Court Opinion

ID: 9448225
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 23:26:39.806752+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:31:20.167645
License: Public Domain

LUMBARD, Chief Judge
(concurring).
I concur with everything Judge SMITH says with the exception of his statement that it might have been desirable for the court to have called Gillis as a witness with reference to his obscure part in the case. It seems to me the trial judge exercised good judgment in not following this will-o’-the-wisp and thus emphasizing an extraneous matter which neither party saw fit to explore further or to clarify. The issue was Kabot’s guilt; it was not whether Gillis might have been engaging in some questionable activity. The only possible relevance of Gillis’ testimony would have been on some theory of extortion, but extortion was never claimed by Kabot and it was never in the case. The trial judge used good judgment in leaving matters as they were, especially as the defense never even requested such action during the trial.