 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Miller v. State12/14/1989
s of this case compared to the prejudicial effect to Miller from a bad character infusion of a black man who had previously dealt in drugs.
Miller's brief realistically assays the problems presented:
It is clear that the introduction of the prior conviction evidence was procedurally deficient. It was also highly prejudicial. Miller, a black, was painted as being a California drug dealer. One would have to be deaf and blind to the national news to be unaware of the great fear that our nation's population holds for the illegal drug problem and those who participate in its distribution network.
Before this court sifts out due process versus bad acts evidence, a realistic research and proper briefing, not exacerbated by plain error intrusion, should be required. The literature and text analysis on the W.R.E. 609 subject is visually and factually extensive. The recognition of an extrinsic felony and reasoning from premise to result recognized by Justice Holmes is often discussed. The topically thoughtful analysis in addition to the review in Ladd, Credibility Tests — Current Trends, 89 U.Pa.L.Rev. 166 (1940) can be included in McGowan, Impeachment of Criminal Defendants by Prior Convictions, 1970 Law & Social Order 1 (1970); Note, Evidence — Pennsylvania Limits Judicial Discretion on Impeachment by Prior Convictions — Commonwealth v. Randall, 61 Temp.L.Rev. 567 (1988); Note, Prior Conviction Impeachment in the District of Columbia: What Happened When the Courts Ran Out of Luck?, 35 Cath.U.L. Rev. 1157 (1986); and Annotation, Construction and Application of Rule 609(a) of the Federal Rules of Evidence Permitting Impeachment of Witness by Evidence of Prior Conviction of Crime, 39 A.L.R. Fed. 570 (1978). Cf. Note, Evidence — Diggs v. Lyons: The Use of Prior Criminal Convictions to Impeach Credibility in Civil Actions Under Rule 609(a), 60 Tul.L. Rev. 863 (1986) and Note, Impeachment with Prior Convictions Under Federal Rule of Evidence 609(a)(1): A Plea for Balance, 63 Wn.U.L.Q. 469 (1985).
The California Supreme Court, in considering the broadening parameter of admissibility created by a constitutional amendment in People v. Castro, 38 Cal.3d 301, 211 Cal.Rptr. 719, 726, 696 P.2d 111, 118 (1985), considered the admissibility decisions and discretional process:
What we cannot ignore, however, is the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment which, as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court, demands that even inferences — not just presumptions — be based on a rational connection between the fact proved and the fact to be inferred. * * * " ommon-law inferences, like their statutory counterparts, must satisfy due process standards in light of present-day experience." [Barnes v. United States, 412 U.S. 837, 93 S.Ct. 2357, 37 L.Ed.2d 380 (1973)] (Id. 412 U.S. at pp. 844-845, 93 S.Ct. at pp. 2362-2363.) Paraphrasing the question to be asked * * * we must ask with respect to any particular felony conviction which is offered for impeachment: "Can it be said with substantial assurance that the credibility of a witness is adversely affected by his having suffered this conviction?" If the answer is "no," impeachment is prohibited by due process: "An important element of a fair trial is that a jury consider only relevant and competent evidence bearing on the issue of guilt or innocence." (Bruton v. United States, (1968) 391 U.S. 123, 131, fn. 6, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 1625, fn. 6, 20 L.Ed.2d 476.)
The court further reflects "that if the felony of which the witness has been convicted does not show a `readiness to do evil,' the fact of conviction simply will not support an inference of readiness to lie." Id. 211 Cal.Rptr. at 727, 696 P.2d
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wyoming DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|