Court Opinion

ID: 9714222
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:33:25.258489+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:24.503403
License: Public Domain

SCOTT, Justice
(concurring specially).
While I agree with the result of the majority, I must point out that the court’s failure to properly apply the holding of State v. Brouillette, 286 N.W.2d 702 (Minn.1979), in its general discussion regarding the admissibility of the prior conviction overtly conflicts with the doctrine of stare decisis, resulting in a lack of consistency and certainty in our case law. In Brouil-lette we analyzed at length the principles governing the admission of prior convictions into evidence under Minn.R.Evid. 609. After careful and thorough consideration of the various authorities, we stated (286 N.W.2d 707-08):
*285Of course, we must sustain this eviden-tiary ruling of the trial court unless a clear abuse of discretion is shown. See, e. g., State v. Jones, 271 N.W.2d 534 (Minn.1978). In arguing that the trial court exceeded its discretionary authority, the defendant alleges that the prior conviction in question here does not involve any element of truth or veracity and, thus, is not probative of credibility. We are unpersuaded by this contention. Just because a crime is not directly related to truth or falsity does not mean that evidence of the conviction has no impeachment value. Indeed in St. Paul v. DiBucci, 304 Minn. 97, 100, 229 N.W.2d 507, 508 (1975), this court acknowledged that impeachment by prior crime aids the jury by allowing it “to see ‘the whole person’ and thus to judge better the truth of his testimony.” This principle was expanded upon by another court as follows:
The object of a trial is not solely to surround an accused with legal safeguards but also to discover the truth. What a person is often determines whether he should be believed. When a defendant voluntarily testifies in a criminal case, he asks the jury to accept his word. No sufficient reason appears why the jury should not be informed what sort of person is asking them to take his word. In transactions of everyday life this is probably the first thing that they would wish to know. * * * Lack of trustworthiness may be evinced by his abiding and repeated contempt for laws which he is legally and morally bound to obey * * * though the violations are not concerned solely with crimes involving “dishonesty and false statement.”
State v. Duke, 100 N.H. 292, 293, 123 A.2d 745, 746 (1956). See, also, State v. Ross, 295 N.C. 488, 246 S.E.2d 780 (1978); State v. Cote, 108 N.H. 290, 235 A.2d 111 (1967). In addition, defendant’s position is inconsistent with the policy manifested by the adoption of Rule 609. That rule clearly sanctions the use of felonies which are not directly related to truth or falsity for purposes of impeachment, and thus necessarily recognizes that a prior conviction, though not specifically involving veracity, is nevertheless probative of credibility.9
9 The Comment to Rule 609 provides that the trial court may, in its discretion, admit “serious crimes, which do not directly involve dishonesty or false statement * * if the probative value outweighs the conviction’s prejudicial effect. If felonies unrelated to truth or veracity had no probative value as to credibility, Rule 609 certainly would not have given a trial court the authority to admit these crimes into evidence.
Therefore, contrary to defendant’s contention, evidence of defendant’s prior crime was probative of his truthfulness.
In this case, the majority states that the defendant’s prior conviction “has nothing to do with the defendant’s credibility.” Such language, which constitutes dictum unnecessary for resolution of the instant appeal, is obviously in direct contradiction with the recently decided Brouillette opinion. Similarly inconsistent with Brouillette is the majority’s claim, again by way of dicta, that the “real effect of admitting such a conviction is to prejudice the jury.” Moreover, in making this remark, the majority opinion pays no deference to the trial court’s discretionary ruling, as it clearly must do. E. g., Brouillette, supra; State v. Jones, 271 N.W.2d 534 (Minn.1978). It is not our function to sit in the place of a trial judge; instead our responsibility as an appellate court is to uphold such an evidentia-ry ruling unless a clear abuse of discretion is shown. Whether the trial court abused that discretion is an issue we need not address in this case, and as a result the majority’s reference to the propriety of the trial court’s ruling is superfluous.
In summary, although I agree with the result, I object to the majority’s failure to deal with the Brouillette decision in making certain statements regarding the admissibility of the prior crime. This error is compounded by the fact that, in light of our disposition of this appeal, the question of whether the prior crime was admissible need not be discussed or alluded to in the court’s opinion.