Court Opinion

ID: 9694623
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 17:49:15.168163+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:04.061237
License: Public Domain

CONCURRENCE
MEYER, Justice
(concurring).
I write separately to note my disagreement with the majority’s conclusion that *724the limitation on cross-examination of Propps did not abridge Brown’s Confrontation Clause rights. I would conclude that the district court erred when it permitted Brown on cross-examination to only establish that Propps grew up in the same neighborhood with Robinson, had a longstanding relationship with Robinson, and frequently socialized with Robinson. Evidence that Propps and Robinson were members of the same gang was important to establish Propps’s bias in favor of Robinson and against Brown. Brown was prevented from fully exploring Propps’s bias in favor of Robinson and, therefore, his right to confront the witnesses against him was violated. Nevertheless, I would conclude that the refusal to allow cross-examination on gang membership was harmless error, and, therefore, I concur in the result.
The Confrontation Clause guarantees criminal defendants the right to be confronted with the witnesses against them. U.S. Const. amend. VI. “The main and essential purpose of confrontation is to secure * * * the opportunity of cross-examination.” Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 315-16, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974) (quotation marks omitted) (emphasis omitted). Exposure of a witness’s bias or motivation in testifying is an important function of the right to cross-examination. Id. at 316-17, 94 S.Ct. 1105. It is error to prohibit a criminal defendant from conducting cross-examination “designed to expose a prosecution witness’ bias or motivation in testifying.” State v. Pride, 528 N.W.2d 862, 866 (Minn.1995) (citing Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 677-78, 106 S.Ct. 1431, 89 L.Ed.2d 674 (1986)).
The U.S. Supreme Court has said that “[a] witness’ and a party’s common membership in an organization, even without proof that the witness or party has personally adopted its tenets, is certainly probative of bias.” United States v. Abel, 469 U.S. 45, 52, 105 S.Ct. 465, 83 L.Ed.2d 450 (1984). The Court found that evidence of common membership in a prison gang had probative value outweighing the risk of undue prejudice and held that there was no abuse of discretion in admitting the testimony. Id. at 54-55, 105 S.Ct. 465. The Court recognized that the evidence would be prejudicial, but noted that the witness being impeached would suffer “no sanction other than that he might be disbelieved.” Id. at 53, 105 S.Ct. 465.
Although the victim’s death in this case did not appear to have been gang-related, Propps’s gang membership in common with Robinson, an admitted participant in the events leading to the victim’s death, was potentially probative of Propps’s bias in favor of Robinson and against Brown. The Abel Court noted that evidence of membership in an “organization,” without information about the type of organization, would not bear on the source and strength of the bias, and would thus not be a satisfactory substitute. 469 U.S. at 54, 105 S.Ct. 465. Similarly, evidence that Propps and Robinson grew up in the same neighborhood, sometimes stayed in the same apartment, and socialized frequently, without calling one another “friend,” might not convey the strength of bias that can exist among co-members of a gang.
Any potential prejudice from allowing the defense to question Propps about his gang affiliation was to Propps and Robinson. Robinson had already pleaded guilty and been sentenced; Propps was not on trial. As in Abel, the only real risk to either was that his testimony might be disbelieved. The risk to the court was that the trial might take longer. These risks of prejudice do not rise to the level of overwhelming the potential probative value of information about Propps’s and Robinson’s common gang membership, especial*725ly in light of the constitutional guarantee of a criminal defendant’s confrontation rights. I would hold that the district court erred in limiting Brown’s cross-examination of Propps.
Violations of the Confrontation Clause are subject to harmless error analysis. State v. Wright, 726 N.W.2d 464, 476 (Minn.2007). A new trial is not warranted when the error is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. A Confrontation Clause error is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt if “the guilty verdict actually rendered was ‘surely unattributable’ to the error.” Id. If there is a reasonable possibility that the verdict would have been different if the evidence had been admitted, then the error is not harmless. State v. Quick, 659 N.W.2d 701, 716 (Minn.2003).
Here, even without evidence of common gang membership, Propps’s testimony did suggest that he had a bias toward Robinson and might be changing his story to benefit Robinson. Propps admitted that he hardly knew Brown, but that he and Robinson often stayed in the same apartment and socialized frequently. Propps recognized that Robinson was an “associate” (not liking to use the word “friend” because he does not believe in friends), whereas Brown was not.
Propps’s credibility was impeached in other ways as well. Propps admitted that he was intoxicated on the evening in question. Propps also admitted he had originally told police that Robinson had blood on his clothing. While Propps offered testimony that he had heard Brown say “they had to handle their business with that mother f* * *er,” cross-examination revealed that when he spoke to the police less than a week after the murder, he may have told them that Robinson made the statement. In other words, the jury heard about Propps’s conflicting versions of what he saw on the night of the murder.
The jury does not appear to have been convinced by Propps’s efforts to exonerate Robinson. It found Brown guilty of aiding and abetting Robinson in the murder. Given that the district court admitted ample evidence of Propps’s lack of credibility and that the jury clearly believed Robinson was involved in the murder, the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
I would hold that the district court erred in denying Brown the opportunity to cross-examine Propps about his gang membership, but because the error was harmless, I agree with the majority’s conclusion that Brown’s conviction should be upheld.