Court Opinion

ID: 9640382
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 17:04:57.476224+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:03:37.531038
License: Public Domain

FICKLING, Associate Judge,
with whom KELLY, KERN and GALLAGHER, Associate Judges, join, concurring in part and dissenting in part:
The court today affirms appellant’s rape convictions even though the trial judge, intentionally disregarding controlling precedent in this jurisdiction, refused to instruct the jury that corroboration of complainants’ testimony was a prerequisite to appellant’s conviction. While I agree that the corroboration requirement in rape cases1 should be eliminated in all future prosecutions, today’s decision to abolish the corroboration requirement should not be retroactively applied to this case. Appellant’s convictions should be reversed and the case remanded for a new trial in which appel*346lant would be entitled to an instruction on the need for corroboration of complainants’ testimony.
Concluding that the trial judge’s refusal to instruct on the corroboration requirement did not reach “constitutional proportions,” the majority treats this allegedly nonconstitutional error as harmless on the theory that the trial judge’s refusal to give the instruction did not affect a substantial right. See D.C.Code 1973, § 11-721 (e). In my view, the refusal to instruct on the corroboration requirement deprived appellant of a substantial right to which he was clearly entitled.
It has long been the rule in this jurisdiction that in prosecutions for rape and related sex crimes, corroboration of the complainant’s testimony is an indispensible prerequisite to conviction. E. g., In re W. E. P., D.C.App., 318 A.2d 286 (1974) ; United States v. Terry, 137 U.S.App.D.C. 267, 422 F.2d 704 (1970) ; Coltrane v. United States, 135 U.S.App.D.C. 295, 418 F.2d 1131 (1969); Borum. v. United States, 133 U.S.App.D.C. 147, 409 F.2d 433 (1967), cert. denied, 395 U.S. 916, 89 S.Ct. 1765, 23 L.Ed.2d 230 (1969). The uncorroborated testimony of the complaining witness is insufficient to establish the corpus delicti of the offense. Konvalinka v. United States, D.C.Mun.App., 162 A.2d 778 (1960), aff'd 109 U.S.App.D.C. 307, 287 F.2d 346 (1961); Allison v. United States, 133 U.S.App.D.C. 159, 409 F.2d 445 (1969) ; Calhoun v. United States, 130 U.S. App.D.C. 266, 399 F.2d 999 (1968); Wilson v. United States, 106 U.S.App.D.C. 226, 271 F.2d 492 (1959). The corroboration requirement in sex crimes is therefore “an essential ingredient of the case.” United States v. Bryant, 137 U.S.App.D.C. 124, 129, 420 F.2d 1327, 1332 (1969). The accused is entitled to a judgment of acquittal as a matter of law if the government fails to present evidence corroborating the complainant’s testimony. United States v. Bryant, supra; Allison v. United States, supra; Walker v. United States, 96 U.S.App.D.C. 148, 223 F.2d 613 (1955).
The adequacy of corroboration in sex cases, like any other question as to the legal sufficiency of the evidence, is initially a matter for determination by the trial court. It is the responsibility of the trial judge to decide whether the corroborative evidence is legally sufficient to warrant submission of the case to the jury. Evans v. United States, D.C.App., 299 A.2d 136 (1973); United States v. Terry, supra; Coltrane v. United States, supra; Borum v. United States, supra. Thus, whether the corroborative evidence is legally sufficient to enable a reasonable mind to conclude guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is a preliminary question of law for the trial court. Washington v. United States, 136 U.S.App.D.C. 54, 419 F.2d 636 (1969).
However, the jury must still bear the major responsibility for determining the adequacy of the corroborative evidence. It is the jury’s function to decide whether the complainant’s testimony was actually corroborated by the evidence. Evans v. United States, supra; United States v. Terry, supra; Coltrane v. United States, supra; Borum v. United States, supra. The case must therefore be sent to the jury with instructions making clear that a guilty verdict may not be based solely on the complainant’s testimony. Evans v. United States, supra; Borum v. United States, supra. The trial court is required to instruct the jury that corroboration of the complainant’s testimony is essential and that it is their responsibility, as jurors, to determine whether there was adequate corroboration of the complainant’s testimony. United States v. Bryant, supra.
It is the majority’s position that the trial judge’s conceded error was harmless since the error did not deprive appellant of a substantial right. See Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 66 S.Ct. 1239, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946). The majority maintains that the refusal to instruct did not prejudice appellant because there was adequate corroboration of complainants’ testimony and because there was nothing in the record *347which would have influenced the jury to reach a different result if the instruction had been given. In my view, the majority is clearly wrong and the admitted error was clearly prejudicial under the standard formulated in Kotteakos v. United States, supra.
D.C.Code 1973, § 11-721 (e), provides that this court is under a duty in criminal as well as civil cases to disregard errors which do not affect substantial rights of the parties. In Kotteakos v. United States, supra, the Supreme Court, construing a similar statute, specifically rejected the argument that error is harmless simply because the evidence is legally sufficient to sustain the conviction. The Court there held that it is impossible to conclude that a substantial right was not affected unless one can say, with fair assurance, that the verdict was not substantially swayed by the error. In Weiler v. United States, 323 U. S. 606, 65 S.Ct. 548, 89 L.Ed. 495 (1945), the Court held that, in a prosecution for perjury, it was prejudicial error for the trial judge, when properly requested, to refuse to instruct the jury that the uncorroborated testimony of a single witness was insufficient to establish that the defendant’s sworn testimony was false. The Court stated:
