Court Opinion

ID: 9476863
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 06:07:25.532009+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:45:33.069238
License: Public Domain

CLARK, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part:
In this case, the court is confronted with a number of extremely difficult issues. While I agree with many of the conclusions in the majority opinion and I concur in its affirmance of the district court’s judgment, my analysis of certain issues differs from that of both the majority and the dissent. As discussed below, I conclude that only one issue raised by the appellee, Henry Brown, merits the granting of the writ of habeas corpus. Because I cannot conclude that the error was harmless, I concur in the result reached in the majority opinion.
I. IMPROPER LIMITATION ON CROSS EXAMINATION
In his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, the appellee Brown argued (and the district court agreed) that the state trial judge erred by limiting Brown’s cross-examination of Detective Dallas about a possible deal between the state and Mack Simmons, who had confessed to participating in the murder. Dallas was allowed to testify about Simmons’ accusation of Brown, but the trial judge denied defense counsel’s probes into the possibility that Simmons made his accusations as part of (or in the hopes of) a deal for lighter treatment on Simmons’ own murder charges. See Trial Transcript at 602-03. After the trial judge blocked his line of questioning, defense counsel made a proffer outside the presence of the jury to the effect that Simmons was arrested for the murder almost one month before Simmons mentioned Brown’s name as being involved in the crime, and that Brown’s name was first mentioned in the context of attempts by Simmons’ attorney to strike a deal with the state. See id. at 605-06. The trial judge stated that the defense counsel could, if he desired, ask certain limited questions about a possible deal. See id. at 607.
The judge continued, however, to rule that if the defense inquired further about a deal between Simmons and the state, the prosecution would be allowed to present evidence of earlier plea negotiations between Brown and the state; the state would also be allowed to bring in certain statements by Brown that had been successfully suppressed in pre-trial proceedings. See id. at 612-13. Faced with the alternatives set out by the trial judge, the defense counsel dropped his line of questioning. See id. at 614.
The trial court found the limitation on cross-examination and the Hobson’s choice created by the trial judge to be “constitutional error of the first magnitude.” Dist. Ct.Op. at 5. I agree. As the Supreme Court in Davis v. Alaska made clear, a “primary interest” secured by the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment is the right of cross-examination. Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 315, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 1110, 39 L;Ed.2d 347 (1974) (quoting Douglas v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 415, 418, 85 S.Ct. 1074, 1076, 13 L.Ed.2d 934 (1965)). An important component of the right of cross-examination is the right of a defendant to attempt to impeach, or discredit, his accuser. Davis, 415 U.S. at 316, 94 S.Ct. at 1110. One specific type of attack on an accuser “is effected by means of cross-examination directed toward revealing possible biases, prejudices, or other ulterior motives of the witness as they may relate directly to issues or personalities in the case at hand.” Id. “It is especially important in a case where a witness or an accomplice may have substantial reason to cooperate with the government that a defendant be permitted to search for an agreement between the government and the witness.” United States v. Crumley, 565 *1556F.2d 945, 949 (5th Cir.1978). The Supreme Court has recently reaffirmed the importance of full cross-examination by a defendant into the motives and possible biases of his accuser. See Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 106 S.Ct. 1431, 1435, 89 L.Ed.2d 674 (1986).
In light of these important confrontation rights, I agree with both the district court and the majority opinion that the state trial court erred in limiting defense inquiry into a possible deal between Simmons and the state. This conclusion is not disturbed by the fact that at one point in the testimony of Detective Dallas, he denied the existence of a deal. See Trial Transcript at 601-02. “[A] defendant’s right to cross-examine a witness about any deals that may have been made or any understandings that may have been reached between the government and one of its witnesses does not hinge on whether in fact any such deals or understandings were effected.” United States v. Mayer, 556 F.2d 245, 245 (5th Cir.1977). “Whether or not such a deal existed in not crucial.” Greene v. Wainwright, 634 F.2d 272, 276 (5th Cir. Jan. 1981). What is important is the possibility that a witness is accusing an individual in an effort to please the prosecution. Id. “ ‘A desire to cooperate may be formed beneath the conscious level, in a manner not apparent even to the witness, but such a subtle desire to assist the state nevertheless may cloud perception.’ ” Id. (quoting Burr v. Sullivan, 618 F.2d 583, 597 (9th Cir.1980)). See also United States v. Onori, 535 F.2d 938, 945 (5th Cir.1976). In this case, the key accusation by Mack Simmons came at a time when Simmons was facing murder charges and, according to Brown’s proffer, when Simmons was attempting to negotiate a deal. The fact that Detective Dallas testified that no deal existed does nothingto undercut the importance of an inquiry into Simmons’ motives for accusing Brown of involvement in the murder.
