Court Opinion

ID: 9852459
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:30:46.163892+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:22:28.316548
License: Public Domain

Thompson, J.,
dissenting:
The true holding of the majority opinion is that the *70harmless error technique may be used to place the appellate stamp of approval on a trial court ruling which denies a plaintiff his right to present material impeaching testimony in rebuttal.1
To correctly evaluate the holding, one first must know what this case does not involve. It has nothing whatever to do with the power of a trial court to limit the number of witnesses that may be called to testify upon a particular issue. Annots., 21 A.L.R. 335; 48 A.L.R. 947. Here, plaintiff’s counsel represented to the court that he had three rebuttal witnesses to present. Each would contradict or impeach testimony given by William Mendes relevant to the heart of the controversy. Not one of them was heard!
Nor does this appeal involve the case made distinction between a court trial and a jury trial as to evidence offered and received. If a court trial, the improper reception of incompetent evidence may be deemed harmless if there exists competent evidence to support the result. Duplantis v. Duplantis, 50 Nev. 234, 255 P. 1014; Rehling v. Brainard, 38 Nev. 16, 144 P. 167. If a jury trial, the improper reception of evidence relating to an issue in the case, will probably be considered prejudicial. McLeod v. Miller & Lux, 40 Nev. 447, 153 P. 566, 167 P. 27; Mikulich v. Carner, 69 Nev. 50, 240 P.2d 873, 38 A.L.R.2d 1; Las Vegas Sun v. Franklin, 74 Nev. 282, 329 P.2d 867. The fact that this case was a court trial without a jury has no weight or significance in testing the magnitude of the mistake made. The requirement of a fair trial is always present, whether the dispute is presented for resolution to court or jury. In either instance, a party must be given the opportunity to put *71on his case. Yet, the majority opinion states, “And it must be recalled that the trial was to a court without a jury.” Does this mean that one’s right to present his case is somehow restricted or diminished if a court is to be the arbiter rather than a jury? It seems so. I submit that such a concept is foreign to the administration of justice in this country. Nor does the trial court’s knowledge of what the impeaching witnesses would say change the picture.2 No judge has the capacity to determine the credibility and integrity of witnesses by listening to counsel’s offer of proof. The witnesses must be seen and heard before the court can choose sides on the issue of credibility. The majority treat impeaching evidence as “second class” matter.3 This, too, is a novel thought. The trial of a case is a search for truth. Both substantive and impeaching evidence are indispensable in that pursuit.
Finally, it seems to me that the “harmless error” rule (NRCP 61) does not embrace the issue on this appeal. Before today, every guide announced by this court would demand that the mistake we are reviewing be deemed prejudicial. Indeed, the author of the majority opinion also wrote Heinen v. Heinen, 64 Nev. 527, 186 P.2d 770, wherein prejudicial error was found when the lower court precluded a party from introducing into evidence the depositions of ten witnesses which were relevant to the main issue in the case. Heinen was decided by a jury. This is a distinction without a difference. The basic theme underlying the ruling is that of a fair trial.
It is especially true that an error will be treated as having more significance if there is a sharp conflict in the evidence. (See Boyd v. Pernicano, 79 Nev. 356, 385 P.2d 342, comparing the situation there considered with *72other Nevada cases wherein there was a sharp conflict in the evidence.) In the present case two opposite tales were told about the only fact that really made a difference. The court had to accept one and reject the other. The credibility of witnesses became the consideration upon which the case would turn. The majority opinion acknowledges that this case “presents another example of a conflict in the testimony of the witnesses which must be resolved by the trier of the facts.” Without question the significance of the error is enlarged in such circumstances and must be evaluated accordingly. That there exists substantial evidence to support the result, is an irrelevancy on this appeal.4 I presume that there may be substantial evidence upon which to base a decision, even though a trial court would allow an aggrieved party to present only half of his case or even less.
This appeal does not involve any of the considerations which I have just discussed (power to limit witnesses; trial before a court rather than a jury; harmless error; substantial evidence). However, it does involve fundamental fairness in the handling of a law suit. The glaring facts of this case are these. William Mendes had leased the ranch properties from the defendant and was in lawful possession when, on November 4, 1960, the defendant leased the same ranch properties to the plaintiff. The subsequent lease required the defendant “to have William Mendes removed from said premises within sixty days (60) from the date of execution of this lease and option.” Of course, the purpose of that provision was to assure the plaintiff (subsequent lessee) that his right to the possession of the ranch as of January 4, 1961, was real and not fictitious. The existing lease to Mendes had to be terminated to accomplish this. Without the abolition of Mendes’ prior and primary right to possession, the subsequent lease was ineffective to transfer possession to the plaintiff. The lease to Mendes was not terminated within 60 days. Mendes and his *73cattle remained on the ranch thereafter. When the plaintiff sought to rescind the subsequent lease because the defendant had not terminated the prior lease to Mendes, the defense was made that Mendes was on the property because of an agreement that he (Mendes) had made with the plaintiff. The entire case turned upon the validity of that defense. There was a direct conflict in the evidence as to whether Mendes remained beyond the 60-day period because of an understanding with the plaintiff that he could do so, or whether his presence there was because he and the defendant had not been able to agree upon terms to end his tenancy. The plaintiff denied the existence of an understanding with Mendes. Mendes testified that he and the plaintiff had made an agreement for the joint operation of the ranch. The three rebuttal witnesses that the plaintiff sought to present would (according to counsel’s offer of proof) have impeached Mendes by relating inconsistent statements which Mendes had made to them.5 The precluded evidence would have shown, or at least tended to establish, that Mendes was on the ranch after the 60-day period because he had not made a deal with the defendant to terminate his lease, and not because of any agreement with the plaintiff that he could remain — thereby casting doubt upon the credibility to be given Mendes’ contrary testimony at the trial. Had the evidence been received, perhaps the result of the case would have been the same. The majority suggests that this is so. But the trial result may have been altered. We do not know. However, it seems to me true that neither a trial court, nor this court, may properly speculate on the subject when it is clear that one party to a lawsuit has been denied his right to put on a case — a fair trial — his day in court. *74When this happens, another trial is needed. A guessing game as to the effect of the error seems out of place. I dissent.

