Court Opinion

ID: 9473833
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 04:40:47.42269+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:43:45.356968
License: Public Domain

WALLACE, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
The majority rules on four issues: (1) whether Binder made a voluntary and knowing waiver of his Miranda rights before making incriminating statements, (2) whether Binder’s sentence was an abuse of discretion, (3) whether the district judge abused his discretion by replaying part of the children’s videotaped testimony, and (4) whether the district judge abused his discretion by admitting expert testimony concerning the children’s ability to discern truth from falsehood and reality from fantasy. I agree with the majority that the first two issues present no abuse of discretion, but disagree that a new trial is required due to what the majority concludes is an abuse of discretion on the last two issues.
The majority reasons that the district judge abused his discretion in replaying part of the videotape because it unduly emphasized the testimony of the children. The opinion relies only on United States v. Nolan, 700 F.2d 479, 486 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 462 U.S. 1123, 103 S.Ct. 3095, 77 L.Ed.2d 1354 (1983). In Nolan, we upheld a district court’s exercise of discretion in refusing to reread certain testimony. The major proposition of Nolan is that “[a] trial court is given great latitude in deciding whether to reread testimony requested by the jury.” Id. at 486. The defendant in Nolan was arguing for reversal on the ground that the judge had refused to reread certain testimony. We justified the district judge’s decision not to do so by observing that rereading testimony “is disfavored because of the emphasis it places on specific testimony and the delay it causes in the trial.” Id. Nolan provides little assistance to the holding by the majority.
The latitude of trial judges in this area has been universally considered to be great. The majority cites no case in which a recent circuit court has deemed a decision to reread testimony an abuse of discretion. See United States v. King, 552 F.2d 833, 850 (9th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 966, 97 S.Ct. 1646, 52 L.Ed.2d 357 (1977) (King), see, e.g., Nolan, 700 F.2d at 486; United States v. De Luca, 692 F.2d 1277, 1286 (9th Cir.1982) (not abuse of discretion to deny request to reread because district judge is “better able to determine whether the ‘beneficial effects from allowing the jury to review a part of the transcript outweigh the risk that the jury will give undue weight to that part of the evidence.’ ”) (De Luca), quoting United States v. An Article of Drug, 661 F.2d 742, 746 (9th Cir.1981) (per curiam) (Drug). See also King, 552 F.2d at 850 (not abuse of discretion to grant request to reread portions of the testimony).
The district judge is in a better position than we are to determine whether the benefits of allowing the jury to review the videotaped testimony outweighed the risk that the jury would give undue weight to that portion of the evidence. De Luca, 692 F.2d at 1286; Drug, 661 F.2d at 746. Indeed, in this case the district judge, in exercising his discretion, considered the benefit to Binder in replaying the videotapes. In deciding to grant the jury’s request, he stated:
If they had been just crackerjack witnesses I would be a little bit more reluctant, but they were very hesitant, particularly Vanessa. I didn’t — I thought their testimony was strong enough to get past your motion for acquittal, but I didn’t think that it was — you know, it’s still a question of credibility. I’m just kind of feeling that I sought to, particularly from the defendant’s standpoint, allow them to be played, because the *604Jury’s notes are now going to indicate that.
The majority, however, was influenced not by what the jury heard a second time, but by what they saw a second time. The majority worried that replaying the videotape would emphasize the children’s credibility unduly during the deliberations, maj. op. at 601, and suggested the alternative procedure of rereading the videotape testimony. Id. at 601 n. 1. I disagree with this analysis for two reasons. First, the question of a satisfactory, alternative procedure is not before us — we need to decide only whether the procedure used by the district judge was an abuse of discretion. The record, moreover, does not clearly reflect that the court reporter reported or transcribed the videotaped testimony verbatim when it was played initially, or that the district judge had the reporter’s notes or a transcript available when the jury made its request. The record reflects only that a transcript was filed with the district court on October 5, 1984, long after judgment was entered on August 27, 1984. Thus, I do not believe that we can find it an abuse of discretion for a district judge not to have the reporter’s notes or a transcript if he may not have had the notes or transcript readily available.
