Court Opinion

ID: 9626390
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 08:10:28.646807+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:00:52.542036
License: Public Domain

KEETON, Justice
(dissenting).
I am of the opinion that the judgment of conviction should be reversed and a new trial ordered — this not only in fairness to the state, but also to the appellants. There is no precedent that has been called to our attention where the penalty imposed was reduced because of erroneous rejection of offered testimony, or reversible errors committed.
I do not concur in the holding that the errors assigned and complained of, and by the majority opinion found to exist, can only be material as effecting the punishment to be imposed. The real question presented is whether or not the guilt of the appellants has been established in the manner and by the procedure provided by law, long recognized and established, and based on experience and sound reasoning.
We should never lose sight of the fact that the guilt or innocence of appellants and the degree of crime are questions in the first instance to be determined by the jury. Our inquiry concerns the method, means and procedure by which the guilt was established and punishment imposed.
If the appellants were convicted, or might have been convicted, and the death penalty imposed, because of errors in the *426proceedings taken against them, then it must he apparent to all that every other person similarly situated and placed on trial would be in exactly the same position; and the rules of law and procedure adhered to here must, of necessity, be applicable to all other persons.
Under our rules of law and procedure, well recognized and established, before a person’s liberty or life can be taken, it is necessary that he first be tried in a court of competent jurisdiction, before an impartial jury. When such a jury is impaneled, it is the exclusive judge of the facts — and in this particular proceeding, may, if it sees fit, determine the punishment to be imposed.
Trial means a fair trial; that is, the accused’s ' legal rights, during the proceedings had, must be safeguarded and respected, not alone in the observance of the naked forms of law, but in the recognition and just application of the principles applicable to the case. Until such time as an accused has been so tried and found guilty, he cannot be legally convicted.
While some of the errors assigned are without merit and have been correctly disposed of in the majority opinion, there are some propositions presented which I shall briefly discuss.
During the proceedings taken against the appellants, each was sworn to testify in his own defense. For the purpose of impeachment, each was asked whether or not he had formerly been convicted of a felony. Each answered in the affirmative. On cross-examination, appellants, over objection, were required to answer the name and nature of the felonies so committed. This, in my opinion, was reversible error, and contrary to prior holdings of this court. Cases from other jurisdictions announcing a contrary rule are not neces-' sarily authoritative. Statutes in different states covering the same subject matter are not worded identically. Some statutes specifically provide that a defendant when he testifies may be impeached the same as any other witness. Our statute does not so provide. This distinction, with a.summary of the statutes of various states, is ably discussed by Justice Miller in State v. Branch, 66 Idaho 528, 164 P.2d 182, in which case this court concluded that the statute permitting the impeachment of a witness is not applicable to a defendant in a criminal action. The reason for this is very apparent. .Such an examination is highly prejudicial and is wholly collateral to the matter being investigated. Such impeachment, if permitted, must of necessity permit the jury to avoid or confuse the issues, and return a verdict based on general principles, or because of prior crimes, knavery and malicious conduct indulged in by the accused. I consider the rule announced in the Branch case, supra, sound, and I am of the opinion it should not be overruled.
*427If, however, a defendant in a criminal action, or a witness is to be impeached because of prior felonies committed, such impeachment should be limited to the fact that he has been so convicted and the name or details of the particular crime of which he was formerly convicted and punished should not be inquired into. In other words, when the witness answers he has been convicted of a felony, the examination or cross-examination in this regard should end. See State v. Coloff, Mont., 231 P.2d 343; State v. Quinlan, Mont., 244 P.2d 1058. There is no case in Idaho, prior to this decision, which holds the particular felony, or the details of the crime are proper subjects to be introduced for impeachment purposes.
Every attorney, with even limited experience in criminal practice, knows that impeachment of an accused in a criminal case is not, in fact, the real purpose of the examination. It simply pictures the misconduct and villainy of the accused and prejudices the jury by injecting hate into the proceedings.
Further there was no instruction given the jury advising it the purpose of the alleged impeaching testimony, or which limited it to the testing of the credibility of the appellants; and the testimony encouraged the jury to convict and impose the death penalty because of prior crimes and mischief, and former malicious conduct of appellants.
The testimony regarding the felonies of which appellants had been previously convicted did not have the remotest connection with the crime of which appellants stood charged. I assume, without citations of extensive authority, that it is well recognized the commission of other crimes -has no pertinent bearing on whether or not an accused is guilty or innocent of the particular offense being investigated. See State v. Garney, 45 Idaho 768, 265 P. 668; State v. Machen, 56 Idaho 755, 58 P.2d 1246; State v. Miller, 60 Idaho 79, 88 P.2d 526; State v. Jones, 62 Idaho 552, 113 P.2d 1106. The other crimes herein testified to by the appellants were in nowise linked to,, or connected with, the crime with which the appellants stood charged.
After this prejudicial and improper evidence was admitted, the appellants made an offer of proof which is set forth in the. majority opinion. I shall not repeat it here. The testimony so offered and excluded by the learned trial judge, was in substance admissible in any case, particularly after the appellants had been so pictured as entirely devoid of all social virtue.
