Court Opinion

ID: 9792439
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:29:28.564465+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:37:42.868768
License: Public Domain

Scholfield, J.
(concurring)—The majority opinion reaches the correct result, but I cannot subscribe to the statement in the opinion that error cannot be assigned to a trial court's ruling on a motion in limine.
State v. Wilson, 29 Wn. App. 895, 899 (1981), relied upon by the majority, states categorically:
No error can be assigned to a trial court ruling on a *631motion in limine. Until the objection is timely made in the course of trial and the predicate for the ruling is no longer hypothetical, the ruling in limine is advisory, tentative and not the basis of error.
In Wilson, defendant moved to exclude evidence of prior convictions for impeachment purposes. The court denied his motion in limine and he testified to the convictions on direct examination. The court held the only way Wilson could preserve the error was to testify and have the prior convictions brought out during cross examination. Wilson apparently allows for no exceptions.
The rule in State v. Wilson is unnecessary to fair and orderly trial procedure, yet denies a defendant any opportunity, after his motion to exclude the prior convictions has been denied, to present the evidence himself on direct examination and thereby ameliorate the impact of the evidence upon the jury. The result in Wilson is not compelled by the cases cited therein and is inconsistent with decisions of our Supreme Court.
In State v. Smith, 189 Wash. 422, 65 P.2d 1075 (1937), the defendant, prior to the commencement of his cross examination by the State's attorney, moved to exclude any mention during cross examination of his dishonorable discharge from the Marines. The court granted defendant's motion. Despite the ruling, the State's attorney asked a question about the circumstances of his leaving the Marines and he replied, "I deserted." State v. Smith, supra at 427. Defendant did not object to the question, did not move to instruct the jury to disregard the answer, and did not move to strike the answer. The Supreme Court held that defendant's motion to exclude the evidence was sufficient to preserve the error for appeal, concluded the error was prejudicial and ordered a new trial. As Smith demonstrates, a ruling on a motion to exclude evidence is not necessarily merely advisory and tentative. Accord, State v. Brooks, 20 Wn. App. 52, 59-60, 579 P.2d 961 (1978) (holding that failure to object does not preclude raising the issue on appeal where erroneous evidence is offered in violation of an order *632in limine) (citing State v. Smith, supra). If such a motion is sufficient to preserve error when granted, it follows that it may be the basis for error when denied.
In State v. Hill, 83 Wn.2d 558, 520 P.2d 618 (1974), the trial court ruled that the defendant could be cross-examined with respect to two prior convictions if he testified. Following the ruling, the defendant elected not to take the stand. The convictions involved had both been reversed and dismissed and therefore could not be used for impeachment purposes. The Supreme Court held that the trial court's ruling was prejudicial error, reviewable on appeal, even though the defendant did not testify. The court's opinion illustrates a defendant's motion in limine should not be dismissed as merely posing a hypothetical or abstract question:
[T]he record as it stands clearly reflects that there was no doubt in counsel's mind, or in the trial judge's mind, as to the issue the trial judge was ruling upon or how he would rule upon that issue should the defendant take the stand. Likewise, it would be inappropriate to hypothesize that, had the defendant taken the stand, the prosecuting attorney might not have sought to impeach his credibility with the reversed convictions. The trial judge's ruling presented a standing invitation to the prosecuting attorney which, very likely, he would not have ignored.
State v. Hill, supra at 565.
If a motion in limine is made at a point in the trial when the trial judge is in no position to rule on admissibility of the evidence, the motion is properly denied and preserves no error in respect to later admission of that evidence. Fenimore v. Donald M. Drake Constr. Co., 87 Wn.2d 85, 549 P.2d 483 (1976) (pretrial motion to exclude unspecified evidence on relevancy grounds denied). But
Had the court granted the appellant's motion, under the rule of State v. Smith, 189 Wash. 422, 65 P.2d 1075 (1937), no objection would have been necessary to preserve the right to claim error if the evidence was nevertheless admitted.
Fenimore v. Donald M. Drake Constr. Co., supra at 92.
*633State v. Latham, 30 Wn. App. 776, 780, 638 P.2d 592 (1981), review granted, 97 Wn.2d 1006 (1982), in responding to the State's argument, citing State v. Wilson, supra, that the ruling on defendant's pretrial motion in limine was advisory and tentative and could not be the basis of error, stated:
We believe there are times when motions in limine are, of necessity, tentative, advisory and not the basis of error because the prejudicial effect of the evidence can only be determined at the time it is introduced during trial. However, there are questions concerning admissibility of certain evidence that can and should be determined prior to trial by motions in limine for the benefit of the parties and the proper administration of justice. After all,
[t]he purpose of a motion in limine is to dispose of legal matters so counsel will not be forced to make comments in the presence of the jury which might prejudice his presentation.
State v. Evans, 96 Wn.2d 119, 123, 634 P.2d 845 (1981). Furthermore, Washington courts in numerous cases have stated that rulings on motions in limine are more than tentative; and once the court has granted such a motion, no objection is necessary to preserve the right to claim error if the evidence is nevertheless admitted. [Citing authorities.]
We find the court erred by reversing its prior ruling on the motion in limine after voir dire of the jury.
On appeal, in State v. Moore, 33 Wn. App. 55, 59-60, 651 P.2d 765 (1982), the State argued that the denial of Moore's motion in limine was not reviewable because it was not renewed at trial, citing State v. Wilson, supra. We rejected this argument as applied to Moore's case:
Moore, however, made a complete record at the motion in limine, and the trial court's ruling was final, not tentative or advisory. Here, the issue of impeachment by prior conviction was ideally suited for final determination in a pretrial motion that minimized trial disruption and preserved the matter for appellate review. It was unnecessary to renew the objection at trial. State v. Latham, 30 Wn. App. 776, 638 P.2d 592 (1981), review granted, 97 Wn.2d 1006 (1982); see State v. Brooks, 20 Wn. App. 52, 579 P.2d 961 (1978).
*634The reason for court rules requiring litigants to take certain steps to preserve errors for appeal is to assure that there is an opportunity to correct them at the earliest possible time. Our rules and common sense require that the trial judge be fairly apprised of the reasons for the objection or the alleged error in the instructions so he can rule correctly and avoid expensive and unnecessary appeals and retrials. Estate of Ryder v. Kelly-Springfeld Tire Co., 91 Wn.2d 111, 587 P.2d 160 (1978); 1 J. Wigmore, Evidence § 18 (3d ed. 1940); Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501, 48 L. Ed. 2d 126, 96 S. Ct. 1691 (1976).
When a judge has made a ruling on a motion in limine to admit a defendant's prior conviction, the purpose of apprising the trial judge of possible error has been served. Often, such a motion will assure the earliest, least disruptive, and fairest disposition of the question. If the issue presented is one where a ruling in limine would be premature, the judge can decline to make a definitive ruling until a later point in the trial.
When the court rules in limine that a prior conviction will be admitted and has not changed the ruling by the time the defendant must make a decision to testify or not testify, the ruling is no longer tentative, hypothetical, or advisory. It is, by then, a final ruling which the defendant should be allowed to treat as such and make decisions accordingly. No further steps to preserve the claim of error for appellate review should be required except as State v. Pam, 98 Wn.2d 748, 659 P.2d 454 (1983) (Utter, J., concurring) and State v. Hebert, 33 Wn. App. 512, 656 P.2d 1106 (1982) require an offer of proof to preserve a claim of error for appeal where the defendant does not testify following denial of his motion in limine to exclude a prior conviction.
Reconsideration denied June 15, 1983.
Review granted by Supreme Court September 2, 1983.