Similarly, the fact that Simmons did not himself testify does not change the conclusion that the limitation on inquiry into Simmons’ motives was error. The fact that Detective Dallas testified as to Simmons’ accusation of Brown does not eliminate Brown’s right to explore Simmons’ biases. The dissent contends that Dallas’s testimony about Simmons’ motives would have been hearsay, and thus was properly excluded under Florida law. See Dissenting Op. at 1564. To adopt such an approach, however, would be to allow the state to present Simmons’ accusation of Brown through the hearsay testimony of Dallas, and then turn around and prevent Brown from attacking the accusation because the attacks would be hearsay. As the state has already conceded, see Appellant’s Brief at 18, Dallas’s initial testimony of Simmons’ accusation was improperly admitted in violation of Florida’s hearsay rule. In light of that concession, that same hearsay rule cannot now be turned around to prevent Brown’s attack on that improperly admitted testimony. I thus disagree with the dissent’s argument that Brown’s attempted cross-examination of Dallas on Simmons’ motives was correctly excluded as hearsay.
I also disagree with the dissent’s alternate argument, that there was no error because the trial court did state that Brown's counsel could in fact inquire about a possible deal. See Dissenting Op. at 1563. What the dissent acknowledges but does not address is the fact that the state trial judge made it clear that any further inquiry into a possible deal would “open the door” to a range of unrelated lines of questioning by the prosecution. The trial judge explicitly stated that if Brown inquired further about a deal with Simmons, then the state could present evidence about “the whole thing, everything,” including evidence of Brown’s plea negotiations with the state. Trial Transcript at 613. In other words, the judge tied Brown’s attack on Simmons’ accusation to Brown's foregoing of a right unrelated to Simmons’ accusation. In order to inquire about a deal between Simmons and the state, Brown would have to give up his right, protected by Florida law, to avoid evidence of prior plea negotiations. See Fla.R.Crim.Pro. 3.171(d). Given these facts, it is constitutionally intolerable to force a criminal defendant to forego one of his rights in an *1557effort to protect another. In this case, there is no legitimate relationship between Simmons’ motives at the time he accused Brown (which was before Brown was arrested) and any plea negotiations that Brown later conducted with the state. Not only are the two events (Simmons’ accusation and Brown’s plea negotiations) remote in time, they are also unrelated as far as Brown’s right to probe Simmons’ motives is concerned. The approach of the state trial court, implicitly approved by the dissent, would lead to a rule that one co-defendant cannot attempt to discredit the adverse testimony of another co-defendant without leaving himself open to a full discussion of prior plea negotiations. I cannot accept such a rule, and I cannot agree with the analysis of the dissent on this point.
In defense of the limitation on Brown’s inquiry into Simmons’ motives, the state presents in its brief another argument, which to the extent I understand it I find unpersuasive. The state argues (as discussed more fully below in relation to the admission of the hearsay itself) that it was the defense’s strategy to have Simmons’ accusation of Brown presented to the jury in order to be able to argue to the jury that Brown’s confession was coerced. Although to some extent I agree with this part of the state’s analysis (as discussed below), I cannot understand the state’s contention that the strategy required that Brown forego attacking Simmons’ accusation. See Appellant’s Brief at 32. To the extent that the defense wanted Simmons’ accusation of Brown before the jury, it obviously did not concede the truth of Simmons’ accusation (thereby conceding Brown’s guilt). The defense strategy, as I conclude below, included presenting Simmons’ accusation not for the truth of the matter asserted but instead to show that Brown’s confession was coerced. It is not at all inconsistent (as the state argues in its brief on appeal) for Brown to attack simultaneously the truth of Simmons’ accusation and the voluntariness of Brown’s confession. In fact if, as the state argues, the defense strategy by necessity included conceding the truth of Simmons’ statements, then it seems to me that such a strategy would verge on constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel. The state would have the court hold that the defense necessarily conceded the truth of Simmons’ accusation. I reject that analysis of the defense’s strategy in favor of the more obvious and logical interpretation that the defense wanted Simmons’ accusation before the jury (to prove coercion) but at the same time wanted to attack the truth of the accusation. It is not the first time that a party has presented or allowed the presentation of evidence just to turn around and demonstrate the falseness of the evidence. In this case, by allowing Simmons’ accusation to come before the jury, Brown in no way gave up the right to attack the truth of that accusation or the motives of the accuser. I therefore cannot accept these arguments, presented by the dissent and the state, to excuse the unconstitutional limitation of Brown’s right to probe Simmons’ motives.
