Court Opinion

ID: 9580563
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:06:08.499432+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:36:21.879528
License: Public Domain

Neely, Justice,

dissenting:

I must respectfully dissent from the decision in this case. I do not cavil with the legal principles enunciated in the majority opinion but rather with the application of those principles to the evidence.
The holding in this case marks an alarming departure from the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt required for a criminal conviction. While the majority opinion expresses no other standard as applicable to the case, a review of the trial record reveals that the evidence presented by the State is at best scant, highly questionable, and certainly not sufficient to permit the case to be submitted to the jury. Therefore, I contend that the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict at the close of the State’s evidence should have been granted.
The only evidence presented by the State purportedly connecting the defendant with the crime was the testimony of Terry Steinbaugh. Steinbaugh testified that on the night in question, he found a pint bottle of whiskey along the road, took it to his home and drank it, and then later that evening met a friend, Danny Farris, “and this guy named Pug; that’s what Danny called him, Pug. I couldn’t swear who it was; it might have been Gary [the defendant]. I couldn’t swear who it was because I was drunk.”
Steinbaugh then stated that the three boys entered the Farris car and drove to the Dhyse cabin where “me and this guy named Pug,” entered the cabin through an open window and committed the burglary. When asked additional questions by the prosecuting attorney concerning who participated in the alleged burglary, Steinbaugh repeatedly answered, “Me and this guy named Pug.”
*81The State then asked permission from the court to treat Steinbaugh as a hostile witness, claiming surprise because of a prior inconsistent statement Steinbaugh had made to the police during the investigation of the robbery. After a lengthy discussion in chambers, the court refused the request. The defense counsel then asked the witness:
Q. “... was Gary Eugene Fischer, who’s seated with me here now, the person who was with you and Danny on the evening that you burglarized the Dhyse house?”
A. “I couldn’t tell you. I was too drunk to notice. The only thing that I heard was Danny calling him Pug. I couldn’t hardly remember that.”
The State then called two local residents who knew the defendant to testify that they had heard him referred to as Pug by his friends and associates. The State rested and the defense moved for a directed verdict which was refused by the court. The motion, however, should have been granted as the State had established only that a burglary had occurred; the evidence presented was devoid of any direct or positive evidence linking the defendant with the commission of the crime.
After the noon recess the court apparently conducted some quick research regarding treatment of hostile witnesses, and when the trial resumed the State was permitted to reopen its case in order to introduce into evidence a prior inconsistent written statement signed by the witness Steinbaugh. The State recalled Steinbaugh to the stand to confront him with this written statement over the objection of the defense counsel. The relevant portion of the statement which was read to the witness in the pressence of the jury, says:
“Sometime during August, 1972, myself along with Gary Eugene Fischer and Danny Lee Far-ris, we all three was riding around in Danny Farris’ car. We all decided to go get some stuff and sell it. Danny Farris was drinking some. We went to Frederick Dhyse house off Rt. 9, Long *82Hollow Road. Gary Fischer and I went into the house while Danny Farris waited in the car. The window was wide open. We went through it into the house. We looked in closets and upstairs then I stood outside and Gary Fischer handed the stuff out through the window.”
The document, although signed at the end by Steinbaugh, was written in the handwriting of the deputy sheriff who transcribed the statement as it was given by Steinbaugh at a time just prior to his arrest. Steinbaugh, however, denied on the stand that he had mentioned the defendant’s name in his statement. “I told [the story to] Clark, and Batt was there too [transcribing the statement]. I said, T don’t know the guy’s name but Pug’ — he said, ‘Gary Eugene Fischer?’ — and I said, ‘it might be; I don’t know.’” Sheriff Clark and Deputy Batt both testified later that Steinbaugh had named the defendant in his statement. When the State rested once more, defendant again moved for a directed verdict, which the court again denied.
The defense then called Danny Farris to the stand. Farris testified that only he and Steinbaugh were involved in the burglary, and that there was no third party involved at all in the alleged crime. When the defense rested, defense counsel made a third motion for a directed verdict which the court refused a third time.
