Opinion ID: 2253090
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Admission of Decker's Prior Statements

Text: Appellant claims that the trial court erred when it admitted a transcript of Decker's statement to the police after his arrest and his deposition taken by the defense. On cross-examination, defense counsel read portions of Decker's deposition and statement to the police, highlighting certain inconsistencies between those statements and his trial testimony. The defense also insinuated that Decker was testifying against Evans only in order to receive a reduced bond and a favorable plea agreement. On redirect, the State attempted to introduce a transcript of the interrogation and the deposition to clarify the nature of the inconsistencies. The defense argued, however, that portions of those documents were prejudicial and, therefore, inadmissible. The court ordered certain segments of the documents redacted. When the State reintroduced Decker's statement to the police, the defense objected that it was an inadmissible prior statement and contained a prejudicial reference to an extrinsic offense. The court overruled the objection and admitted the evidence. We conclude that the trial court acted within its discretion in admitting the transcript and the deposition. Both Decker's statement to the police and his deposition were admissible under the doctrine of completeness. According to this doctrine, a party may place the remainder of a statement or document before the jury after the opposing party has introduced a portion of that statement or document into evidence. See, e.g., McElroy v. State (1990), Ind., 553 N.E.2d 835. This rule prevents one party from misleading the jury by presenting statements out of context. The remainder of the statement or document is subject to the general rules of admissibility, however, and any portions found immaterial, irrelevant, or prejudicial must be redacted. See Saperito v. State (1986), Ind., 490 N.E.2d 274. In this case, the defense cross-examined Decker on the details of his story, pointing up various inconsistencies among his statement to the police, his deposition, and his trial testimony. The defense showed, for instance, that Decker told the police he first called Evans at around 10 p.m. but testified at trial that the call was made at 8:30 p.m. Decker's account of the number of calls placed to Evans also changed. The defense further pointed out that Decker stated in his deposition that someone drove him to Evans' house that night, whereas Decker testified he had actually driven himself on a suspended license in his employer's truck. It also surfaced during Decker's deposition that he had lied to police when he denied having paid Evans for the cocaine prior to the transaction in Indianapolis. While it is often the job of defense counsel to attack the credibility of a witness in this way, the jury must be permitted to determine for itself the extent of the inconsistencies in context. As we explained in Mayhew v. State (1989), Ind., 537 N.E.2d 1188, once a party attacks the credibility of a witness on the grounds of prior inconsistent statements, the door is open for the opposing party to introduce the prior statements in order that the jury might weigh [the] accusation of inconsistency and the degree thereof. Id. at 1191; see also McElroy, 553 N.E.2d at 839-40. This is especially true where, as in this case, the alleged inconsistencies go to details, and most of the statements are otherwise substantially similar. Cf. United States v. Harris, 761 F.2d 394 (7th Cir.1985) (applying Fed.R.Evid. 106). Decker's statement to the police was also admissible as a prior consistent statement offered to rebut charges of an improper motive. Where a party impeaches a witness using portions of a prior statement that is in certain respects inconsistent with the witness's testimony at trial and implies that the witness has an improper motive in testifying, Federal Evidence Rule 801(d)(1)(B), which we adopted in Modesitt v. State (1991), Ind., 578 N.E.2d 649, overlaps with the doctrine of completeness. The opposing party may put the inconsistencies in context for the jury by introducing the remainder of the statement under the doctrine of completeness and may introduce the same prior statement as generally consistent with the witness's testimony under Rule 801(d)(1)(B) in order to rebut the charge of recent fabrication or improper motive or influence. See United States v. Tarantino, 846 F.2d 1384 (D.C. Cir.1988), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 840, 109 S.Ct. 108, 102 L.Ed.2d 83 and cert. denied, 488 U.S. 867, 109 S.Ct. 174, 102 L.Ed.2d 143 (1988); see also United States v. Stuart, 718 F.2d 931 (9th Cir.1983) (holding that defendant opened the door to prior consistent statement by using portions of that statement on cross-examination). The completeness doctrine and Rule 801(d)(1)(B), however, remain distinct evidentiary categories. The completeness doctrine may apply without any implication that a witness has recently fabricated his or her story or has an improper motive. Its purpose is to provide