Court Opinion

ID: 9669430
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 02:56:06.630177+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:56.728289
License: Public Domain

BROWN, J.
(dissenting in part). I agree with the majority opinion as regards the multiplicity issue. I dissent from that portion of the opinion denominated as the "severance" issue.
The majority's decision, in a nutshell, is as follows: In State v. DiMaggio, 49 Wis. 2d 565, 577, 182 N.W.2d 466, 473, cert. denied sub nom., Pipito v. Wisconsin, 404 U.S. 838 (1971), our supreme court ruled that, when it appears during the course of a trial involving co-defendants that one line of evidence is applicable to only one defendant, the trial court has the sua sponte duty to give the jury a cautionary instruction. This instruction should state that the jury is not to visit that one line of evidence against the other defendant. Here, the physician's testimony regarding anal scarring went only to David, the husband. It was irrelevant as to Patricia. The evidence was substantial and prejudicial to Patricia. Although no cautionary instruction was requested, the trial court had the duty to give one anyway under the facts of the case. Therefore, Patricia's conviction must be reversed.
*740I disagree with this reasoning. The DiMaggio rule applies only when the solicited evidence is applicable to but one of the defendants. Here, the physician's testimony regarding anal scarring was not irrelevant to Patricia, as claimed by the majority. Rather, the whole of Patricia's defense was that her son fabricated all sexual charges as part of an ongoing rebellion by the child against both David and Patricia. Throughout the trial, Patricia continually attacked her son's credibility by assigning improper motives to him. She was helped by her son's recalcitrance on the witness stand.
That being the case, the physician's testimony was helpful to rehabilitate the son's testimony. The testimony presented the jury with physical evidence supporting the son's allegations that sexual activity occurred. This very fact was noted by the trial court. In answering an objection to the physician's testimony on grounds tangentially related to the issue here, the court explained that the statements made by the child to the physician were admissible under sec. 908.01(4), Stats., because the statements were consistent with the child's trial testimony. Thus, they would rebut the charge of improper motive. Alternatively, the court noted that some of the child's testimony was inconsistent with the statements made by the child to the physician. Thus, the prosecutor was using the statement to impeach the state's own witness by showing that the witness made statements contrary to those adduced at trial. Thus, given the state of the record, I am convinced that the physician's testimony was applicable to Patricia and the DiMaggio rule is inapposite.
There is another reason why this is not a DiMaggio case. The rule was designed for those cases where a "good deal of evidence" applicable to only one defendant is being developed such that the trial court's pretrial *741decision denying severance is in jeopardy. Often, trial judges do not have the necessary information before trial to determine the quantum of evidence going only to one defendant which will be irrelevant to other defendants. The DiMaggio rule was obviously designed to help trial judges by allowing them to choose to declare a mistrial and order the cases severed when such a situation comes to light. It also gives the alerted trial judge the opportunity to continue the trial with the proviso that an admonitory instruction be given to the jury. It is a good guideline for trial judges.
After having read the record, however, I am unpersuaded that there was that kind of evidence giving fair warning such that an admonitory instruction would have to be considered. There are about 1300 pages of transcript. The physician's testimony took up about thirty pages. Of that, only a portion deals with the physical findings and what the child demonstrated by use of an anatomical doll in regard to the anal intercourse allegations. I agree with the state that we are not faced with a "good deal of evidence." We have before us a small portion of one witness' testimony in the course of a trial lasting several days.
Finally, there is a third reason why DiMaggio should not be the underpinning for a reversal in this case. Any error was harmless. I note that there was no effort by the state to exploit the physician's testimony to say that Patricia was somehow responsible for the anal scarring, either as a direct participant or as an aider and abetter.
Also, I note that the evidence of sexual assault by Patricia against her son was overwhelming to the point where there is no reasonable belief that the outcome would be different had this instruction been given. While it is the usual case that claims of sexual assault by a child *742against an adult come down to a credibility battle between the two, this is not the case here. A third party, a disinterested witness, saw Patricia and her son engaging in sexual acts. It happens that a neighbor girl, a friend of the son's, walked in on Patricia, David and the son on another occasion. She observed the victim and both parents unclothed and engaged in acts of sexual contact with Patricia's breasts. I find this to be startling evidence. I cannot believe, for a second, that failure to give an admonitory instruction to the jury concerning a small part of a doctor's testimony would have affected how the jury viewed this case. I have no hesitancy in deciding that the supposed error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. I would affirm the conviction.