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North Carolina v. Leroux4/5/1990
ty station on one occasion. Defendant therefore waived his right to appeal on this ground under N.C.R. App. P. 10(b)(2), and we must discover "plain error" in order to afford defendant relief. State v. Odom, 307 N.C. 655, 300 S.E.2d 375 (1983). Upon our review of the entire record, we cannot say that the claimed error had a probable impact on the jury's finding of guilt of a nature which would mandate the award of a new trial. Id. The inquiries into prior instances of defendant's conduct were a proper attempt to explore, explain, or rebut defendant's proffered evidence. State v. Brown, 310 N.C. 563, 313 S.E.2d 585 (1984). They constituted proper impeachment in that they detailed matters testified to on direct examination and specifically bore
upon defendant's propensity for truthfulness. Impeachment by cross-examination may be employed to test a witness' credibility in a number of ways, and the examiner is permitted wide latitude in this endeavor. 1 Brandis on North Carolina Evidence § 42 (3d ed. 1988).
he law wisely permits evidence not otherwise admissible to be offered to explain or rebut evidence elicited by the defendant himself. Where one party introduces evidence as to a particular fact or transaction, the other party is entitled to introduce evidence in explanation or rebuttal thereof, even though such latter evidence would be incompetent or irrelevant had it been offered initially.
State v. Albert, 303 N.C. 173, 177, 277 S.E.2d 439, 441 (1981).
The State sought to demonstrate through its line of questioning that defendant's assertions of lack of intent due to alcoholism were untruthful. For example, defendant testified on direct examination that he was honorably discharged from the Navy, but admitted on cross-examination that he falsified his enlistment contract. He testified that he underwent in-patient treatment for alcoholism while in the Navy, but admitted that his hospitalization was at least partially precipitated by the fact that he struck a police officer. The State's questioning tests the plausibility of the defense theory that while in the Navy, defendant developed a drinking problem which, over the years, became a chronic disease rendering him nonculpable on the night in question. The State sought to show that defendant's Navy service was in fact replete with instances of bad conduct. We conclude that there was no plain error in the trial court's decision to allow this cross-examination.
Defendant next contends that the trial court erred in barring his counsel's questioning of prospective jurors regarding their opinions about alcohol consumption and its effects on mental processes. Counsel asked such questions as, "Would your theories about the overindulgence of alcohol tend to color your thinking about [defendant] if you find that he is an alcoholic from the evidence?" and "Do you have such strong feelings about the use of alcohol that you couldn't be fair to someone that you believe to be an alcoholic?" The trial court sustained the prosecutor's objections to this line of questioning. Defendant now asserts that the preclusion of this line of inquiry contravened basic principles of jury selection because the restrictions placed upon him during his voir dire examination
precluded him from meaningfully and intelligently exercising his peremptory challenges. We do not agree.
The purposes of voir dire are to eliminate extremes of partiality and to assure the parties that the resulting jury will make its decision solely from the evidence presented. State v. H
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