Court Opinion

ID: 9752733
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 18:31:14.272073+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:21.315146
License: Public Domain

Underwood, J.,
dissenting. I agree with the majority that State v. Lapham, 135 Vt. 393, 406, 377 A.2d 249, 257 (1977), stands for the proposition that a state’s attorney should refrain in his final argument from appealing to a jury’s prejudice, and should confine his or her argument to the evidence introduced and the inferences that may be properly drawn from it. However, I cannot agree with their placing such great reliance on the Lapham case to support their position *574for reversal of the defendant’s conviction in this case, when-there is little similarity between the two cases.
In Lapham the defendant had entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity to a first degree murder charge. In his final argument the assistant attorney general stated, in part: “Now by entering this plea, ladies and gentlemen, I suggest to you that [the defendant] is embarked upon what I refer [red] to earlier in this case as a desperate effort to escape justice.” Id. at 406 n.2, 377 A.2d at 257 n.2. This Court held that the State’s argument constituted error. We characterized it as a studied purpose to arouse the prejudice of the jury, and reversed defendant’s conviction. Id. at 407, 377 A.2d at 257.
The Lapham case is a far cry from the one at hand. In the instant case the state’s attorney asked the jury to draw their own inference and conclusion as to the credibility of the defendant’s alibi witness from the fact that she had testified she was enamoured of the defendant, planned to marry him, and would do almost anything within reason to help him. The state’s attorney called their attention to the evidence that this witness and the defendant were living together, that they were together every day during the trial, and conversing together during each break or recess in the triak It seems to me that it is fair game for the state’s attorney to suggest to the jury that they draw such inferences from these discussions between the defendant and the alibi witness as the evidence warranted. Certainly, it would not be inr proper to suggest that they might foe discussing the evidence that had already beeen introduced and the upcoming testimony of the alibi witness.
The trial court’s ruling was correct when, over the objection of the defendant, it ruled: “I think the jury can draw the inferences they wish as to the conversations. She indicated what they talked about, and the fact that they spent time together can be commented on. It is in the evidence.”
The record discloses that the state’s attorney did not stray from the evidence and the inferences that can properly be drawn from it. There were inconsistencies in the alibi witness’ sworn testimony in her pretrial deposition and that of her sworn testimony from the witness stand in court. The jury had a right to infer that this was the result of the de*575fendant and his witness putting their heads together during one of the recesses prior to her testifying.
I have searched the transcript of the final arguments of counsel and nowhere do I find any record from which it could be concluded that the state’s attorney had asked the jury to infer that the defendant had suborned perjury, or had tampered with his alibi witness by telling her what to say or by encouraging her to lie as suggested in the majority opinion. I disagree vehemently when they state: “The prosecutor herself admitted that her argument raised improper inferences during a bench conference following the defendant’s objection to her argument.” The salient points at that bench conference consisted of the defense counsel telling the court:
that there is no evidence whatsoever in this case that there was any fabrication made during any of those conferences. There is no such evidence in the case.
The state’s attorney’s reply was:
I didn’t suggest that there was ... I said that they can infer that and they can.
In this swearing contest between the State’s identifying witness and the defendant’s alibi witness I am sure the jury were able to decide which of the two witnesses was the more believable by listening to their testimony and observing each of them. In any event the defendant has failed to affirmatively show prejudice. I would not therefore reverse this conviction on the basis of any impropriety in the state’s attorney’s closing argument to the jury.
The majority are further compelled to reverse the conviction because of the court’s instruction to the jury concerning the position of the state vis-a-vis its witnesses. The portion of the charge which they say constitutes reversible error is as follows:
Now, the State occupies a different position to a witness it calls than does a private party. It is the duty of the State to produce and use all witnesses within reach of subpoena of whatever character, who’s testimony will Shed light upon the case, leaving it for the Jury to weigh the evidence and to decide to what extent it is credible. *576The public, at who’s interest the prosecution is carried forward, has as much interest in establishing the innocence of the defendant, if he be innocent, as his guilt, if he be guilty. This is not to say the State’s Attorney must call each and every witness who may have an account to relate as to a particular occurrence. The State’s Attorney is vested with some degree of discretion in determining what course is both just and best, adapted to minimize undue or unnecessary prolongation of the trial.
We have often stated that a final charge or instruction to the jury must not be considered piecemeal and out of context, but as a whole. State v. Gokey, 136 Vt. 33, 36, 383 A.2d 601, 602 (1978). It is therefore essential that we consider the instructions of the court as to the credibility of all witnesses generally, since this instruction preceded the instruction about the special relationship of the State to its witnesses. It went as follows:
Now, there were only five witnesses who testified in this trial. And I am sure that you remember each one of them as they appeared on the stand. Now I want you to think about them. The credibility of the witnesses and the weight you will give their testimony are questions entirely for your determination. The law is that you are not bound to give the same weight to the testimony of each witness, but you should give the testimony of each witness such weight as you think it is fairly entitled to receive after considering the appearance of the witness on the stand; their candor or lack of candor; their feelings or bias, if any; their interest in the result of the trial, if any; their opportunities for observation; their means of information; and the reasonableness of the testimony which they gave. And the credibility of the witnesses and the weight you attach to their testimony are questions for your sound, practical judgment as fair-minded men and women.
Taking the instruction as a whole, it is clear that it did not place the weight of the trial court behind the State’s chief *577witness. As such, it could not have misled the jury, and thus “it ought to stand.” Id.
The majority in reversing the conviction in this case concede that they did not feel the same compulsion to reverse the convictions when the same charge was given in State v. St. Amour, 139 Vt. 99, 422 A.2d 937 (1980), State v. Jaramillo, 140 Vt. 206, 436 A.2d 757 (1981), and in State v. Sturgeon, 140 Vt. 240, 436 A.2d 777 (1981), because the defendants in those cases were unable to demonstrate any prejudice by the charge. In our most recent case of State v. Billado, 141 Vt. 175, 446 A.2d 778 (1982), we again refused to reverse the conviction, where a similar charge was given, because the defendant did not object to it.
There is no more compelling reason now to reverse the case at hand. To be sure the defendant did object to the charge, but our holding in Billado did not say reversal would be automatic had the defendant objected. Instead we said that a charge on the relationship of the State to its witnesses “[w]hen properly objected to . . . may be grounds for reversal.” (Emphasis added.) Id. at 188, 446 A.2d at 786. We used the word “may” to stress that it is discretionary with this Court.
This discretion, to reverse a conviction, is only to be exercised when there is a demonstrable showing of prejudice. State v. Sturgeon, supra, 140 Vt. at 246, 436 A.2d at 781; State v. Jaramillo, supra, 140 Vt. at 210, 436 A.2d at 759. Here the defendant has failed to show affirmatively how he was prejudiced by the charge given. Therefore, I would affirm.
I am authorized to say that Justice Peck joins in this dissent.