Court Opinion

ID: 9845642
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:25:37.582747+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:16:16.983733
License: Public Domain

BISTLINE, Justice,
dissenting.
On considerable reflection, I find myself in agreement with the views expressed by Justice Johnson. In addition to that which he has written, a thought perhaps peculiar to me alone is that where the defendant had been convicted of the 1977 and 1979 offenses, the 1977 conviction being obtained on his confession, and duly punished therefore, it is seemingly further punishment for the two prior victims to be allowed to testify as to their experiences (forcible rapes), when Martin had been punished with prison sentences for those crimes. Moreover, my understanding is that the victim in this case encountered no trouble in knowing the identity of Martin, and told him so. With positive identification such as that, it would seem improper to let the two witnesses come into the courtroom solely in order to state their recollections of their bad experiences. If *343this victim’s identification of Martin was uncertain and dubious, then, that would be a different matter.
Martin may be a slow learner, but one would think that a ten year term, on top of the time he has previously served, might educate him to plan for a different future. The district court, however, is far more conversant with such matters.