Court Opinion

ID: 9455997
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 19:39:26.012044+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:34:49.043410
License: Public Domain

BRIGHT, Circuit Judge
(concurring).
I concur in the result reached by the majority, but add a comment concerning the doctrine emanating from Luck v. United States, 121 U.S.App.D.C. 151, 348 F.2d 763 (1965), and its progeny.1 I find it unnecessary to consider the Luck doctrine in resolving this case. Here, the defendant testified on his own behalf. When the prosecution questioned him with respect to his prior convictions, he then objected to this line of questioning. An objection made initially during cross-examination calls for no application of Luck. To invoke the Luck doctrine, the defendant, prior to testifying, must request that the court exclude evidence of past convictions. United States v. Coleman, 137 U.S.App.D.C. 110, 420 F.2d 1313, 1316 (1969); Weaver v. United States, 133 U.S.App.D.C. 66, 408 F.2d 1269, cert. denied, 395 U.S. 927, 89 S.Ct. 1785, 23 L.Ed.2d 245 (1969); Gordon v. United States, 127 U.S.App.D.C. 343, 383 F.2d 936 (1967), cert. denied, 390 U.S. 1029, 88 S.Ct. 1421, 20 L.Ed.2d 287 (1968). If the court’s ruling is adverse to him, the defendant may then elect whether he desires to testify and subject himself to impeachment.
Judge McGowan, speaking for the Luck majority, noted that the exercise of a court’s sound discretion in excluding such impeachment evidence on occasion may promote the interests of justice:
There may well be cases where the trial judge might think that the cause of truth would be helped more by letting the jury hear the defendant’s story than by the defendant’s foregoing that opportunity because of the fear of prejudice founded upon a prior conviction. There may well be other cases where the trial judge believes the prejudicial effect of impeachment far outweighs the probative relevance of the prior conviction to the issue of credibility. This last is, of course, a standard which trial judges apply every day in other contexts; and we think it has both utility and applicability in this field. 348 F.2d at 768. (Footnotes omitted.)
Although the Luck decision rests upon a special statutory provision applicable only to the District of Columbia, othér circuits have adopted its rationale, at least in part. United States v. Allison, 414 F.2d 407, 411-412 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 968, 90 S.Ct. 449, 24 L.Ed.2d 433 (1969); United States v. Greenberg, 419 F.2d 808, 809 (3d Cir. 1969); United States v. Palumbo, 401 F.2d 270, 274 (2d Cir. 1968), cert. denied, 394 U.S. 947, 89 S.Ct. 1281, 22 L.Ed.2d 480 (1969); semble, United States v. Perea, 413 F.2d 65, 68 (10th Cir. 1969), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 945, 90 S.Ct. 960, 25 L.Ed.2d 125 (1970); United States v. Hildreth, 387 F.2d 328, 329 (4th Cir. 1967).2
*481I find nothing inconsistent in Luck and our rule that permits the trial judge broad discretion in controlling the scope and extent of cross-examination in criminal cases. See, e. g., United States v. Dickens, 417 F.2d 958, 959 (8th Cir. 1969); Bass v. United States, 326 F.2d 884, 890 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 377 U.S. 905, 84 S.Ct. 1164, 12 L.Ed.2d 176 (1964); Segal v. United States, 246 F.2d 814, 819 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 355 U.S. 894, 78 S.Ct. 269, 2 L.Ed.2d 192 (1957).
I join in affirming since the record in this case reflects no abuse of discretion by the court in ruling upon the questioned evidence.

. District of Columbia Circuit cases subsequent to Luck are collected in the appendix to Weaver v. United States, 133 U.S.App.D.C. 66, 408 F.2d 1269, cert. denied, 395 U.S. 927, 89 S.Ct. 1785, 23 L.Ed.2d 245 (1969). More recent cases include United States v. McCord, 137 U.S.App.D.C. 5, 420 F.2d 255 (1969); United States v. Coleman, 137 U.S.App.D.C. 110, 420 F.2d 1313 (1969); Gass v. United States, 135 U.S.App.D.C. 11, 416 F.2d 767 (1969).

. In Bendelow v. United States, 418 F.2d 42 (5th Cir. 1969), a divided court declined to adopt such a rule.