It is essential here to digress momentarily from the facts of this case in order to review some fundamental criminal law. It is well settled in this country that in a criminal trial the State has the burden of proof; that is, the burden to establish the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. That burden continues throughout the trial. The burden, however, has two prongs: the burden of production and the burden of persuasion. The burden of production requires the State first to establish the corpus delicti; that is to say, the State must show beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime has been committed and must produce and present evidence with regard to each and every material element of the crime *83charged in the indictment. The burden of persuasion, secondly, requires that the State prove the existence of facts which convince the trier of fact beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is the person guilty of the crime charged. See generally, LaFave and Scott, Criminal Law, Hornbook Series, Ch. 1, Sec. 8 (West Publishing Co. 1972). The result of the evidence must not only be consistent with the guilt of the accused, but must exclude every reasonable hypothesis of his innocence. State v. Johnson, 104 W. Va. 586, 140 S.E. 532 (1927). Furthermore, where circumstantial evidence is relied upon to convict, the accused is entitled to an acquittal unless the fact of guilt is proved to the actual exclusion of every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. State v. Snider, 106 W. Va. 309, 145 S.E. 607 (1928).
A mere cursory review of the record clearly shows that the State presented absolutely no specific evidence whatsoever which established that the defendant committed the crime. Therefore, for the reasons set forth below, I feel that the refusal of the trial court to direct a verdict for the defendant in this case was reversible error.
If at the close of the State’s evidence or at the close of all the evidence the State has not met its burden of production and the evidence is insufficient, the court should direct a verdict for the defendant. State v. McHenry, 93 W. Va. 396, 117 S.E. 143 (1923); State v. Shahan, 104 W. Va. 578, 140 S.E. 533 (1927). The test in this State for passing on such a motion for a directed verdict is set forth in syllabus pt. 1 in State v. West, 153 W. Va. 325, 168 S.E.2d 716 (1969):
“Upon motion to direct a verdict for the defendant, the evidence is to be viewed in light most favorable to prosecution. It is not necessary in appraising its sufficiency that the trial court or reviewing court be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of the guilt of the defendant; the question is whether there is substantial evidence upon which a jury might justifiably find the de*84fendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” (Emphasis supplied.)
Stating that proposition in its converse makes the issue more readily understandable — that is, if substantial evidence is not presented so that reasonable men or a reasonable jury must necessarily have a reasonable doubt, then the court must pass favorably on the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict. Applying either the proposition or its converse to the case at bar, a directed verdict should have been granted at each juncture when the defense so moved.
The only witness the State presented who could possibly connect the defendant with the commission of the crime could not and would not identify the defendant in court as the person whom he claimed aided him in the burglary of the Dhyse cabin. The State produced no other evidence linking the defendant to the burglary, and, therefore, I do not believe that the State sustained the burden of production. There were no fingerprints taken from the stolen articles when they were recovered by the police; the stolen articles were not found in the possession of the defendant nor even near him; and the testimony of the two eyewitnesses who admitted participation in the crime is conflicting and obscure — one witness stating that there was no third party at all with them on the night in question; the other witness unable positively to identify the defendant as the one whom he claimed aided in the burglary. Consequently, no reasonable interpretation can construe the State’s evidence as “substantial evidence” required in State v. West, supra, to overcome a motion for a directed verdict for the defendant. The evidence certainly does not exclude every reasonable hypothesis of the defendant’s innocence. State v. Johnson, supra.
