Court Opinion

ID: 9701877
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 22:41:46.026521+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:09:48.049689
License: Public Domain

HARRIS, Associate Judge,
concurring:
I concur in my colleagues’ opinion and in the disposition of this case. I do believe, however, that appellant’s effort to close the door on the prosecutor’s limited cross-examination regarding appellant’s guilt of prior offenses, an issue which appellant himself introduced into evidence, merits further attention.
Evidence of prior convictions is — and should be — admissible only if it bears upon the witness’ credibility, rather than upon the guilt or innocence of the accused. Dixon v. United States, D.C.App., 287 A.2d 89, cert. denied, 407 U.S. 926, 92 S.Ct. 2474, 32 L.Ed.2d 813 (1972); United States v. Carter, 157 U.S.App.D.C. 149, 482 F.2d 738 (1973). See D.C.Code 1973, § 14-305.1 This is true whether the prosecutor or defense counsel seeks to introduce such evidence. Compare Dixon v. United States, supra, with Crawford v. United States, 91 U.S.App.D.C. 234, 198 F.2d 976 (1952). In the instant case, in response to the prosecutor’s inquiry, appellant admitted that he previously had pled guilty to non-related offenses. That inquiry was permissible under § 14-305(b) of the Code, and the limiting instruction which *587then was given avoided the possibility of undue prejudice to appellant. Accord, Dixon v. United States, supra, at 93.
However, when appellant was allowed to testify on redirect that he had pled guilty to two prior offenses because he was guilty, and that he pleaded not guilty in this case because he was innocent, he thereby introduced a collateral issue which had no bearing upon his present credibility. Rather, the testimony related directly to the question of guilt in the present case, and should not have been admitted into evidence. See United States v. Carter, supra, 157 U.S.App.D.C. at 151, 482 F.2d at 740; cf. Johnson v. United States, D.C.App., 366 A.2d 429, 432 (1976). While a defendant may be permitted to give a “reasonably brief” explanation of the circumstances of a prior conviction “to mitigate its apparent effect on his credibility,” United States v. Boyer, 80 U.S.App.D.C. 202, 150 F.2d 595 (1945), he cannot use that explanation to proclaim his innocence of the present charge. Such a statement has no probative value, and should be excluded.
Once a defendant has “opened the door” to otherwise inadmissible evidence, however, he cannot complain when the trial court allows the prosecutor a limited opportunity to respond. This is the core principle of the doctrine of curative admissibility. C. McCormick, Evidence §§ 43, 57 (2d ed. E. Cleary 1972). In United States v. Winston, 145 U.S.App.D.C. 67, 71-72, 447 F.2d 1236, 1240-41 (1971), the United States Court of Appeals explained:
The rule operates to prevent an accused from successfully gaining exclusion of inadmissible prosecution evidence and then extracting selected pieces of this evidence for his own advantage, without the Government’s being able to place them in their proper context.
This doctrine is consistent with the trial court’s general authority over the proper scope of the examination of witnesses. While the better practice perhaps would have been for the court to terminate the questioning as soon as defense counsel strayed toward the collateral issue on redirect, neither its failure to do so nor its allowance of some countervailing questioning amounts to an abuse of discretion. See United States v. Boyer, supra, 80 U.S.App.D.C. at 203, 150 F.2d at 596.
Moreover, the prosecutor’s questions concerning the bargain element of appellant’s earlier guilty pleas did not extend beyond the scope of permissible rebuttal. The circuit court wisely has cautioned that the doctrine of curative admissibility is “dangerously prone to overuse,” United States v. McClain, 142 U.S.App.D.C. 213, 216, 440 F.2d 241, 244 (1971), and that it should be applied “only to the extent necessary to remove any unfair prejudice which might otherwise have ensued from the original evidence.” United States v. Winston, supra, 145 U.S.App.D.C. at 71, 447 F.2d at 1240, quoting California Insurance Co. v. Allen, 235 F.2d 178, 180 (5th Cir. 1956). Nevertheless, the record reveals that the prosecutor’s probe extended no further than was necessary to expose the possibility that a plea bargain had influenced appellant’s decision to plead guilty previously. The prosecutor did not delve into the facts of the prior offenses; he elicited only information sufficient to rebut the inference of present innocence which might have flowed from appellant’s improper statement. As was recognized in United States ex rel. Walker v. Follette, 311 F.Supp. 490, 495 (S.D.N.Y.1970), aff’d, 443 F.2d 167 (2d Cir. 1971):
While “opening the door” on direct may not amount to a blanket waiver, where as a matter of trial strategy a defendant himself decides to open up a sensitive area — whether he hopes to draw the sting out of the prosecution’s case or because he mistakenly believes he has nothing to fear — he cannot expect the same measure of protection from cross-examination as when the prosecution initiates the inquiry.
With these additional comments, I concur in the decision.

. The probative value of such evidence outweighs its prejudicial character, especially when the evidence is circumscribed by the discretion of the trial court and accompanied by a limiting instruction, see Spencer v. Texas, 385 U.S. 554, 560-61, 87 S.Ct. 648, 17 L.Ed.2d 606 (1967), as it was in this case.