Court Opinion

ID: 9460191
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 21:44:13.489696+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:36:31.193789
License: Public Domain

STEPHENSON, Circuit Judge
(dissenting) .
I respectfully dissent. It is my view that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting testimony concerning footprints and the bloodstained jacket which appellant confessed he was wearing at the time he burned the car and killed the victim. I would affirm the conviction.
Special Agent Webb of the Federal Bureau of Investigation testified that appellant during the course of his confession1 related that: when he entered the parked car the victim, Dennis Thomas, was lying down on the back seat apparently sleeping; he tried to turn the victim over.“so that he could see if he had a wallet and take his money;” “he stabbed Thomas in the neck;” “he didn’t bleed too much;” appellant then started a fire in the car, closed the door and ran into a nearby cornfield to a large block house (cistern) upon which he climbed and watched the fire.
During the course of the confession appellant accompanied agents Webb and Oxler to the scene where Webb testified appellant “showed us the direction of travel that he took” through the cornfield to the cistern; he described the clothing he wore the night of the murder which included a field jacket that was obtained from appellant’s brother and identified by appellant as the one he was wearing. The jacket was sent to the F. B.I. laboratory and a witness testified that a stain on the jacket cuff was human blood.
On cross-examination Agent Webb testified “Well, the only set of footprints we found was one set, and they led in the general direction from the area of the car in a circular manner towards the cistern.” He conceded there was no way to identify the footprints, they varied, they started in the area where appellant indicated he ran into the cornfield, but there was no continuous pattern. The footprints were not identifed as having, been made by appellant and the able trial court so cautioned the jury and instructed the jury that the testimony was to be considered only for its bearing on the issue of the presence or absence of footprints.
In McDonnell v. United States, 455, F. 2d 91, 95 (C.A.8 1972), cited by the majority, the footprints were offered as independent evidence of defendant’s presence in the bank. In the instant cause they were offered for the purpose of corroborating appellant’s confessions which at trial he admitted making but claimed were a sham. The absence of footprints would have made appellant’s confession suspect, their presence and location were consistent with his confession. To that extent they were relevant and admissible.
Similarly the jacket which appellant confessed he wore during the stabbing and the expert testimony that the stain thereon was human blood was properly admitted to corroborate appellant’s statement that he stabbed the victim and the victim bled albeit not “too much.” The evidence concerning the jacket was *352obviously introduced to establish the trustworthiness of appellant’s confessions. It was relevant for that purpose.
The Supreme Court has made it clear that the “corpus delecti” may be established by independent evidence of the crime and by corroborating the confession so that in effect the evidence speaks through the confession. In Smith v. United States, 348 U.S. 147, 156, 75 S.Ct. 194, 199, 99 L.Ed. 192 (1954) Mr. Justice Clark speaking for the court stated the rule as follows:
All elements of the offense must be established by independent evidence or corroborated admissions, but one available mode of corroboration is for the independent evidence to bolster the confession itself and thereby prove the offense ‘through’ the statements of the accused.
In Opper v. United States, 348 U.S. 84, 93, 75 S.Ct. 158, 164, 99 L.Ed. 101 (1954) Mr. Justice Reed speaking for the court summarized the rule as follows:
However, we think the better rule to be that the corroborative evidence need not be sufficient, independent of the statements, to establish the corpus delicti. It is necessary, therefore, to require the Government to introduce substantial independent evidence which would tend to establish the trustworthiness of the statement. Thus, the independent evidence serves a dual function. It tends to make the admission reliable, thus corroborating it while also establishing independently the other necessary elements of the offense. Smith v. United States, post, [348 U.S.] 147 [75 S.Ct. 194, 99 L. Ed. 192]. It is sufficient if the corroboration supports the essential facts admitted sufficiently to justify a jury inference of their truth. Those facts plus the other evidence besides the admission must, of course, be sufficient to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
See discussion, McCormick, Law of Evidence § 158 at 346-49 (2d Ed. 1972).
We have recognized that it is appropriate to receive evidence for the purpose of establishing the trustworthiness of a confession. Gerberding v. United States, 471 F.2d 55, 61 (C.A. 8 1973); Fisher v. United States, 324 F.2d 775 (C.A. 8 1963). The details of the confession often supply the basis for the relevancy of the evidence. Fisher, supra; United States v. Abigando, 439 F.2d 827 (C.A. 5 1971); United States v. Demangone, 456 F.2d 807 (C.A. 3 1972); United States v. Waller, 326 F.2d 314 (C.A. 4 1963); Mapys v. United States, 409 F.2d 964 (C.A. 10 1969); Hagan v. United States, 245 F.2d 556 (C.A. 5 1957); Gallegos v. States, 152 Neb. 831, 43 N. W.2d 1 (1950).
We have subscribed to the rule that the trial court will be accorded wide latitude in passing on the admissibility of evidence. The exercise of this discretion will not be disturbed absent a clear showing of abuse. Wangrow v. United States, 399 F.2d 106, 115 (C.A. 8 1968); Cotton v. United States, 361 F.2d 673 (C.A. 8 1966); compare, United States v. Ravich, 421 F.2d 1196, 1203-1205 (C. A. 2 1970).
I fail to find an abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court in admitting the testimony concerning the footprints in the cornfield and the bloodstained jacket. Here the trial court was in a position to weigh the probative value of the evidence against possible prejudice in its admission. I see no reason to interfere.
I concur with the majority opinion in all other respects.

. Appellant was interviewed by Special Agents Webb and Oxler in the Tribal Police Department building after he had earlier confessed to Agent Gilpin, Special Deputy with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and subsequently to Delmer Eastman, Criminal Investigator for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, that he had killed the victim and set fire to the car. In addition to the foregoing confessions appellant made admissions of guilt to three other persons who were not law enforcement officials.