Gov't of the Virgin Islands v. Grant

• Decision Date: 31 May 1984
• Docket Number: Criminal No. 83/87
• Citation: 21 V.I. 20
• Parties: GOVERNMENT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS, Plaintiff v. SHELDON GRANT, Defendant
• Court: U.S. District Court — Virgin Islands

21 V.I. 20

GOVERNMENT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS, Plaintiff v. SHELDON GRANT, Defendant

Criminal No. 83/87

District Court of the Virgin Islands Div. of St. Croix

May 31, 1984

Appeal by defendant from convictions for assault in the third degree and possession of a dangerous weapon during the commission of a crime of violence and appeal by the government of sentence imposed on the weapons count. The District Court, O'Brien, J., held that since the evidence was sufficient to support the verdict, the knife used by defendant during the incident which gave rise to the charges was properly admitted and defendant's testimony as to his character was properly excluded, the convictions would be affirmed, but since the sentence imposed on the weapons count violated mandatory minimum sentence required by statute to be imposed for the offense, the case would be vacated and remanded for resentencing.

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GEORGE CANNON, JR., ESQ., Christiansted, St. Croix, for plaintiff

LOLITA D'JONES, ESQ., Christiansted, St. Croix, for defendant

O'BRIEN, Judge

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

THIS MATTER is before the Court on cross appeals from the Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands. Sheldon Grant (hereafter "Grant") was convicted after jury trial below of Assault in the Third Degree in violation of 14 V.I.C. § 297(2) and Possession of a Dangerous Weapon During the Commission of a Crime of Violence in violation of 14 V.I.C. § 2251(a)(2)(B). After sentencing took place on July 1, 1983, both Grant and the Government of the Virgin Islands (hereafter "Government") filed appeals with this Court. The United States of America was granted leave to enter this appeal in an amicus curiae capacity and, along with Grant and the Government, submitted briefs and appeared before this Court for oral argument on April 18, 1984. For the reasons which follow we will affirm the convictions below, but remand this matter to the Territorial Court for resentencing as to Count II of the Information, the Possession of a Dangerous Weapon charge.

1. Appeal of Grant

Grant urges reversal of his conviction asserting that 1) the Government was guilty of misconduct in the selective manner in which it investigated and ultimately prosecuted the charges against him, 2) that the verdict of the jury was contrary to the weight of the evidence, and that the trial court erred in: 3) admitting and excluding certain evidence and testimony, 4) in failing to enter a judgment of acquittal, and 5) in giving prejudicial instructions to the jury.

After the trial below, Grant filed a Fed. R. Crim. P. 29 Motion for Judgment of Acquittal, or in the Alternative, for a New Trial pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 33. As grounds for that motion, Grant raised all the issues raised here except for the prosecutorial misconduct and prejudicial jury instruction claims. Those issues which were presented to the trial court were addressed and disposed of in a thorough July 20, 1983, opinion denying Grant's motion in whole.

[1-3] In addressing the issue of whether there was sufficient evidence to support the jury verdict of guilty and whether the trial court's denial of the motion for judgment of acquittal was correct, this Court must determine whether there was substantial evidence viewed in a light most favorable to the Government, to uphold the decision of the jury. See, United States v. Caniel, 689 F.2d 31 (3d Cir. 1982); United States v. Palmeri, 630 F.2d 192 (3d Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 967 (1981). In making this determination thisCourt does not weigh the evidence or consider the credibility of witnesses, and will draw all inferences in favor of sustaining the verdict; United States v. Dickens, 695 F.2d 765 (3d Cir. 1982), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1092, 103 S.Ct. 1792 (1983); United States v. McClain, 469 F.2d 68 (3d Cir. 1972); see United States v. Friedland, 660 F.2d 919 (3d Cir. 1981), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 989 (1982). Substantial evidence such as is required to sustain a jury verdict is evidence that is adequate and sufficient to permit reasonable persons to find defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. See, e.g., United States v. Nicoll, 664 F.2d 1308 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 457 U.S. 1118 (1982); United States v. Bass, 490 F.2d 846 (5th Cir. 1974); United States v. Barfield, 447 F.2d 85 (5th Cir. 1971).