It is argued that this error did not prejudice the defendant. We cannot say that it did not. The jury convicted without being instructed that more than the testimony of a single witness was required to justify their verdict. . . . We are not authorized to look at the printed record, resolve conflicting evidence, and reach the conclusion that the error was harmless because we think the defendant was guilty. That would be to substitute our judgment for that of the jury and, under our system of justice, juries alone have been entrusted with that responsibility. . . . [323 U.S. at 611, 65 S.Ct. at 551.]
While the evidence in this case may have been legally sufficient to carry the case to the jury, this court cannot say, with fair assurance, that the trial court’s refusal to instruct on the corroboration requirement was harmless error because it thinks the appellant was guilty. It is not the function of an appellate court to determine guilt or innocence upon its own review of the record. That judgment is reserved exclusively for the jury, and the court cannot substitute its own subjective evaluation of the evidence for that of the jury. In the face of the trial judge’s refusal to instruct that corroboration was required, this court cannot assume that the jury found that complainants’ testimony was adequately corroborated.2 See Brotherhood of Carpenters v. United States, 330 U.S. 395, 67 S.Ct. 775, 91 L.Ed. 973 (1947); Bihn v. United States, 328 U.S. 633, 66 S. Ct. 1172, 90 L.Ed. 1484 (1946); Bruno v. United States, 308 U.S. 287, 60 S.Ct. 198, 84 L.Ed. 257 (1939). Nor can we say that if the instruction had been given, appellant would have been found guilty, since the corroborative evidence in one of the cases was weak. Accordingly, under the standard established in Kotteakos v. United States, supra, the trial judge’s refusal to instruct on the need for corroboration was prejudicial error.
Moreover, the majority’s affirmance of appellant’s convictions, based on its present decision to abolish the corroboration rule, may reach constitutional proportions. By upholding appellant’s convictions despite the trial judge’s failure to comply with prevailing law, this court overrules *348a long line of cases in this jurisdiction requiring a corroboration instruction in prosecutions for sex crimes. This retroactive application of the decision to abolish the corroboration requirement in the instant case operates exactly like an ex post facto law, which the Constitution forbids. U. S. Const, art. I, § 9, cl. 3.
An ex post facto law has been defined as “[ejvery law that alters the legal rules of evidence, and receives less, or different, testimony, than the law required at the time of the commission of the offense, in order to convict the offender.” Calder v. Bull, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 386, 390, 1 L.Ed. 648, 650 (1798). See Malloy v. South Carolina, 237 U.S. 180, 35 S.Ct. 507, 59 L.Ed. 905 (1915); 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); Frisby v. United States, 38 App.D.C. 22 (1912). If Congress passed a statute abolishing the corroboration requirement, the constitutional proscription against ex post facto laws would clearly prohibit its application to appellant. See United States v. Williams, 154 U.S.App.D.C. 244, 475 F.2d 355 (1973). If Congress is barred from passing such a law, this court is barred by due process from achieving the same result by judicial decision. See Bouie v. City of Columbia, 378 U.S. 347, 84 S.Ct. 1697, 12 L.Ed.2d 894 (1964).
Before an error of constitutional proportions can be held harmless, it must be harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S. Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967); Baker v. United States, D.C.App., 324 A.2d 194 (1974); cf. Kotteakos v. United States, supra. Thus, the government must demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that the trial judge’s refusal to give the instruction on the corroboration requirement did not contribute to appellant’s convictions. There is no such showing in this case.
Finally, I cannot agree with the majority that the instruction on the need for corroboration should be abolished only where the rape victim is a “mature female.” I view the use of the word “mature” as judicial legislation and an attempt to amend the rape statute, which applies to all females 16 years of age and over. Also, unless the word “mature” is properly defined, it is vague when used in this context. Accordingly, appellant’s convictions should be reversed and the case remanded for a new trial with directions that the jury be instructed on the need for corroboration of complainants’ testimony.
I respectfully dissent.

. I do not agree that the elimination of the corroboration requirement should also apply to related sex cases at this time. I would defer such judgment until we have a related sex ease before us.

. The majority’s reliance on People v. Rincon-Pineda, 14 Cal.3d 864, 123 Cal.Rptr. 119, 538 P.2d 247 (1975), is misplaced. The Supreme Court of California there held that the trial judge did not commit prejudicial error by failing to give a cautionary instruction to the effect that a rape charge is easily made and difficult to defend against. The court found that even if the cautionary instruction had been given, the jury would not have been any more aware that the key issue in the case was the credibility of the complaining witness.