Court Opinion

ID: 9470080
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:56:43.782471+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:41:43.314193
License: Public Domain

K.K. HALL, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
In writing the majority panel opinion in this case, I stated that the trial judge committed harmless error in the manner in which he handled the perjured testimony of the defendant’s alibi witnesses. After hearing the en banc argument of counsel and further consultation with my brother judges, I now conclude that I was wrong. The trial judge did not commit any error at all. Under the circumstances, he acted judiciously and properly. Not to have permitted a recall of the offending witnesses after hearing the truth would have been improper conduct on his part. In all other respects, I stand by my published opinion and adopt it as a dissent to the en banc opinion of this Court.
As a further comment on the majority opinion, in my view a majority of this Court has gone beyond the bounds of reason to find a way to reverse the conviction of a murderer. Anyone reading the record in this case cannot reasonably reach any other conclusion but that this defendant is guilty. Setting aside his conviction is an affront to society.
DONALD RUSSELL, Circuit Judge, and FIELD, Senior Circuit Judge, join in this dissent.