Court Opinion

ID: 9677048
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 05:41:51.451913+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:53.104735
License: Public Domain

DANIEL E. SCOTT, Chief Judge,
dissenting.
Defendant’s complaint that the State did not “show some factual basis for the ru*648mored immoral conduct” comes too late. The State may have had such proof — the excessive and collateral detail of some of its questions sounds like a report being read1 — and if so, could have shown it had Defendant so objected.
I would reverse and remand, however, because the cross-examination was improper. Defendant’s second and subsequent objections, while not perfect, were adequate in my opinion. I think they should have been sustained, and when they were not, the State “piled on” to Defendant’s prejudice in a thin case.
The general rule limits cross-examination of character witnesses to rumors or reports of a defendant’s misconduct, not the witness’s personal knowledge of particular facts. State v. Creason, 847 S.W.2d 482, 488 (Mo.App.1993)(citing State v. Carroll, 188 S.W.2d 22, 23-24 (Mo.1945)). “Thus, the form of the question about other acts of misconduct is important.” Id. (citing State v. Siems, 535 S.W.2d 261, 264 (Mo.App.1976)). “The inquiry must be directed to rumors or reports concerning the defendant’s character, and not be of the ‘don’t you know’ type.” Id. (citations omitted). Here, the prosecutor asked at least thirteen questions of the latter sense,2 then compounded some of these errors by reciting follow-up details after the witness denied knowledge of the matter. See Siems, 535 S.W.2d at 264 (criticizing persistent questioning of witnesses, who had denied hearing the rumors, as being argumentative, collateral, and prejudicial).
By treating then* subject matter as fact, the State’s inquiries violated the allowable purpose of cross-examination. Creason, 847 S.W.2d at 488 (citing Hawley v. Merritt, 452 S.W.2d 604, 610 (Mo.App.1970)). It is improper to phrase cross-examination questions “ ‘so as to assume as fact matters of which there is no evidence.’ ” Id. (quoting Hawley, supra). Cross-examination should not covertly prejudice a defendant in the minds of jurors “by a recital as facts of supposed matters not appearing in the evidence and wholly outside of the case.” Id. (quoting State v. Selle, 367 S.W.2d 522, 530 (Mo.1963) and Pittman v. U.S., 42 F.2d 793, 797 (8th Cir.1930)). As the principal opinion shows, the State’s questions “were asked in such a manner as to imply the facts had been established,” and “transcended the limits of cross-examination” of Defendant’s character witnesses. Id.
As I understand it, the court and I agree these questions were improper, and disagree only on whether those improprieties are preserved for appellate review. I think the “facts not in evidence” objections were adequate because, per Creason, it was the State’s insinuation of crooked and improper actions not in evidence that was killing Defendant at trial. Those inquiries, as phrased, did assume facts not in evidence and were objectionable on that basis. Had they been couched (or rephrased *649after objection) in terms of rumor, the objections may not have been good. Since they were not so phrased, “facts not in evidence” was one of several appropriate objections, and as Creason explains, went to the heart of the prejudice.
I respectfully dissent.

. For example:
Q. And are you aware further that a Ron Alsup had his — on April 24th, 2003 when [Defendant] was an officer with the police department in the City of Bloomfield that he received a report with respect to the theft of a four-wheeler and trailer, that he located the trailer and contacted the victim and returned it to him and when the victim, Mr. Alsup, indicated he wanted to pursue further the matter and prosecute it that [Defendant] refused to do so and that subsequently, a Justin Bell[,] who was a volunteer fireman who was a friend of [Defendant^,] was charged with that theft and the trailer, in fact, was subsequently recovered by the — Deputy Patrick Barbour and Deputy Keith Haynes recovered that from [Defendant's friend?

. Five "had you known ...” and eight "are you aware ...” or “were you aware....”