[4] The trial court's standard of review on a Fed. R. Crim. P. 33 motion for a new trial is much broader than that on a motion for judgment of acquittal. Government of the Virgin Islands v. Leycock, 93 F.R.D. 569 (D.V.I. 1982); United States v. Pepe, 209 F.Supp. 592 (D. Del. 1962), aff d, 339 F.2d 264 (3d Cir. 1964) (per curiam). On a motion for a new trial the court weighs the evidence and the credibility of witnesses. Id. Then only if the evidence preponderates heavily against the verdict, will the court, in an exercise of discretion, order a new trial. See, id.

[5] After a comprehensive review of the evidence presented at trial, the court below determined that the evidence in the record, together with the reasonable inferences which could be drawn therefrom was sufficient to send the case to the jury and to sustain the verdict of guilty. We adopt that court's perspective and affirm as to the sufficiency of the evidence issues.

This Court will also affirm the trial court's ruling with regard to the remaining issues raised below: the admission into evidence of the weapon used and the limitation on the manner in which Grant could introduce the fact that he had no criminal record.

[6-8] Grant argues that the admission of the butcher knife so inflamed the jury as to unduly prejudice his defense.¹ In determining whether to admit relevant evidence or exclude same because its "probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice", a trial court has broad discretion. Fed. R. Evid. 403; United States v. Clifford, 704 F.2d 86 (3d Cir. 1983); see Hamling v. United States, 418 U.S. 87, 124-125 (1974). The trial court's rulingsunder Rule 403 are rarely disturbed on appeal absent a clear showing that the judge abused his discretion. Clifford, supra; United States v. Long, 574 F.2d 761 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 985 (1978). As Grant has not convinced this Court that the trial court in any way abused his discretion, we will affirm that court's ruling allowing the weapon into evidence.

This Court also affirms the trial court's ruling on Grant's attempt to introduce character evidence of his general lawfulness. At the two day trial below, the Government put on various witnesses including the victim, the treating physician, several eyewitnesses and three police officers. Mid-afternoon of the first day of trial, counsel for Grant approached the bench to inquire whether Grant's only character witness could be released for the day, as it appeared that his testimony would not be heard until the following morning. The trial judge questioned the prosecutor regarding the duration of the Government's case-in-chief, determined the witness would not be needed and allowed the witness to be excused. The next morning, Grant's character witness was not able to appear for trial.

The only witness available to be called by the defense was Grant himself. During the defendant's testimony, counsel attempted to establish Grant's good character through Grant by asking him whether or not he had ever been arrested and charged with a crime before this incident. The Government objected on the grounds of relevance. At sidebar, counsel for Grant revealed that the purpose of her line of questioning was to establish that Grant had never been convicted of a crime, and thus, to establish his character as a law-abiding citizen.

The trial judge then granted the Government's objection on the grounds that: a witness/defendant may not establish his own good character but must do so by bringing in third party character testimony. After trial, while ruling on Grant's Motion for Judgment of Acquittal, or In the Alternative, for a New Trial, the trial court affirmed its ruling on Grant's character testimony holding that: 1) Grant himself could not give testimony as to whether or not he had ever been arrested as such evidence could only come in through third parties, further 2) such testimony was irrelevant in the context of this case as character was not a substantive issue, and finally 3) that while evidence that Grant had never been convicted of a crime may be relevant, such testimony could only come in through the opinion of a third person. Because no evidence of good character was admitted at trial, the trial judge refused to give the requisite character evidence instruction in his charge to the jury.

The question we face here is whether a defendant/witness may establish his character trait as being a "law-abiding citizen" through his own testimony that he has never been either arrested or convicted of a crime. We hold that he may not, and that the trial court did not err in excluding Grant's testimony.

[9] It is not disputed that evidence proffered by Grant to show his character as a law-abiding person is admissible. See, e.g., United States v. Angelini, 678 F.2d 380 (1st Cir. 1982); United States v. Hewitt, 634 F.2d 277 (5th Cir. 1981) and cases cited therein. Such evidence would tend to show that it is less likely that the defendant would knowingly break the law. See, Angelini, supra; see generally 1A Wigmore, Evidence § 55 (Tillers rev. 1983).

[10, 11] What is disputed is simply the manner in which the admittedly relevant testimony may be introduced. It is, quite simply, the rule in this jurisdiction that the nature of evidence admissible as going to proof of a character trait is limited by Fed. R. Evid. 405(a) to opinion and reputation testimony. Government of the Virgin Islands v. Carino, 631 F.2d 226 (3d Cir. 1980); Government of the Virgin Islands v. Roldan, 612 F.2d 775 (3d Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 920 (1980); Government of the Virgin...