The constitutional analysis, however, cannot end at this point. As the Supreme Court held in Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 106 S.Ct. 1431, 1438, 89 L.Ed.2d 674 (1986), Confrontation Clause violations of the type present here are subject to the harmless error analysis of Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967). After having reviewed the record, I cannot conclude that the Confrontation Clause violation was harmless. In Van Arsdall, the Supreme Court set out guidelines for the harmlessness analysis in Confrontation Clause cases:
The correct inquiry is whether, assuming that the damaging potential of the cross-examination were fully realized, a reviewing court might nonetheless say that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Whether such an error is harmless in a particular case depends upon a host of factors, all readily accessible to reviewing courts. These factors include the importance of the witness’ testimony in the prosecution’s case, whether the testimony was cumulative, the presence or absence of evidence corroborating or contradicting the testimony *1558of the witness on material points, the extent of cross-examination otherwise permitted, and, of course, the overall strength of the prosecution’s case.
Van Arsdall, 106 S.Ct. at 1438. Applying these factors to this case leads to the conclusion that the constitutional error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
As Brown argued in his proffer outside of the presence of the jury, Simmons did not accuse Brown until almost one month after Simmons was arrested. According to the proffer, Simmons’ attorney approached Detective Dallas in an effort to obtain favorable treatment of Simmons. In that context, Dallas first heard of Brown’s alleged involvement in the murder. Allowing a full cross-examination inquiring into Simmons’ motives for accusing Brown might easily have led the jury to doubt Simmons’ accusation.
The other Van Arsdall factors also weaken a possible conclusion of harmlessness. In this case, Brown’s confessions formed the center of the prosecution’s case, yet Brown presented a quite plausible attack on the validity of those confessions. Simmons’ accusation was the only additional testimony or evidence that linked Brown to the murder. Contrary to what is implied by the dissent, there is absolutely no physical or testimonial evidence that linked Brown to the murder. As the prosecutor told the jury in his opening argument, “you will not hear any testimony, and the police did not have any physical evidence, that conclusively links Henry Brown to the murder.” Trial Transcript at 267. Other than Brown’s confession and Simmons’ accusation, the only evidence presented by the state is completely consistent with what Brown told the police the day after the murder — that he had received the deceased’s automobile from Simmons and another man, and that he did not know how they got the car.
Finally, in considering the possible harmlessness of the Confrontation Clause violation, it is important to note that Brown’s conviction came during his second trial. Brown’s first trial ended with a hung jury unable to reach a verdict. As far as the record on appeal indicates, the first trial was not transcribed, but the record strongly suggests from the colloquy of court and counsel that a significant difference between the first and second trial was the limitation on Brown’s right to inquire into Simmons’ motives. See Trial Transcript at 611. In light of the absence of corroborating evidence of guilt and the importance of Simmons’ accusation of Brown, coupled with the facts that Brown was allowed to probe Simmons’ motives during the first trial and the first trial ended with a hung jury, I cannot conclude that the limitation on Brown’s right to inquire into Simmons’ motives was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
II. OTHER CLAIMED ERRORS
In light of my above finding of a constitutional error, I ordinarily would not reach the merits of any other claimed errors. In light of the fact, however, that both the majority and dissenting opinions have discussed the issues, and in order to facilitate later consideration of this case, I will briefly discuss my conclusions with respect to the other issues. While I agree with portions of the analysis in the majority opinion and I disagree with portions of the dissent, I have concluded none of Brown’s other claims merit the granting of the writ.
