Court Opinion

ID: 9766797
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 04:59:40.917014+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:26.314842
License: Public Domain

BARDGETT, Judge
(concurring in result only).
I concur in result only in this case, and do so on the basis that the questions asked pertaining to a prior conviction of rape were not such as necessarily demanded the ultimate relief of mistrial, and defendant did not request any other relief, such as requesting the court to strike the questions and answers and instruct the jury to disregard them. The decision not to request the court to instruct the jury to disregard them could well have been a deliberate decision on defendant’s part in order to prevent emphasis on the matter, or in order to argue the unfairness of the prosecution in asking such questions and not being able to substantiate the suggested conviction with evidence.
The episode complained of was as follows:
“Q. Thank you — Mr. Charlton, on May 17, 1957, did you plead guilty to the charge of rape in the State of Kansas? A. No, sir.
“Q. You did not? A. No, sir.
“Q. Were you convicted of that charge?
A. No, sir.
As stated in the principal opinion, inquiries of this nature, without record support, have been previously condemned by this court. I believe counsel who utilize the tactics of asking a defendant questions wherein the supposed prior conviction is graphically pinpointed in the questions, and bears a similarity to the type of crime for which the defendant is being tried, without record support for the alleged conviction, puts the conviction obtained in the case in jeopardy of reversal.