Court Opinion

ID: 9643751
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 20:39:45.184919+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:03.298456
License: Public Domain

KELLEHER, Justice,
with whom BEVI-LACQUA, Chief Justice, joins, dissenting.
My basic disagreement with the majority stems from my belief that the rationale that led to Jalette has been laid to its eternal rest without benefit of so much as a eulogy. I also have some doubt about whether the two episodes on the parlor *185couch can properly be classified as attempted assaults, especially in light of remarks made by the trial justice when he was considering whether or not he would allow Nancy to testify and later when he gave his charge to the jury.
The trial justice observed that the “pants” episode was in and of itself “too remote. But in view of the fact there are two other incidents at least, since that, then there is a continuity that would overcome the remoteness.” Later, when the trial justice charged the jury and arrived at the point where he discussed Nancy’s testimony, he told the jury, “None of these incidents that she referred to amounted to criminal conduct.”
Whether the two parlor episodes can be classified as criminal or noncriminal behavior might be subject for debate, but I have no doubt that Jalette was written for the express purpose of barring the indiscriminate use of evidence of “other crimes” since such evidence presents a substantial risk to an accused’s right to a fair trial, especially when the other evidence suggests sexual misconduct. When considering the constitutional guarantee of a fair trial, the difference between Kelley’s “absolutely necessary” standard and Jalette’s admonition that “this type of evidence should be sparingly used * * * and only when reasonably necessary” is one of semantics.
In his charge, the trial justice did not tell the jury that Nancy’s testimony was admissible because it tended to show a lewd and wanton disposition on defendant’s part, but rather he said that the sole purpose of her testimony was to assist them in determining “the defendant’s intent or motive in the instances with [Eleanor], the older sister.” In my opinion, at no time did the trial justice give any consideration to the necessity for presenting Nancy’s testimony. The jury had a simple issue to decide without having Nancy brought into the trial. Eleanor told a story that has been detailed by my Brother Shea. The defendant, whom Eleanor referred to at trial as “my father,” denied that the events described by Eleanor had ever occurred.
The record clearly indicates that defendant’s state of mind relating to any one of the six incidents in question was never in issue. It was obvious to all that defendant was not relying on any novel defense such as an accidental or mistaken touching. The single defense witness was defendant, who denied that he had engaged in any incestuous conduct whatsoever with either Eleanor or Nancy.
The prosecution anticipated the defense because as soon as defendant had concluded his testimony, the state placed on the stand the industrial relations manager of a manufacturing plant in nearby Connecticut where defendant worked. She produced personnel records that might have cast a cloud on defendant’s claim in his direct examination that he was at work in August 1979 at the time one of the incidents described by Eleanor allegedly occurred. The record indicates that defendant and the manager both testified to this point during the morning of October 7, 1980.
Not only did the trial justice overlook the necessity factor but he also failed to make a determination about whether the probative value of Nancy’s testimony was outweighed by its potential for unduly prejudicing defendant in the minds of the jury. See State v. Bracero, R.I., 434 A.2d 286, 292 (1981). Professor Moore, in discussing the provisions of Fed.R.Evidence 404(b) which relates to the use of evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts, emphasizes that before such evidence is admitted, the danger of undue prejudice to the defendant must be balanced against the probative value of the proffered evidence. 10 Moore, Federal Practice ¶404.21[2] at IV-114 (1982 ed.).
All too often the obligation to balance is forgotten as the trial justice decides whether or not the situation fits into one of the categories in which evidence has been recognized as having relevancy, and in the process, the duty of protecting the accused from undue prejudice goes by the boards. Thus, an offer of evidence of other crimes *186not only offers a problem of pigeonholing but also involves balancing, on one side, the actual need for such type of evidence and, on the other, the degree to which the jury will probably be roused by the evidence to uncontrolled hostility. Discretion implies not only leeway but also responsibility. McCormick, Evidence § 190 at 553-54 (1981).
I share the majority’s concern that such lecherous conduct as is described in the majority opinion should not go unpunished, but I am also concerned that the jury’s guilty verdict was based on its belief that, because of the 1976 “pants and drowning” episode, defendant appeared to be a bad man and an individual who was quite likely to commit the transgressions with which he was charged by the state.
Since I believe that the trial justice’s allowance of Nancy’s testimony was unsupported by case law, I would sustain the defendant’s appeal, particularly since I cannot conclude from this record that the admission of the evidence relating to Nancy was harmless.
APPENDIX
General Laws 1956 (1969 Reenactment) § 11-37-1, as enacted by P.L.1979, ch. 302.
“DEFINITIONS. — The following words and phrases when used in this chapter shall mean:
‘Actor’ — a person accused of a sexual assault.
:{: sfc * * * *
‘Victim’ — the person alleging to have been subjected to sexual assault.
* * * s}s * #
‘Force or coercion’ — shall mean when the actor does any of the following:
* * * * * *
(B) overcomes the victim through the application of physical force or physical violence.
(C) coerces the victim to submit by threatening to use force or violence on the victim and the victim reasonably believes that the actor has the present ability to execute these threats.
(D)coerces the victim to submit by threatening to at some time in the future murder, inflict serious bodily injury upon or kidnap the victim or any other person and the victim reasonably believes that the actor has the ability to execute this threat.”