Court Opinion

ID: 9668353
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 02:10:21.425517+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:29:27.428213
License: Public Domain

SABERS, Justice
(dissenting).
I dissent.
The question in this case is whether the prosecutorial misconduct of the state’s attorney in violating the pre-trial order constituted prejudicial error warranting a new trial.
In State v. Webb, 251 N.W.2d 687 (S.D.1977), we reversed a criminal conviction and held that the defendant had been deprived of his constitutional right to a fair trial before an impartial jury by prejudicial questions which referred to his prior, unrelated criminal record. The court stated:
We, however, are of the opinion that the harmless error rule ought never be used to justify unfairness at the trial. Every practicing attorney knows that where a prejudicial and improper question, such as the one here, is asked for the sole purpose of conveying to the jury information that counsel knows or should have known is excludable by the rules of evidence it is pure fiction to suppose that the damage done is eradicable by objection and/or cautionary instructions.
Id. at 689.
Prejudicial error is error which in all probability must have produced some effect upon the jury’s verdict and is harmful to the substantial rights of the party assigning it. State v. Dokken, 385 N.W.2d 493 (S.D.1986); State v. Reddington, 80 S.D. 390, 125 N.W.2d 58 (1963). SDCL 23A-44-14 defines harmless error as “[a]ny error, defect, irregularity or variance which does not affect substantial rights[.]” The harmless error rule governs even constitutional violations, not requiring the automatic reversal of a conviction, provided the court is able to declare a belief beyond a reasonable doubt that the error was harmless and did not contribute to the verdict obtained. State v. Heumiller, 317 N.W.2d 126 (S.D.1982) (citing Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967); Harrington v. California, 395 U.S. 250, 89 S.Ct. 1726, 23 L.Ed.2d 284 (1969)).
In United States v. Hasting, 461 U.S. 499, 103 S.Ct. 1974, 76 L.Ed.2d 96 (1983), *284the Court followed Chapman and framed the question a reviewing court must ask as follows:
[A]bsent [the alleged error] ... is it clear beyond a reasonable doubt that the jury would have returned a verdict of guilty?
Id., 461 U.S. at 510-11, 103 S.Ct. at 1981, 76 L.Ed.2d at 107.
The majority opinion “clearly disagrees with the trial court’s assessment that there was no bad faith” and decries the “prosecu-torial misconduct,” but overlooks same for the reason that it “did not rise to the point of prejudicial error.” Presumably, this conclusion was in turn based on the fact that part of the objectionable statement related to the rape charge upon which the jury acquitted the defendant. In my view, this conclusion was ill-founded because the defendant began the trial charged with improperly touching the victim with a stick and a finger. During the trial, the State was allowed to amend the. bill of particulars to include touching with the penis. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury was instructed that they could find defendant guilty based upon touching with only the penis. In other words, the objectionable statement relates directly to the improper touching, the charge upon which defendant was convicted. In addition, this evidence was directly supported by the statement produced by the prosecutorial misconduct, in violation of the court ruling that no evidence concerning improper touching of the victim’s younger sister would be allowed in evidence.
Upon the complete record, I am not satisfied that defendant had a fair trial. The statement of the witness which resulted from the prosecutorial misconduct prejudiced defendant’s substantial rights. Therefore, absent the prosecutorial misconduct, it is not clear beyond a reasonable doubt that the jury would have returned the same verdict. Accordingly, the trial court abused its discretion in denying the motion for mistrial.
I would réverse and remand for a fair trial.