Opinion ID: 741895
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Alleged Error in the Admission of Evidence

Text: 57 Without citing any authority, the defendants contend the district court committed reversible error in allowing Mason's counsel to question Young regarding the hiring of Steve Hill and Dianne England at the OTA. Over the defendants' objection to the line of questioning, Young testified that Governor Walters circulated to the OTA and other public agencies a list of his staff members who would need work after the Governor left office. Young testified that he hired Hill and England off the list, and that Hill and England were placed on the OTA payroll even though they did not actually perform any work at the OTA. The defendants argue that this evidence was highly prejudicial and had no factual similarity to the termination of the Plaintiff. Appellant's Br. at 44. 58 The district court did not abuse its broad discretion in allowing this questioning. At trial, Young flatly denied ever engaging in political patronage hiring during his tenure as Managing Director of the OTA. Without resorting to any extrinsic evidence, counsel for Mason merely attempted to elicit Young's admission that, in fact, he had personally hired Hill and England for political patronage purposes. As the district court correctly noted, such questioning was admissible to impeach Young by contradiction. See United States v. Greschner, 802 F.2d 373, 383 (10th Cir.1986) (holding that trial court had discretion, under Fed.R.Evid. 608(b) and the doctrine of specific contradiction, to allow questioning designed to elicit witness's admission that he had testified falsely at trial).