Tbe objection made at trial to tbe impeaching testimony was that it dealt with a “collateral” matter. That objection was unfounded for the reasons expressed in the opinion. On appeal, counsel sought to sustain the trial court exclusionary ruling on the ground that a proper foundation had not been laid for impeachment of the witness Mendes. The interrogation of Mendes was sufficiently clear as to (time, place, persons present) the foundation necessary to pave the way for impeaching rebuttal testimony. Reno Mill Co. v. Westerfield, 26 Nev. 332, 67 P. 961, 69 P. 899; State v. Kuhl, 42 Nev. 185, 175 P. 190, 3 A.L.R. 1694; cf. Duran v. Mueller, 79 Nev. 453, 386 P.2d 733.

The majority opinion states that the court, with knowledge of what the impeaching witnesses would testify to, nonetheless, for the reasons outlined in its written decision, gave full credence to Mendes’ testimony.

The opinion says that it will be recognized, of course, that the statements of the impeaching witnesses were not offered as [substantive] evidence but simply for the purpose of impeaching the veracity or credibility of the testimony of Mendes.

I mention this because the majority opinion seems to pay some attention to the “substantial evidence” doctrine.

The evidence was not admissible on plaintiff’s case in chief because of the hearsay rule. Mendes was not a party to the suit, only a witness. However, Mendes did testify for the defendant. Therefore, prior inconsistent statements made by him to others, and material to an issue, became admissible for impeachment purposes. Ewing v. United States, U.S.App.D.C. 14, 135 F.2d 633, 640; State v. Kuhl, 42 Nev. 185, 175 P. 190, 3 A.L.R. 1694.