The prior inconsistent written statement which the prosecution introduced to impeach the testimony of Steinbaugh after declaring him a hostile witness likewise did nothing to further the State’s case against the defendant. The law of this State has long been that *85contradictory statements by a witness regarding material facts are admissible for the purpose of weakening or destroying the value of his testimony but are not admissible as primary evidence of the controverted fact. Jaggie v. Davis Colliery, 75 W. Va. 370, 84 S.E. 941 (1915); Wilson v. McCoy, 86 W. Va. 103, 103 S.E. 42 (1920); State v. Carduff, 142 W. Va. 18, 93 S.E.2d 502 (1956). The rule is derived from the concept that a self-contradiction shows the witness as “capable of making errors” or demonstrates “some capacity to err.” 3A Wigmore Evidence § 1017 (Chadbourn rev. 1970). The contradiction may be the result of a moral disposition to lie, partisan bias, faulty observation, defective recollection, or any other quality. Ibid. Professor Wigmore asserts that although the contradictory statement may not be offered as substantive evidence because extrajudicial statements of a witness are barred as hearsay, the contradictory statement may be offered for impeachment purposes.
“We simply set the two [contradictory statements of the witness] against each other, perceive that both cannot be correct, and immediately conclude that he has erred in one or the other — but without determining which one. It is the repug-nancy and inconsistency that demonstrates his error, and not the superior credibility of the pri- or statement. Thus, we do not necessarily accept his former statement as replacing his present one.” 3A Wigmore Evidence § 1018 (Chadbourn rev. 1970).
This rule has received much criticism from many legal scholars, including Wigmore, because of the belief that a jury is incapable of the mental gymnastics required in hearing contradictory statements and then considering that evidence only for impeachment purposes and not as substantive evidence. Furthermore, the critics argue that the witness who made the prior out-of-court statement is now in court and subject to cross-examination with regard to both contradictory statements, and therefore, the introduction of the prior contradictory statement as substantive evidence should not be barred as inadmissible hearsay.
*86Despite all of the criticism, the rule in West Virginia is considered the orthodox rule and is followed in the vast majority of jurisdictions, the most notable exception being the Second Circuit as a result of a series of opinions written by Judge Friendly. See, United States v. De Sisto, 329 F.2d 929 (2nd Cir. 1964), cert. denied, 377 U. S. 979 (1964), and its progeny. The orthodox rule, nevertheless, provides that prior contradictory statements are not to be treated as having any substantive or independent testimonial value. Bridges v. Wixon, 326 U.S. 135 (1945); United States v. Rainwater, 283 F.2d 386 (8th Cir. 1960); Brooks v. United States, 309 F.2d 580 (10th Cir. 1962); Byrd v. United States, 342 F.2d 939 (D.C. Cir. 1965); Goings v. United States, 377 F.2d 753 (8th Cir. 1967); United States v. Schwartz, 390 F.2d 1 (3rd Cir. 1968); Benson v. United States, 402 F.2d 576 (9th Cir. 1968).
In the West Virginia cases of Jaggie, Wilson, and Car-duff cited earlier for the orthodox rule, the prior inconsistent statements were introduced in rebuttal in order to discredit the testimony of witnesses called by the opposite party. In the case at bar, however, the court permitted the State to treat its own witness, Stein-baugh, as a hostile witness and allowed the State to mpeach him. The prior inconsistent statement could not oe used as primary evidence to prove whether the defendant actually participated in the burglary. It could be used only to impeach the credibility of Steinbaugh’s testimony. What the State did, then, was to discredit the only witness who could connect the defendant with the burglary.
At the very foundation of our criminal justice system lies the oft-repeated principle that a man is presumed innocent until he is proved guilty — proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The record clearly shows that the defendant in this case was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; not even proved guilty by clear and convincing evidence, nor even by a preponderance of the evidence. This case will serve as extraordinarily dangerous precedent. The majority contend that this defen*87dant’s guilt has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt on the flimsy and highly questionable facts and evidence presented here. Unfortunately future cases will rely on this decision and other men will be convicted of criminal offenses on similarly scant evidence. Therefore, I fear that the majority opinion strikes a substantial blow at the fundamental presumption of innocence in our criminal justice system and at our system’s time-honored standard in criminal trials of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
For the foregoing reasons, I must respectfully dissent from the otherwise unanimous decision of this Court.