Court Opinion

ID: 9842796
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 02:18:40.821131+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:13:49.652101
License: Public Domain

MEDINA, Circuit Judge
(concurring).
Appellate courts as a rule review only judgments of conviction in criminal cases; they have nothing to do with the records of cases where the jury’s verdict was one of acquittal. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why statements are occasionally found in the opinions of courts of review to the effect that juries may not or perhaps cannot follow instructions, especially in matters concerning: the failure of a defendant to testify in his own defense, proof on cross-examination that a defendant who did take the stand had previously exercised his constitutional privilege against self-incrimination, and, as here, the use of the confession of an alleged co-conspirator. It is my belief that jurors generally can and do follow instructions conscientiously, in these matters as well as others.
The question before us, on the phase of this case relating to Whitley’s confession, is whether or not there was any abuse of discretion on the part of Judge Dawson. It was long since decided that, in a joint conspiracy trial, an alleged confession after the event by one of the co-conspirators need not necessarily be rejected. The text of the alleged confession, the proofs adduced against the various defendants, comments or lack of comments by the prosecutor, and, especially, the instructions by the trial judge to the jury, constitute the background against which we must decide whether or not the defendant has had a fair trial. Here every element indicates that there was no infringement of defendant's rights. There is nothing to show, nor is it eVen suggested, that Whitley’s confession was offered in evidence for any purpose other than its legitimate bearing on the question of Whitley’s guilt or innocence; and the instructions on the subject were emphatic and clear. There was no abuse of discretion by the trial judge. Nor am I able to discover any basis for supposing that the jury did not follow his instructions.