A. The Admission of the Hearsay Testimony
For the reasons discussed in the majority opinion, see Majority Op. at 1551-52, and the district court opinion, see Dist. Ct.Op. at 3-4, I agree that the initial admission of Dallas’s testimony of Simmons’ accusation of Brown was inadmissible hearsay. Notwithstanding the fact that the state concedes this point, see Appellant’s Brief at 18, the dissent argues that the testimony was not improper hearsay because it was admissible to show why Brown confessed. This argument, however, ignores the fact that the prosecutor presented and argued the hearsay testimony for its truth. See Trial Transcript at 513, 738. The dissent’s argument that the testimony may have conceiv*1559ably been admissible for a legitimate non-hearsay reason does nothing to eliminate the fact that it was presented for its truth and the prosecutor argued to the jury that it was true. In this case, the admission of the testimony was improper.
Nevertheless, I conclude that defense, by the nature of its entire trial strategy, waived any objection to the admission of the testimony. In light of the entire record, I think that it is clear that the defense’s strategy, from the outset of the trial, was to argue to the jury that Brown’s confessions were the product of the police repeatedly interrogating Brown (who was a juvenile at the time), conducting a number of the interrogations in the middle of the night, and finally arranging for Mack Simmons to accuse Brown to his face. According to the defense strategy, this pressure caused Brown to break down and confess to whatever the police wanted to hear.
It is clear that Brown’s trial counsel at his first trial intended to follow such a strategy, and intended to place before the jury the details of Simmons’ accusation of Brown that led Brown to confess. See Transcript of Hearing of Apr. 7, 1975, at 79, 83-84. In the second trial, Brown’s trial counsel did not object when the prosecutor discussed in his opening statement the details of Simmons’ face-to-face accusation of Brown. In the defense’s opening statement, counsel for Brown repeated the details of Simmons’ accusation of Brown, and made clear to the jury that his entire defense theory was that Brown was coerced into confessing. Because of the failure of certain pre-trial motions, Brown’s, counsel knew that Brown’s confessions would be admitted into evidence, and thus the counsel focused on discrediting the confessions.
In light of the defense’s strategy that included discussion of Simmons’ accusation of Brown, Brown cannot now complain about the admission of the accusation. While the trial court erred by overruling a hearsay objection to the testimony of Simmons’ accusation, Brown waived that error by relying on the same challenged testimony to build his argument that his confessions were coerced.
B. The Testimony about Brown’s Silence and the Prosecutor’s Comments on the Silence
Similarly, while I think that it was error to admit testimony about Brown’s silence following Simmons’ accusation, and I think that the prosecutor improperly commented on the silence during closing argument, I think that Brown waived any claims of error by eliciting detailed testimony about the silence in front of the jury. The parties disagree about which side first mentioned the silence. Upon review of the record, I conclude that the prosecutor first made a vague reference to the silence by way of omitting any reference to a reply by Brown to Simmons’ accusation. See Trial Transcript at 513. Defense counsel, however, was squarely responsible for the first detailed discussion of the silence. See id. at 540.
In light of this, I conclude that Brown cannot complain about the admission of testimony of the silence. Questions by Brown’s counsel highlighted the silence to the jury, and made crystal clear what had been only a vague inference. Brown must thus bear the responsibility for the focus on the silence. Furthermore, Brown’s discussion of the silence and his implication that the silence was consistent with Brown’s innocence excuses what otherwise would have been an improper comment on the silence by the prosecutor during closing argument. See id. at 738.
C. Other Claims Errors
Brown’s other two claims of error are that the trial court erred by mentioning Brown’s presence at the Simmons’ accusation (and thereby suggesting the accusation might be true) and that the trial court erred by instructing the jury to disregard Brown’s argument about the fact that Simmons was not called by the state. I agree with the district court and the majority opinion that both of these statements by the trial court were error. The constitutional dimension of both errors, however, *1560are tied to the admissibility or inadmissibility of Simmons’ accusation of Brown. Because I conclude above that Brown was sufficiently responsible for the admission of the accusation so as to waive his claims about the admission, I do not think that these errors rise to a constitutional dimension. The trial court’s statements were error, but did not add significantly to the damage done by the concession of Simmons’ accusation itself. Thus, these two claims do not require habeas relief.
III. CONCLUSION
In light of my conclusions in Part I of this opinion, I think that the district court was correct, on one ground, in granting the writ to the appellee. I therefore concur in the judgment of the majority opinion affirming the district court’s grant of habeas corpus relief.