State v. Beyor
| Decision Date | 05 October 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 108-69,108-69 |
| Citation | 129 Vt. 472,282 A.2d 819 |
| Parties | STATE of Vermont v. James P. BEYOR. |
| Court | Vermont Supreme Court |
Theodore R. Barnett, State's Atty., for the State.
Kissane & Heald, St. Albans, for defendant.
Before HOLDEN, C. J., and SHANGRAW, BARNEY, SMITH and KEYSER, JJ.
The respondent was found guilty of the larceny of a snowmobile. The conviction must be reversed.
During the trial, over the strenuous objections of the defense counsel, the prosecutor was permitted to cross-examine the respondent as to his relations with his wife and children, from whom he was separated, as to his friendship with a woman not his wife, as to his delinquency in support payments, improvidence, his difficulties with finance companies, a pleasure trip to Florida, his petition in bankruptcy and similar matters. The justification advanced for these inquiries is twofold: first, as cross-examination to test credibility, and, second, to establish motive for the alleged theft.
There are issues that, although they may have some relevance, prove too much. Their impact on the jury is such to plainly divert them from the true issue of guilt or innocence of the crime charged. I Wigmore 'Evidence' § 194 (3 ed. 1940). There may be a lack of money which is logically connected with a crime involving financial gain. But its use as evidence would put every impecunious person at the mercy of a charge of larceny. All bankrupts are not thieves, all financially irresponsible debt-ridden persons do not steal and those who are irregular in support payments to their estranged wives may be entirely honest in their dealings with the property of others, even though condemnable for their attitude toward their family. It is the fact that some of this conduct is itself a matter of discredit, apart from the crime charged, that makes it too prejudicial to receive as evidence even though relevant. State v. Mathis, 47 N.J. 455, 221 A.2d 529, 538. The asserted wide range of admissible testimony on the issue of credibility and motive does not encompass inquiries prejudicial to the measure revealed by this transcript.
Nor can the matter be justified on the basis of character evidence introduced as a preliminary matter by the respondent. The examination objected to all occurred prior to the only comment of that kind, which was the very last testimony in the case, from the respondent's mother, who said, as mothers will, 'He has been a very good boy and a hard working boy.'
If this can be said to open up the issue the prosecutor failed to act upon it, since the evidence then closed. He did elaborate in the same themes introduced earlier, in his argument to the jury, and thereby compounded the prejudice. We cannot assume that the jury was uninfluenced by the recital of financial irresponsibility and marital transgressions put before it, and a new trial must be had. See State v. Jost, 127 Vt. 120, 129-130, 241 A.2d 316.
The respondent did claim to be entitled to a directed verdict of acquittal, based on an asserted...
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State v. Angelucci
...and prejudice. Prejudicial effect may overwhelm relevance and render otherwise proper evidence inadmissible. State v. Beyor, 129 Vt. 472, 473, 282 A.2d 819 (1971). However, it must be understood that criminal activity cannot go unprosecuted because elements relevant to its establishment are......
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State v. Mecier
...the defendant took nude pictures of the girl. Defendant claims this evidence was more prejudicial than probative. State v. Beyor, 129 Vt. 472, 473-74, 282 A.2d 819, 820 (1971). This line of inquiry was originally opened by the defendant during the testimony of the defendant's psychiatrist o......
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State v. Blakeney
...against its potential improper prejudicial effect. State v. Davis, 132 Vt. 290, 293, 318 A.2d 664, 665-66 (1974); State v. Beyor, 129 Vt. 472, 473-74, 292 A.2d 819, 820 (1971). This weighing process is committed to the informed discretion of the trial This Court is convinced that there was ......
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State v. VanDusen
...of stolen goods, an explanation "shown to be contrived and false" can be taken as evidence of guilty knowledge. State v. Beyor, 129 Vt. 472, 475, 282 A.2d 819, 821 (1971); see also State v. Ashey, 86 Vt. 479, 481, 86 A. 308, 309 (1913) (jury can reject false explanation, leaving fact of pos......