Opinion ID: 1175474
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: PM's Potential Bias

Text: PM, the mother of CP (one of the complaining victims), testified on direct examination that her daughter returned in a hysterical state after a doctor's appointment with appellant. She testified that her daughter told her that appellant had used his penis when he was examining her. On cross-examination, defense counsel asked whether PM had worked for appellant at one time. The prosecutor objected that this question was beyond the scope of direct, and the court sustained the objection. Defense counsel then moved on to other areas of inquiry. Later in the trial, the prosecution called PM back to the stand as a rebuttal witness. She testified that she worked for appellant for a three-month period a year before appellant raped her daughter and she described appellant's office procedures. On cross-examination, defense counsel again asked her how long she worked for appellant. Apparently defense counsel wanted to show that PM was biased against appellant because he had fired her. The prosecutor objected that the question had been asked and answered, and the court sustained the objection. Defense counsel rephrased the question, and the court sustained the same objection. Defense counsel then left the subject. Rule 611(b), W.R.E., allows cross-examination that exceeds the scope of direct as long as it goes to the credibility of the witness. [3] And, under some circumstances, the confrontation clause guarantees the defendant's right to engage in cross-examination on credibility issues. Amin v. State, Wyo., 695 P.2d 1021, 1027 (1985); Salaz v. State, Wyo., 561 P.2d 238, 240-241 (1977), citing Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974). In order to preserve error under Rule 611(b) or the confrontation clause, the defendant must make an offer of proof showing how his proposed cross-examination will impeach the witness's credibility. Krucheck v. State, Wyo., 702 P.2d 1267, 1272 (1985); Cheek v. Bates, 615 F.2d 559, 561-563 (1st Cir.1980), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 944, 100 S.Ct. 2172, 64 L.Ed.2d 800. Rule 103(a), W.R.E., states in part: Error may not be predicated upon a ruling which    excludes evidence unless a substantial right of the party is affected, and       (2)    the substance of the evidence was made known to the court by offer or was apparent from the context within which questions were asked. In this case, defense counsel never informed the court that he intended to show PM's bias through her employment history with appellant. When, in his initial cross-examination of PM, he asked whether she had worked for appellant, his purpose could have been to elicit testimony on appellant's office practices. It was not clear, without an offer of proof, that defense counsel was attempting to attack PM's credibility. Once PM had testified on rebuttal, it became apparent from the context within which [the] questions were asked that defense counsel's inquiry into PM's employment history was intended to attack her credibility. The trial court would have erred if it had prevented this inquiry even though appellant made no offer of proof. See Rule 103(a)(2), W.R.E. But this is not what occurred. The court permitted defense counsel to probe PM's relationship with appellant in depth after the court discovered that her credibility was under attack. It barred the question about the length of PM's employment with appellant only because she had already answered it during direct examination. We are not aware of any authority that says a party has an absolute right on cross-examination to repeat the questions asked on direct examination. Amin v. State, supra, 695 P.2d at 1027. In summary, the court violated neither Rule 611(b) nor the confrontation clause when it prevented defense counsel's question about PM's employment with appellant. Initially the question was not supported by an offer of proof. And when it was asked again after rebuttal, the question was merely redundant.