Court Opinion

ID: 9777256
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 20:04:31.384157+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:14:28.805560
License: Public Domain

STEWART, Chief Justice
(dissenting).
I find myself unable to go along with the majority opinion. The question under consideration, as I see it, sought to establish in the minds of the jury a separate and disconnected offense against the accused under the guise of attempting to impeach Sallie Jackson on a collateral matter. It is an elementary doctrine of the criminal jurisprudence of this state that one should not be put on trial for two crimes at the same time. Powell v. Commonwealth, 308 Ky. 467, 214 S.W.2d 1002. None of the well-recognized exceptions to this rule apply in this case. The reason why one on trial in a criminal proceeding should be given the protection of this doctrine is clearly set forth in 20 Am.Jur., Evidence, Sec. 309, p. 288, in this language: “To admit proof of crimes other than the particular one with which the accused is charged would inevitably lead to the inference that the depravity which motivated the previous crimes continued and was the basis for the commission of the particular crime for which the accused must stand trial, and the courts have repeatedly affirmed the impropriety of raising such a presumption of guilt by proof of other crimes.. Furthermore, it is .clear that evidence of other crimes compels the defendant to meet charges of which the indictment gives him no information, confuses him in his defense, raises a variety of issues, and thus diverts the attention of the jury from the charge immediately before it.”
The true test of collateralness as regards contradiction by extrinsic .testimony is laid down in the old English case of Attorney-General v. Hitchcock, 1 Exch. 99. Such evidence, this case held, should conform to the qualities imposed by this standard, namely: The matter is admissible if the fact, upon which the prior self-contradiction is predicated, can be shown in evidence for any purpose independently of the self-contradiction. See also Wig-more on Evidence (3d ed.), Sec. 1020, p. 692. Since the evidence in dispute would clearly be incompetent independently of its use for the purpose of self-contradiction because of the reasons indicated, it may not be a subject of inquiry to lay a foundation to impeach Sallie Jackson.
Another, and highly practicable, reason why this evidence is not admissible is because it is so inflammatory and highly prejudicial that it is doubtful any admonition by the court could remove its poisonous effects from the.minds of the jury. McCormick on Evidence at page 136 points out that in extreme situations, such as we have here, where the danger of the jury’s misuse of the evidence-is great, and its *898value for legitimate purposes is slight, it should be excluded.
I.therefore dissent from the majority opinion and I am authorized to state that Judges MOREMEN and SIMS join in this dissent.