Court Opinion

ID: 9670653
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:23:58.112459+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:05.864029
License: Public Domain

HENDERSON, Justice
(dissenting).
An intention of this writing is to keep constitutional rights strong, preserve precedent in this Court, and do justice in the case.
N.G. testified at the Motions Hearing, Preliminary Hearing, and Jury Trial that the act was “continuous.” State is bound by this testimony. Hopfinger v. Leapley, 511 N.W.2d 845 (S.D.1994); State v. Jacobson, 491 N.W.2d 455 (S.D.1992).
Notwithstanding, State tactically saw fit to charge six felonies. A jury heard the evidence and returned one verdict of guilty, Third Degree Rape. Under the FACTS recitation in the majority opinion, the majority writer specifies, as a FACT, and details that there were these various sexual encounters, treating them all as separate acts. The jury held otherwise. The sole witness (N.G.) testified otherwise. Thus, Sprik was denied a fair trial.
In the second paragraph of the majority opinion’s first issue it is stated that there were five separate acts of sexual penetration. Upon this factual back drop depicted again as a verity, the opinion builds its rationale. To level these many counts when N.G. has testified it was “continuous,” was incongruous, and was not “harmless” (i.e., harmless error). Prejudicial error is that which, in all probability, must have produced some effect upon the final result and affected rights of the party assigning it. State v. Larson, 512 N.W.2d 732 (S.D.1994); State v. Phillips, 489 N.W.2d 613 (S.D.1992); State v. Reddington, 80 S.D. 390,125 N.W.2d 58 (1963). Readers, please note: Majority opinion expresses, ‘While it may be true that Sprik ‘has no way of knowing which alleged act of penetration qualified as Third Degree Rape nor does he know which alleged act he was acquitted of,’ we find this harmless, if error.” If Sprik was convicted by a “shotgun” approach (hoping *604the pellets might strike one count), where evidence was not there to support a charge, the error is not harmless. Sprik proposed specific jury instructions to avoid a compromise verdict. All were denied.
A 25-year state penitentiary sentence was imposed upon Sprik. When the alleged victim testified that the act was continuous, a single count of Second Degree Rape and a single count of Third Degree Rape would have been a sufficient charging. The jury should not be permitted to speculate on the guilt of six charges when N.G. states it was a “continuous” act. It is noted, by this special writer, that the trial court’s jury instructions on the specific individual counts did not specify particular acts of sexual penetration, specific time, place or method. It is wrong to charge an accused with multiple, duplicitous counts of an unspecified nature at unspecified times — and then let a jury figure it all out. Such type of criminal pleading takes on a generic hue — which creates obstacles and difficulties to prepare a defense and to thereafter assert double jeopardy. After three hours of deliberation, the jury, trying to be conscientious and fair, gave a note to the bailiff with this question: “Was the sequence vaginal, oral, vaginal?” Obviously, the jurors were perplexed, as they reflected upon (1) N.G.’s testimony, (2) the many instructions which appeared to give the jury very wide latitude in arriving at various verdicts, and (3) expert testimony by serologist Rex Riis, read to the jury at trial from a stipulation by both parties. Riis’ pertinent testimony immediately follows.
Riis revealed that he found two spermatozoa on the vaginal swab and smear collected from N.G. during her rape examination. He also indicated that under normal conditions, this type of evidence would dissipate after approximately twelve hours. During this same examination of N.G., Riis did not detect semen on the oral swab and smear which were collected. Her rape examination took place at the Rapid City Regional Hospital, Rapid City, South Dakota, within a short period of time after the so-called “sexual intercourse, fellatio, sexual intercourse, fellatio, and sexual intercourse,” as depicted in the second paragraph of the majority’s opinion on issue 1. Therefore, with this type of alleged sexual activity, and with N.G. claiming it is “continuous,” where is the proof of fellatio — which was submitted to the jury?
Riis also determined that the victim and Sprik had similar genetic markers. As Sprik had no foreign genetic marker, Riis was unable to conclude that Sprik was the so called “semen donor.” Expressed in different vernacular, Riis’ analysis could not identify if Sprik could be “included or excluded” as N.G.’s sexual attacker. This testimony is found in the Settled Record, pages 103-104. The jury deliberated for five hours — and appeared confused, as illustrated by the note it gave to the bailiff.
A defendant cannot be convicted of more than one count of criminal sexual conduct where there is only one act. James v. Cupp, 65 Or.App. 377, 671 P.2d 750, 751 (1983), pet. denied, 296 Or. 350, 675 P.2d 492 (1984); People v. Ashford, 91 Mich.App. 693, 283 N.W.2d 830, 833 (1979). See State v. Weaver, 386 N.W.2d 413, 417-18 (Minn.App.1986) (Defendant could not be convicted of two counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct for same offense against same victim on basis of same act); People v. Hammon, 191 Cal. App.3d 1084, 236 Cal.Rptr. 822, 827 (1987) (If all actions were incident to one objective, the defendant may be punished for any one of such offenses but not for more than one). Recall, N.G. testified it was one continuous act.