In this proceeding the appellants were charged with first degree murder. Punishment could be fixed by the jury at life imprisonment or death. Certainly all material evidence that could in anywise tend to mitigate the crime, or lessen the punishment, including .generally the testimony which the appellants and each offered, should, in my opinion, in all fairness be *428admitted. As the proceedings then stood, the jury had a picture of many delinquencies, much misconduct and malicious mischief and conniving by the appellants, and they were then entitled, if for no other reason, to be heard on matters which might show some virtue or conduct that would offset- or tend to ameliorate the testimony already in evidence. This rule is stated in 53 Am.Jur. 373; Sec. 467, as follows:
, “Where the accused is tried under a statute permitting the jury in its discretion to recommend the defendant to mercy and thereby reduce his punishment, it is the right of counsel for the defendant to argue such a recommendation to the jury. It is likewise the right and duty of counsel for the defendant in appealing for life imprisonment instead of the death penalty to discuss the defendant’s age, his upbringing and environment, and all other matters appearing from the evidence which may assist the jury in choosing the appropriate penalty. On the other hand, counsel for the state have the same right to argue that the recommendation should be withheld, although insistence by the prosecution, in connection with language designed to inflame the jury, that the defendant be found guilty without recommendation of mercy has been held prejudicial.”
In a criminal action, a defendant’s age, upbringing, environment and his background áre of a material nature in any case, and the appellants should have been permitted to testify in substance in accordance with the offer of proof. This rule is recognized in the majority opinion and the conclusion drawn that such testimony only goes to the penalty to be inflicted. I do not so interpret it. I think such testimony admissible in any criminal case regardless of whether or not the jury is empowered to determine the penalty. For authority, see 70 C.J. 762, Sec. 919; 53 Am.Jur. 373, Sec. 467; Commonwealth v. Brown, 309 Pa. 515, 164 A. 726; Commonwealth v. Williams, 307 Pa. 134, 160 A. 602; Smith v. People, 32 Colo. 251, 75 P. 914; People v. Mangano, 375 Ill. 72, 30 N.E.2d 428; People v. Lane, 300 Ill. 422, 133 N.E. 267; People v. Heffernan, 312 Ill. 66, 143 N.E. 411.
Under circumstances where it is the duty of the court to fix the penalty, an inquiry into facts or circumstances in mitigation or aggravation is expressly provided for. Sec. 19-2515, I.C. reads as follows:
“After a plea or verdict of guilty, where a discretion is conferred upon the court as to the extent of the punishment, the court, upon the oral suggestion of either party that there are circumstances which may be properly taken into view either in aggravation or mitigation of the punishment, may, in its discretion, hear the same summarily, at a specified time, and upon such notice to the adverse party as it may direct.”
*429and a similar provision relative to an investigation and examination made to precede probation or suspension of sentence is provided for in Sec. 20-220, I.C., which reads:
“When a probation and parole officer is available to the court, no defendant shall be placed on probation until a written report of investigation by a parole and probation officer shall have been presented to and considered by the court, and no defendant charged with a felony or indictable offense shall be released under suspension of sentence without such investigation. The parole and probation officer shall inquire into the circumstances of the offense, criminal record, social history and present condition of the defendant. Whenever practicable, such investigation shall include a physical and mental examination of the defendant. If a defendant is committed to any institution, the probation officer shall send a report of such investigation to the institution at the time of commitment.”
In the proceedings taken against the appellants, the jury was permitted to fix the penalty without any background or mitigating circumstances which could and should have been properly considered. If the court, in fixing the penalty, is entitled to know all facts or circumstances in mitigation, why, when the jury fixes the penalty, should it not be allowed to hear and consider such matters?
In the argument to the jury the prosecuting attorney used the following language:
“It is rather ridiculous to me that they (referring to appellants) say they couldn’t hock their watches. What excuse did they have for doing this? Now, we know what the men have done in this case, and it comes back to the same thing. They have no respect for society. Both of these defendants are leeches off society, as it were, by perpetrating robbery. Does society have any duty to these men? They have leeched off of society in the past. Should these men continue to do that? Should they be supported by the State of Idaho?” (Emphasis supplied).
In other words the prosecutor was arguing because of prior crimes and misconduct, shown by the evidence and improperly admitted, that the appellants should be convicted and hanged. Such remarks and argument should be avoided. The language used was intemperate and was probably the result of the tension under which the prosecutor labored.
It should be remembered that the appellants were on trial for their lives and they should not have their cause prejudiced by intemperate remarks that might warp the judgment of the jury. The parties did not stand on equal footing, and appellants had no way to answer.
No person should be put to death because, should he live, the state would have to support him.
*430Commonwealth v. Clark, 322 Pa. 321, 185 A. 764; Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78, 55 S.Ct. 629, 79 L.Ed. 1314; Edwards v. Commonwealth, 298 Ky. 366, 182 S.W.2d 948.
It is far more important for society to accord a defendant in a criminal action a fair trial than he forfeit his life in expiation of the crime.
The rules of law and procedure which apply to the appellants are, and should be, measured by the same yardstick and exactly the same standards as apply to all other persons; and in determining the appellants’ rights, we necessarily measure and determine the rights of all others who might be similarly situated. A fair trial for those accused of crime protects the liberties of all.
I -shall not discuss in detail the assignments of error relative to some instructions given and others refused. Some of the requested instructions should ' have been given; it was reversible error to give others, and I consider this another reason why the judgment should be reversed. As the case is not to be retried, a detailed discussion of these errors would serve no useful purpose.
Some of the errors assigned in this proceeding were neither trivial nor imaginary, but were substantial and went to the important question of whether or not the appellants had a fair trial.
I cannot help but feel that the precedent established by the majority opinion will, like Banquo’s ghostj rise again and again to plague us.
If a person in a civil matter is wrongly deprived of his property, or a person in a criminal proceedings wrongly convicted of a less serious crime, it might be possible in some way to partially rectify the wrong done. Were the sentence imposed in this proceeding executed, regardless of how wrong it might be, no rectification could ever be made. It is impossible to call back the dead.
The judgment of conviction should'be reversed, and a new trial granted.