Even if such a transcript or notes were available, however, I would disagree with the majority for a second and more important reason. The majority holds that videotapes are “unique” and cannot be replayed when the credibility of the taped witness is a key issue. This result is contrary to both logic and our precedent. We have upheld the replaying of audio tapes to the jury upon their request. United States v. Puchi, 441 F.2d 697, 702 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 853, 92 S.Ct. 92, 30 L.Ed.2d 92 (1971). See United States v. Sims, 719 F.2d 375, 379 (11th Cir.1983) (per curiam) (district court's replay of audiotaped testimony upheld), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 104 S.Ct. 1304, 79 L.Ed.2d 703 (1984) (Sims); cf. 28 U.S.C. § 753(b) (“proceeding[s] ... shall be recorded verbatim by shorthand, mechanical means, electronic sound recording, or any other method ... ”). To distinguish videotaped testimony from other testimony because the former may demonstrate credibility more vividly is to ignore our precedent regarding audio testimony. Audio tapes also may reveal indicia of credibility: a tremor in the voice, a stammer, a pregnant pause, or a stutter, among others, all may reveal physical clues as to the trustworthiness of a particular witness, none of which are apparent from a cold transcript. While it is undeniably true that a videotape reveals even more such indicia, these are differences of degree, not of kind. The incremental ability to see facial expression and body movements does not justify an artificial distinction between sound and videotapes for purposes of permitting their replay to the jury. In this case, moreover, the parties stipulated to the use of the videotape. Under these circumstances, the videotape could be replayed for the jury. See Sims, 719 F.2d at 379.
The majority also mentions that the district judge allowed the jury to view the videotape without reviewing the introductory part of the tape. A request to view in a more abridged fashion was declined. The majority points to no prejudice from these rulings, and I have found none in the record. The district court may permit only portions of certain testimony to be reread. See King, 552 F.2d at 850. It is not required to reread all of a particular witness’ testimony. Four other arguments raised by Binder against replaying the videotape, and mentioned by the majority are all either unmeritorious or unobjected to in the district court.
I also disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the district judge abused his discretion because he allowed expert testimony to buttress improperly the children’s credibility. The experts, each of whom had examined the children, testified that the children were able to differentiate between truth and falsehood, and between reality and fantasy.
In each of the cases on which the majority relies, the expert actually testified as to *605whether the particular witness should have been believed. See United States v. Awkard, 597 F.2d 667, 671 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 885, 100 S.Ct. 179, 62 L.Ed.2d 116 (1979); United States v. Barnard, 490 F.2d 907, 912-13 (9th Cir.1973), cert. denied, 416 U.S. 959, 94 S.Ct. 1976, 40 L.Ed.2d 310 (1974); United States v. Amaral, 488 F.2d 1148, 1153 (9th Cir.1973). In this case, the experts testified only that the children were capable of telling the truth — they did not opine as to whether or not the children actually had done so. The difference between knowing that a witness can tell the truth and concluding that he did so is fundamental. Thus, the jury was free to believe or disbelieve the children’s testimony, and in my judgment, the expert testimony neither helped nor hindered that determination.
Moreover, the fact that such testimony normally is taken outside the presence of the jury when the judge determines competence to testify does not require a new trial. The evidence of the children’s competency was merely a small part of the expert testimony to which no objection is now being raised. Although I might have sustained an objection to this evidence had I been the district judge, in light of the facts of this case and the lack of expert testimony tending to make the children more or less believable, I cannot conclude that its admission was an abuse of discretion.
Finally, the majority’s conclusion that the jury’s request to see the doctors’ reports suggests undue emphasis on credibility is pure speculation. These reports contained evidence other than that related to credibility.
For the foregoing reasons, I would affirm Binder’s conviction.