Opinion ID: 2052508
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: did the trial court err in denying defense counsel's motion to withdraw, or in the alternative for mistrial, to impeach the testimony of prosecution's witnesses?

Text: In the first instance, Donald's counsel sought to withdraw in order to testify for the purpose of impeaching prosecution witness Vermillion who had testified that he had seen Donald and the victim on two occasions just hours prior to the discovery of the victim's body. Defense counsel had interviewed Vermillion prior to trial and taped the conversation, in which it is claimed that Vermillion said that he had not seen Donald and the victim together. Defense counsel was precluded from impeaching Vermillion with the transcript of that interview, as it was an unsworn statement. The trial court denied the motion to withdraw. The second instance arose when defense counsel again sought to withdraw to permit his law partner to testify to statements made by prosecution witness Bill McClain (McClain) in a pretrial interview wherein he allegedly made statements that someone other than Donald committed the offense. The trial court again denied the motion to withdraw. In State v. Iron Necklace, 430 N.W.2d 66 (S.D.1988), we have recently addressed this issue. In that case, both defense counsel, each representing a defendant in a joint trial, sought to withdraw in order to testify for impeachment purposes. We acknowledged the constitutional conflict between the right to defend by counsel and the right to obtain witnesses and particularly the right to impeach a state's key witness by showing bias on their part, citing State v. Weigers, 373 N.W.2d 1 (S.D.1985). The real problem centers around the appointment of substitute counsel to proceed with the trial and the obvious disruption to give such counsel time to prepare adequately. We adopted the Michigan Rule found in People v. Johnson, 144 Mich.App. 125, 133-35, 373 N.W.2d 263, 268 (1985), wherein it was held: Appointment of substitute counsel is warranted only upon a showing of good cause and where substitution will not unreasonably disrupt the judicial process. (citation omitted) A trial court's decision on a request for substitution or a continuance will not be reversed on appeal absent a showing of an abuse of discretion. Iron Necklace, 430 N.W.2d at 79. In Iron Necklace, the trial court determined that inconsistency in the witness' testimony that defense counsel sought to impeach was so minimal that it did not warrant disrupting the trial by the appointment of substitute counsel. In this case, it appears that the trial court permitted defense counsel to cross-examine as to the statements made by Vermillion to defense counsel. Through this cross-examination, credibility of the witness was raised to the jury. Furthermore, defense counsel called its private investigator, John Culberson (Culberson), who had interviewed Vermillion on three occasions. Culberson testified that Vermillion had twice denied seeing Donald with the victim. At a hearing on the motion, defense counsel admitted that Culberson could impeach Vermillion, but sought to unequivocally refute Vermillion's testimony. The trial court very properly ruled that defense counsel's testimony would be cumulative and denied the motion. It appears to us that Donald sought and received the services of an appointed investigator. The very reason for such appointment is to prove the type of testimony that is at issue here. Counsel appears to claim that his testimony would be of a higher plane so as to unequivocally refute Vermillion's testimony. We cannot perceive any reason why that should be so, except that he would be testifying as a lawyer and counsel for the party. That is the very reason SDCL 19-1-3 [3] was enacted. We find no problem with strictly enforcing that statute in cases where the trial court has appointed an investigator. In fact, in cases of this nature, it is the best reason for the appointment of an investigator. With respect to the second instance, the refusal to permit withdrawal in order to permit the law partner to testify, we find no reversible error. The proposed testimony, as suggested in Donald's brief, does not appear to be impeachment testimony. The partner was to testify to some statement that McClain made to him about someone else having committed the crime. Defense counsel has failed to make an adequate record on this issue. He made no offer of proof as to the witness' proposed testimony. We do not know when the purported interview took place. Perhaps there was ample time before trial to have made a pretrial motion so as to not disrupt the trial. The testimony may not have been admissible for any of a number of reasons. Based on the record that we have before us, we cannot say that the trial court clearly abused its discretion in denying the motion. Iron Necklace, supra . Therefore, we affirm the trial court on both rulings.