State v. Ballentine, 7306
| Decision Date | 27 February 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. 7306,7306 |
| Citation | 116 N.H. 120,352 A.2d 403 |
| Parties | STATE of New Hampshire v. Robert E. BALLENTINE. |
| Court | New Hampshire Supreme Court |
Warren B. Rudman, Atty. Gen., and Richard B. McNamara, Concord, for the state.
William E. Brennan, Manchester, by brief and orally, for defendant.
The issues in this burglary case are (1) whether it was error to have admitted the entire statement of a codefendant which implicated the defendant in other burglaries to show prior consistent statements when the credibility of the witness had been attacked by showing a prior inconsistent statement contained in the same document on another point and (2) whether for the purpose of supporting the credibility of the same codefendant, it was error to admit the statement of the defendant in which he implicated himself in other burglaries but not the one for which he was being tried. Defendant was put on trial for burglary of the Caskie residence. The jury found him guilty and his exceptions were transferred by Perkins, J.
On Franklin Hoyt who had pleaded guilty and been sentenced for the same burglary was called as a witness for the State and implicated the defendant. He testified that Ballentine carried out a large box and that he dropped it. On cross-examination, Hoyt was asked about and admitted engaging in several burglaries in the area and taking the loot to a place called Dixie's to sell it. No reference was made to the defendant being engaged in any of the other burglaries. Defendant's counsel started to inquire about the description of other houses Hoyt had burglarized but stopped after the court warned him that it would open a 'Pandora's box' and permit the prosecution to go into the out-of-court statement of the witness which defense was using in cross-examination. Defense counsel then questioned Hoyt about a part of an out-of-court signed statement in which he had stated that he (Hoyt) had carried the large box out of the Caskie house. The witness then stated that that part of the statement was false, but that the part implicating Ballentine was true. On redirect examination, the State offered and the court admitted the entire out-of-court statement of Hoyt over defendant's exceptions on the question of Hoyt's credibility. The document contained statements implicating the defendant in a series of burglaries with Hoyt and his brother.
The State through a State police employee introduced evidence that Franklin Hoyt had given the statement above referred to which aided the police in clearing up several burglaries involving Ballentine. After the...
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State v. Fischer
...the victim asserted she had been attacked and exhibited physical injuries consistent with being choked. See State v. Ballentine , 116 N.H. 120, 121, 352 A.2d 403, 404 (1976). Thus, the jury had already heard testimony bolstering the victim's version of the attack. Cf. State v. Taylor , 141 ......
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State v. Koski
...of evidence of prior inconsistent statements. Lynch v. Sprague, 95 N.H. 485, 488, 66 A.2d 697, 700 (1949); see State v. Ballentine, 116 N.H. 120, 121, 352 A.2d 403, 404 (1976); Twardosky v. Company, 95 N.H. 279, 284, 62 A.2d 723, 727 The defendant finally argues that her sentence of three m......
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State v. Plummer
...admission of this statement by Mr. Smith constituted harmless error, and we need not discuss this issue further. State v. Ballentine, 116 N.H. 120, 352 A.2d 403 (1976). The second issue raised concerns the admission of statements made by the deceased to a nurse at the hospital where he was ......
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State v. Barker, 7546
...109 N.H. 544, 258 A.2d 349 (1969), is admissible for the limited purposes specified by the trial judge herein. State v. Ballentine, 116 N.H. 120, 352 A.2d 403 (1976); State v. Palumbo, 113 N.H. 329, 306 A.2d 793 (1973); State v. Garceau, 108 N.H. 209, 231 A.2d 625 (1967); see C. McCormick, ......