Court Opinion

ID: 9730112
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 15:01:35.62613+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:04.299249
License: Public Domain

WAHL, Justice
(concurring specially).
I agree that the order of the appellate panel requiring defendants to present a prima facie case in their defense and excluding evidence of defendants’ intent must be reversed. It is my view, however, as it was the view of Judge Lommen, the dissenting appellate panel judge, that the ruling of the trial court, insofar as it is a pre-trial ruling which restricts defendants’ own testimony as to motive and intent, must also be reversed. Defendants’ right to be heard in their own defense is basic in our system of jurisprudence. In re Oliver, 333 U.S. 257, 273, 68 S.Ct. 499, 507, 92 L.Ed. 682 (1948). Courts must scrutinize with the greatest care any restrictions on a defendant’s testimony offered in that defendant’s own behalf as to his or her intent and the motivation underlying that intent, lest we jeopardize the federal and state constitutional right to a fair trial.
Defendants in this case recognize that reasonable limitations based on cumulative or repetitive evidence may be permissible. They have agreed to “ground rules * * * for an orderly and smooth trial, including a collective waiver of certain rights and limitations on both the number of defendants offering testimony and the time anticipated for such testimony.” Such testimony of an individual defendant’s own state of mind, of her or his motive, belief or intention in doing the act charged as criminal, is relevant, admissible evidence. United States v. Cullen, 454 F.2d 386 (7th Cir.1971); Berkey v. Judd, 22 Minn. 287, 297 (1875). To limit that testimony before it is heard and its relevancy determined is not only constitutionally prohibited but is also contrary to *752our own rules of evidence and case law. Minnesota Rules of Evidence, Rules 401, 402; Henslin v. Wingen, 203 Minn. 166, 170, 280 N.W. 281, 282 (1938); Berkey v. Judd. It makes no difference that good motive is not a defense, that favorable instructions may not be given or that an explanation may be unavailing, these defendants must be given the opportunity to testify fully and freely on the issue of criminal intent and the motive underlying that intent. United States v. Hawk, 497 F.2d 365 (9th Cir.1974) (defendant permitted to testify without restriction to his motive and intent in failing to file income tax returns); United States v. Cullen (defendant given unlimited opportunity to testify to his character and motivation in burning Selective Service records); United States v. Owens, 415 F.2d 1308 (6th Cir.1969) (defendant allowed to testify at great length to his reasons for refusing induction); State v. Marley, 54 Hawaii 450, 509 P.2d 1095, 1099 (1973) (defendants permitted to give testimony “as to their motivations in their actions on the day of their alleged trespass as well as to their beliefs about the nature of the activity carried on by Honeywell Corporation and the nature of their beliefs about their rights and duties with respect to that corporation.”). The strength of our democratic society lies in our adherence to constitutional guarantees of the rights of the people, including the right to a fair trial and the right to give testimony in one’s own behalf.