Court Opinion

ID: 9484439
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:53:47.689306+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:50:15.007003
License: Public Domain

BELOT, District Judge,
concurring:
I fully concur in the opinion of Judge Holloway but I write separately because I believe this case is distinguishable from Webb v. Texas, supra, in several important respects.
First, the judge’s offensive remarks in Webb were made during the trial when the defendant was presumed innocent. In this case, the district judge’s comments were made at a motion for new trial which occurred after the defendant had been convicted and after this court had affirmed the conviction. Thus, Webb did not address the issue presented in this appeal: the extent to which a judge presiding over a hearing on a motion for new trial may caution a witness who is about to recant her testimony given at trial.
Second, this court has consistently held that motions for new trial based on newly discovered evidence are regarded with disfavor and granted only with- great caution. United States v. Youngpeter, 986 F.2d 349 (10th Cir.1993). When the newly discovered evidence consists of a recantation, it is the duty of the trial court to be satisfied that the challenged testimony was actually false. United States v. Bradshaw, 787 F.2d 1385, 1391 (10th Cir.1986). A trial judge may justifiably view such a motion with a jaundiced eye. As this court has cautioned, “Recantation of testimony given under oath at trial is not looked upon with favor. Indeed, such is generally looked upon with downright suspicion.” United States v. Ahern, 612 F.2d 507, *683509 (10th Cir.1980), cert. denied 449 U.S. 1093, 101 S.Ct. 890, 66 L.Ed.2d 822 (1981). Thus, the district judge had an affirmative duty to conduct an evidentiary hearing to evaluate both the credibility and impact of Scott’s recantation, United States v. Page, 828 F.2d 1476, 1478 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 989, 108 S.Ct. 510, 98 L.Ed.2d 508 (1987), and he could properly draw on his knowledge and observations gained as the presiding judge at the original trial. United States v. Johnson, 327 U.S. 106, 112, 66 S.Ct. 464, 466, 90 L.Ed. 562 (1946); United States v. Ramsey, 761 F.2d 603, 604 (10th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1082, 106 S.Ct. 851, 88 L.Ed.2d 892 (1986).
Third, the district judge’s comments cannot be compared in content or degree with the “gratuitous” and “unnecessarily strong” admonition given by the judge in Webb. Nor can they be taken as active encouragement to Scott not to testify or as badgering her to remain silent. United States v. Arthur, 949 F.2d 211, 215, 216 (6th Cir.1991). Nor do they amount to the coercive and repeated threats about perjury which were condemned (but not without dissent) in Anderson v. Warden, Maryland Penitentiary, 696 F.2d 296 (4th Cir.1982) (en banc).
Fourth, the witness in Webb was unrepresented. Here, Scott was represented which, while not in and of itself decisive, militates against a finding that Scott’s later refusal to testify was the product of judicial coercion or other improper conduct by the district judge.
In this case, the district judge knew that Scott intended to recant her trial testimony and that he was faced with a witness who either had committed perjury at the trial or who was prepared to do so at the hearing. Thus, the district judge’s concern was not the product of mere suspicion, but of absolute certainty of the existence of perjurious testimony. Under the circumstances of this case, the district judge had the discretion to inform Scott of the consequences of her recantation. It may be that he had the obligation to do so, but that is not an issue which requires decision. Therefore, I believe the district judge’s statements and actions were properly within his discretion and not viola-tive of Webb.