N.G. was the State’s witness as to the facts of sexual activity at Memorial Park. She was “the overall strength of the prosecution’s case.” N.G. was the crucial witness. See State v. Koepsell, 508 N.W.2d 591, 595 (S.D.1993); Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 106 S.Ct. 1431, 89 L.Ed.2d 674 (1986), below. Consider: Several witnesses, following her testimony, contradicted her testimony pertaining to the time of events and coinciding events. After a physical examination at the hospital, she was interviewed by Detective Gene Hammond; later, she admitted that she intentionally lied to Hammond. She further admitted to perjury. She admitted she was a “bad girl,” and also admitted before the jury that she was a drug addict and alcoholic at the time of the alleged rape. She *605told the jury she had a bad relationship with her mother and wanted to “keep anyone including her mom, from knowing about her.” She testified she was on probation from juvenile court.
When Sprik’s counsel attempted to cross-examine her concerning her past deviant behavior as reflected in her juvenile record, Sprik was denied his right to fully develop cross-examination and confrontation by the trial court. It is obvious that N.G.’s credibility was at issue and Sprik had the right to probe credibility, specifically under the facts of this case: (1) N.G.’s testimony was not cumulative (2) admitted perjury (3) lack of corroboration by other witnesses (4) alleged dishonesty and deceit reflected in the juvenile records. In Koepsell, relied upon by the majority opinion, this Court held there was error, but said error was expressed to be harmless because of (a) minimal contradiction and (b) extensive corroboration. That is not true in this ease. In Koepsell, the witness’ testimony was cumulative; not so in this case! A jury instruction on motive (concerning N.G.’s testimony) was denied by the trial court. In State v. Steele, 510 N.W.2d 661 (S.D.1994), we held, “[Credibility was a key issue in the trial, and this information may well have raised a reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors.” The jury did not accept the facts as portrayed in the second paragraph of the majority opinion; not guilty, it found, of the several counts lodged against Sprik; yet, the majority uses those facts to build an affirmance herein. Again, I say: Not fair. This now takes me to my dissertation on the unfairness in the denial of cross-examination of N.G. regarding her juvenile record.
This jury never had an opportunity to judge her credibility with the backdrop of her juvenile history. In State v. Volk, 381 N.W.2d 67, 71 (S.D.1983), State v. Layton, 337 N.W.2d 809 (S.D.1983), and State v. Wounded Head, 305 N.W.2d 677 (S.D.1981), each case held that cross-examination of a witness’ juvenile record is governed by Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974). Those cases are precedent. Both Volk, a unanimous opinion written by this special writer a decade ago, and State v. Brandenburg, 344 N.W.2d 702, 705 (S.D.1984), “condemn a trial court’s ruling to foreclose a defendant from impeaching a -witness to establish bias and prejudice.” Koepsell, 508 N.W.2d at 597 (Henderson, J., dissenting).
Volk also quoted Davis, 415 U.S. at 319-20, 94 S.Ct. at 1112:
Whatever temporary embarrassment might result to [the witness] or his family by disclosure of his juvenile record — if the prosecution insisted on using him to make its case — is outweighed by petitioner’s right to probe into the influence of possible bias in the testimony of a crucial identification witness.
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The State’s policy interest in protecting the confidentiality of a juvenile offender’s record cannot require yielding of so vital a constitutional right as the effective cross-examination for bias of an adverse witness. The State could have protected [the witness] from exposure of his juvenile adjudication in these circumstances by refraining from using him to make out its case; the State cannot, consistent with the right of confrontation, require the petitioner to bear the full burden of vindicating the State’s interest in the secrecy of juvenile criminal records.
Writing for a unanimous court in Layton, this special writer noted Davis makes clear that “the admission of juvenile adjudications is a matter of constitutional dimension only where the witness is crucial to the prosecution’s case.” Layton, 337 N.W.2d at 813 (quoting Wounded Head, 305 N.W.2d at 681). Unquestionably, N.G. is a crucial witness.
“[E]xposure of a witness’ motivation in testifying is a proper and important function of the constitutionally protected right of cross-examination.” Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. at 678-79, 106 S.Ct. at 1435. Confrontational Clause errors are subject to harmless error analysis, subject to the following test:
The correct inquiry is whether, assuming that the damaging potential of the cross-examination were fully realized, a reviewing court might nonetheless say that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable *606doubt. Whether such an error is harmless in a particular case depends upon a host of factors, all readily accessible to reviewing courts. These factors include the importance of the witness’ testimony in the prosecution’s case, whether the testimony was cumulative, the presence or absence of evidence corroborating or contradicting the testimony of the witness on material points, the extent of cross-examination otherwise permitted, and, of course, the overall strength of the prosecution’s case.
Koepsell, 508 N.W.2d at 595 (quoting Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. at 684, 106 S.Ct. at 1438).
In the seminal case in this Nation, Davis, the key prosecution witness was on probation as a juvenile offender. Identical situation here.
Here, there existed a curtailment of cross-examination in deprivation of Sprik’s Sixth Amendment rights. A trial court’s “latitude in the control of cross-examination ... ‘cannot be expanded to justify a curtailment which keeps from the jury relevant and important facts bearing on the trustworthiness of crucial testimony.’” United States v. Harris, 501 F.2d 1, 8 (9th Cir.1974) (quoting Gordon v. United States, 344 U.S. 414, 423, 73 S.Ct. 369, 375, 97 L.Ed. 447 (1953)). See Wounded Head, 305 N.W.2d at 680.
Therefore, I respectfully dissent as the error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.