context for otherwise isolated comments when fairness requires it. Rule 801(d)(1)(B), on the other hand, may be triggered with or without the introduction of a prior statement. It is triggered by a charge of recent fabrication or improper motive, such as an allegation, express or implied, that the witness is testifying in order to receive leniency from the government for his or her own misdeeds. See United States v. Montague, 958 F.2d 1094 (D.C. Cir.1992) (cross-examination on plea agreement triggers Rule 801(d)(1)(B)); Stuart, 718 F.2d at 934-35 (same); see also United States v. Allen, 579 F.2d 531 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 933, 99 S.Ct. 326, 58 L.Ed.2d 329 (1978). That said, it remains to apply Rule 801(d)(1)(B) to the present case. In adopting this rule, we said that a prior statement is admissible as substantive evidence only if the declarant testifies at trial and is subject to cross-examination concerning the statement, and the statement is ... consistent with the declarant's testimony and is offered to rebut an express or implied charge against the declarant of recent fabrication or improper influence or motive... . Modesitt, 578 N.E.2d at 654. In its opening statement and on cross-examination, the defense implied that the State had enticed Decker to testify with the promise of a favorable plea agreement and a reduced bond. Given that Decker testified at trial and was subject to cross-examination, this charge of an improper motive was sufficient to permit the State to introduce a prior consistent statement. See United States v. Monzon, 869 F.2d 338 (7th Cir.) (admitting prior consistent statement where defense insinuated that witness fabricated testimony to gain favor of government), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1075, 109 S.Ct. 2087, 104 L.Ed.2d 650 (1989). Moreover, Decker's statement to the police was substantially consistent with his trial testimony. Both Decker and defense counsel agreed that the statements were very similar. R. at 248. The remaining question is whether Decker's statement served to rebut the defense's charge of an improper motive. The majority of the federal circuit courts have held that the declarant must have made the prior consistent statement before the alleged improper motive arose. See United States v. Davis, 890 F.2d 1373, 1379 (7th Cir.1989) (citing Monzon, 869 F.2d at 342-43), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1092, 110 S.Ct. 1165, 107 L.Ed.2d 1068 (1990); United States v. Henderson, 717 F.2d 135 (4th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1009, 104 S.Ct. 1006, 79 L.Ed.2d 238 (1984); Stuart, 718 F.2d at 934-35 (9th Cir.1983); see also United States v. Vest, 842 F.2d 1319 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 965, 109 S.Ct. 489, 102 L.Ed.2d 526 (1988); United States v. Bowman, 798 F.2d 333 (8th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 1043, 107 S.Ct. 906, 93 L.Ed.2d 856 (1987); United States v. Quinto, 582 F.2d 224 (2d Cir.1978). This requirement, though not expressly stated in Rule 801(d)(1)(B), comports with its logic. Where a witness is accused of having an improper motive for testifying, evidence that the witness said the same thing out-of-court with the same improper motivation has little probative value and should not be admitted. [2] We adopt this approach. Decker's statement to the police came before he reached a plea agreement with the State and so satisfies all of the requirements for admission under Rule 801(d)(1)(B). We note that because Decker was deposed after he had made his deal with the State, his deposition fails this prong of the test and was admissible only under the doctrine of completeness. Finally, Evans claims that even if the transcript of Decker's interrogation was admissible under the doctrine of completeness and Rule 801(d)(1)(B), a prejudicial portion of that statement was not redacted. At the end of Decker's interrogation, an officer asked Decker if there was anything else he could remember that might prove helpful to their investigation. Decker responded by naming the person that he thought might have given Evans the money to buy the cocaine. He explained that he had heard their names mentioned together in the past. Evans is correct that evidence of an extrinsic offense is generally inadmissible in order to protect defendants from juries that might otherwise convict them on the basis of their poor characters, not proof beyond a reasonable doubt that they committed a crime. See Gibbs v. State (1989), Ind., 538 N.E.2d 937. Evans also properly relies on the rule that inadmissible statements must be redacted from such admissions. See, e.g., Saperito, 490 N.E.2d 274; cf. Johnston v. State (1988), Ind., 517 N.E.2d 397. We conclude, however, that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting this veiled allusion to a third party who may or may not have been involved in a drug transaction that may or may not have been related to the purchase and sale of cocaine at issue here. Decker's statements are simply too cryptic and vague to constitute a reference to an extrinsic offense.