why this is so. ¶ 69. Mrs. Hughes Sanders was living with Hughes during the time of the crime and subsequent investigation. Mrs. Hughes Sanders one time told the investigators that Hughes had returned home early on January 9th (the date of Galloway's disappearance) and the two of them had gone to Sam's Town Casino. Later in the investigation, after checking her casino records the police confronted her with the falsity of this statement. Mrs. Hughes Sanders changed her story to reflect that Hughes had come home at around 6:45 p.m. the night of the murder, that he had driven the small black Ranger pickup truck to work that morning, and that Hughes had blood on his pants when he came home. She further stated that he had taken a bath and left, not returning until 11:00 p.m. This information was compiled into a written statement (prior statement). ¶ 70. Mrs. Hughes Sanders testimony at trial differed considerably from her prior statement. Her vacillation resulted in a running attempt at impeachment during which Mrs. Hughes Sanders gave differing versions of what happened on and following January 9. For instance, Mrs. Hughes Sanders attempted to recant her prior statement that Hughes was driving the black truck on the 9th. Upon being confronted with the prior statement, she once again averred that Hughes drove the black truck on the 9th. When the prosecutor asked Mrs. Hughes Sanders what time Hughes had returned from work on the 9th, Mrs. Hughes Sanders stated that it was 10:30 a.m. and not 6:45 p.m. Again the prosecutor impeached Mrs. Hughes Sanders with her prior statement. Mrs. Hughes Sanders maintained that Mr. Hughes had come home at 10:30 a.m. and that he was home all day until the two went to Wal-Mart around 3:00 p.m. Later, under questioning, she changed her story and stated that they had actually left around 2:30 p.m. and returned at 3:00 p.m., but that she and Mr. Hughes had otherwise been at home all day. ¶ 71. This running impeachment continued throughout Mrs. Hughes Sanders' direct examination. At the close of direct and after the jury was dismissed for the day, Hughes moved for a mistrial based on the fact that it was discovered that a confrontation of some sort had occurred between Mrs. Hughes Sanders and Mr. Sanders after a ten (10) minute break. ¶ 72. The trial judge denied the mistrial but, addressing the issue as a M.R.E. 615 violation, allowed a full blown cross-examination of Mrs. Hughes Sanders both prior to her leaving the stand and the next day before the jury. THE COURT: I'm satisfied with the appropriate remedy of this. The witness obviously talked with her husband during the break, and under Rule 615 of the Rules of Evidence and the case law interpreting that rule, the remedy here is certainly to allow, as the Supreme Court said, full cross-examination on this point. ¶ 73. During the examination by both the State and Hughes, Mrs. Hughes Sanders testified that she had indeed been confronted by her husband. During cross, Mrs. Hughes Sanders testified that: Q. [COUNSEL FOR HUGHES]: You testified on direct yesterday and then we took a break; do you recall that? A. JULIE HUGHES SANDERS [Witness]: Yes, sir. Q. And during that break, did you have a confrontation with anyone? A. With my husband. Q. And that happened on two occasions during that break, did it not? A. Yes, sir. Q. And he got up in your face and had something to say to you, didn't he? A. Yes, sir. Q. And during that confrontation he actually made you cry, didn't he? A. Yes, sir. Q. And he got you upset, didn't he, during the break? A. Yes, sir. ¶ 74. The State, on re-direct, elicited exactly what had been said: Q. [STATE]: Julie, at the break when you had a conversation with your husband, what did your husband tell you? A. JULIE HUGHES SANDERS [Witness]: He told me to tell the truth. Q. Tell the truth. A. Yes, ma'am Q. Have you told anything that was let me rephrase that. Did you tell anything that was the truth yesterday? A. Yes, ma'am ¶ 75. Hughes contends that this cross-examination was insufficient to alleviate the prejudice caused to him and that he was entitled to a mistrial. ¶ 76. This Court has not previously dealt at length with this issue, but it appears the trial judge was correct in treating the problem as a M.R.E. 615 violation. In Lewis v. State the victim's husband had spoken with certain witnesses about their testimony. Lewis v. State, 580 So.2d 1279, 1286 (Miss.1991). Lewis sought a mistrial and couched the error as a Rule 615 violation. Lewis, 580 So.2d at 1286. The trial court judge ruled that since the husband was not a party, he was not subject to the rule. Lewis 580 So.2d at 1286. This Court accepted the trial judge's denial of a mistrial, but noted: The court observed that the witnesses were instructed not to talk to anyone about their testimony, but if they had talked to Mr. Carter about sitting at a table or not sitting at a table, such a fact, considering the nature of the case, did not have any major influence on the jury. Again, other than citing Rule 615, the appellant fails to provide any support for this assignment of error. Mr. Carter's speaking to the jurors about his wife's testimony, however, violates the spirit of Rule 615. It should be made clear that not only are the parties and their attorneys prohibited from disclosing the testimony of other witnesses, but the court has ample authority to deal with strangers to the litigation who would interfere with the orderly administration of justice by knowingly violating the rule. Here, the trial court finding that such wrongdoing as occurred was harmless is not clearly erroneous and will be credited. Without a showing of how Lewis was prejudiced, this assignment of error is without merit. Lewis, 580 So.2d at 1286-87 ( citing U.R.C.C.P. 5.01). ¶ 77. In Brown v. State, the basic remedies for a Rule 615 violation were reiterated: Once a witness has violated the rule, however, the remedy lies within the court's discretion. Remedies may include prospectively excluding the witness where prejudice will otherwise ensue; striking the witness's testimony where connivance gave rise to the testimony; striking the witness's testimony where the testimony gave rise to prejudice; or, most appropriately, allowing the other party to subject the witness to a  full-bore cross-examination  on the facts of the rule violation. Brown v. State, 682 So.2d 340, 349 (Miss.1996)( quoting Douglas v. State, 525 So.2d 1312, 1317 (Miss.1988))(emphasis added). ¶ 78. The trial judge clearly considered several remedies when the confrontation was discovered, and determined that the best solution would be to allow full blown cross-examination on the issue. This determination is entitled to deference on appeal: When violation of the sequestration rule is assigned as error on appeal, as is the case here, the question then becomes one of the scope of review of the appellate court. We note that the majority of federal appellate courts have stated the test thus: failure of a judge to order a mistrial or to exclude testimony will not justify reversal on appeal absent a showing of prejudice sufficient to constitute abuse of discretion. Douglas, 525 So.2d at 1318. ¶ 79. The critical fact here is that Mrs. Hughes Sanders was not a credible witness prior to the alleged coercion by her husband. The cross by Hughes and the questioning by the State on the confrontation with her husband hammered this fact home. The jury was thus fully apprized of the serious deficiencies in Mrs. Hughes Sanders' testimony. If anything, the exchange with her husband and its subsequent discovery presented the defense with an opportunity to further impeach the State's already battered witness. Furthermore, the jury was explicitly reminded of the potential influence Mr. Sanders may have had on Mrs. Hughes Sanders' testimony by the trial court judge, who instructed: [BY THE COURT] Members of the Jury, you will recall that it was revealed to you while Julie (Hughes) Sanders was on the witness stand that during a recess in the testimony of Ms. Sanders, she and her current husband allegedly had a confrontation about her testimony. As with all other witnesses, you may give the testimony of Ms. Sanders what weight and credit you deem proper under the circumstances, and in judging the credibility of her testimony, you may consider whether or not you feel her testimony was affected or influenced by the fact that she allegedly had this confrontation/argument with her husband during a recess in her testimony. ¶ 80. In conclusion, the trial judge was correct to deny Hughes a mistrial on the grounds of the improper contact. The trial judge correctly treated the issue as a Rule 615 violation and allowed cross-examination in the presence of the jury on the improper contact. This was sufficient to protect Hughes from prejudice.