State v. Vanhouse, C8-01-66.
| Decision Date | 16 October 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. C8-01-66.,C8-01-66. |
| Citation | 634 N.W.2d 715 |
| Parties | STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Michael Daniel VANHOUSE, Appellant. |
| Court | Minnesota Court of Appeals |
Mike Hatch, Minnesota Attorney General, Robert A. Stanich, Assistant Attorney General, St. Paul, and Timothy R. Faver, Bemidji (for respondent).
John M. Stuart, State Public Defender, Mark F. Anderson, Assistant State Public Defender, Minneapolis (for appellant).
Considered and decided by TOUSSAINT, Chief Judge, RANDALL, Judge, and HANSON, Judge.
On appeal from his conviction of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, appellant argues that the district court abused its discretion by ruling that the state could impeach him with his 1984 conviction of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Because the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the conviction, and there is no reasonable possibility that the evidence would have affected the verdict, we affirm.
Appellant Michael Vanhouse regularly provided day care to A.C. and M.C., who were in the fourth and fifth grades, at his trailer in Bemidji. On September 3, 1999, their mother made arrangements for Vanhouse to also care for ten-year old T.L., her niece, and seven-year old K.L., her nephew, who were visiting. After Vanhouse's wife left for work and A.C. and M.C. left for school, T.L. and K.L. were left alone with Vanhouse and his preschool-age daughter and son.
When T.L. and K.L.'s aunt picked them up, T.L. reported that Vanhouse had taken her in his bedroom, performed cunnilingus on her and exposed her to an adult video that was playing on his VCR. During the ensuing police investigation, T.L.'s cousins, A.C. and M.C., also reported that Vanhouse had performed cunnilingus on them during the summer of 1999.
Vanhouse was charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. The charges involving A.C. and M.C. were severed for trial purposes, but in the trial involving T.L., the state was permitted to introduce as Spreigl evidence the testimony of A.C. regarding the conduct of Vanhouse with her and her sister.
Prior to trial, Vanhouse indicated an intent to testify and made a motion in limine to preclude the state from impeaching his testimony by evidence of a 1984 conviction of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. The matter was thoroughly briefed and argued and the district court announced the decision to allow use of the conviction for impeachment purposes.
Vanhouse nevertheless testified in his own defense and denied all charges. Given the district court's pretrial order allowing impeachment by the 1984 conviction, Vanhouse introduced evidence of that conviction in his direct examination. He was simply asked by his counsel whether he was "convicted of criminal sexual conduct in the second-degree in Aitkin County on July 20, 1984." He reported that he was, based upon his plea of guilty. He then explained that this occurred several years ago, while he was abusing drugs, and that he had now been sober for 16 years. None of the facts involved in that conviction were described. Vanhouse was not cross-examined concerning the conviction and the district court later denied the prosecution's request to place a certified copy of the 1984 conviction in evidence.
At trial, T.L. testified to the events of September 3, 1999, and the jury saw her videotaped police interview. K.L. testified that he witnessed Vanhouse taking T.L. into the bedroom. The jury was shown a segment of a pornographic video seized from Vanhouse's bedroom that depicted the scenes that T.L. had described.
After submitting the case to the jury for deliberations, the jury returned with the following questions: (1) what behavior constitutes second-degree criminal sexual conduct? (2) does such an act involve a minor? and (3) what was the nature of Vanhouse's conviction in 1984? The court replied that it could not answer the questions and that the jury could consider only evidence admitted at trial.
The jury convicted Vanhouse of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He appeals.
Did the district court err in ruling that the state could use the 1984 conviction of criminal sexual conduct in the second-degree for impeachment?
The only issue raised by Vanhouse in this appeal is the propriety of permitting impeachment use of the 1984 conviction. We review a district court's ruling on the impeachment of a witness by prior conviction under an abuse of discretion standard. State v. Ihnot, 575 N.W.2d 581, 584 (Minn.1998).
Vanhouse argues his 1984 conviction for second-degree criminal sexual conduct is stale, does not involve dishonesty or false statements and is more prejudicial than probative.
The district court made its decision to admit Vanhouse's prior conviction under the heightened probative value—prejudice standard. Minn. R. Evid. 609(b). Under that standard, a conviction that is more than ten years old is not admissible "unless the court determines, in the interests of justice, that the probative value of the conviction * * * substantially outweighs its prejudicial effect." In determining whether the probative value of admitting the evidence outweighs its prejudicial effect, the district court was required to evaluate five factors:
(1) the impeachment value of the prior crime, (2) the date of the conviction and the defendant's subsequent history, (3) the similarity of the past crime with the charged crime * * *, (4) the importance of defendant's testimony, and (5) the centrality of the credibility issue.
Ihnot, 575 N.W.2d at 586 (quoting State v. Jones, 271 N.W.2d 534, 538 (Minn.1978)).
Our review of the district court's evaluation of the Jones factors is impeded by the district court's failure to enter its analysis on the record. While Minn. R. Evid. 609(b) and relevant comments (concerning convictions that are more than ten years old) are silent regarding whether the failure to enter this analysis on the record is error, the committee comment to Minn. R. Evid. 609(a) () is instructive: "The trial judge should make explicit findings on the record as to the factors considered and the reasons for admitting or excluding the evidence." It follows that the district judge should make similar record findings when admitting a conviction under Rule 609(b), given that the standard for admitting such impeachment evidence is stricter than that under Rule 609(a). We conclude, therefore, that the district court erred by failing to place its Jones-factor analysis on the record.
But when we have applied the harmless-error analysis to cases in which the district court failed to enter the Jones-factor analysis on the record, we have held that the error is harmless if the conviction could have been admitted after a proper application of the Jones-factor analysis. State v. Lund, 474 N.W.2d 169, 172 (Minn. App.1991). This approach is particularly appropriate where, as here, the Jones factors were thoroughly briefed and orally argued before the district court. See e.g. United States v. Holmes, 822 F.2d 802, 805 (8th Cir.1987)
(). Based on consideration of the Jones factors discussed below, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in allowing use of the conviction for impeachment.
Vanhouse argues that criminal sexual conduct is not a crime of dishonesty and therefore his prior conviction has little impeachment value. A crime need not be one of dishonesty, however, to have probative value in allowing the jury to assess a witness's credibility. State v. Brouillette, 286 N.W.2d 702, 707 (Minn.1979) . Moreover, the impeachment of a criminal defendant by his past conviction allows the jury to "see the whole person and thus to judge better the truth of his testimony." Id. (quotation omitted). In fact, the supreme court has specifically ruled that "evidence of past criminal misconduct involving children [a 1984 conviction for third-degree criminal sexual conduct] could have been of assistance to the jury in weighing the credibility of the defendant." See Ihnot, 575 N.W.2d at 586
. Accordingly, we conclude that the district court could properly determine that Vanhouse's previous conviction for second-degree criminal sexual conduct has impeachment value.
Vanhouse argues that the conviction was inadmissible because it was stale. We examine the date of the conviction and the defendant's subsequent history to determine whether the prior offense has lost its relevance over the passage of time. State v. Bettin, 295 N.W.2d 542, 546 (Minn. 1980). In this case, Vanhouse's post-1985 criminal record includes two driving after revocation offenses and a misdemeanor theft. The district court could reasonable conclude that this continuing misconduct somewhat prolongs the probative value of an otherwise stale conviction.
Vanhouse argues that the similarity alone between the two crimes is prejudicial. It is true that a danger exists, in allowing impeachment by prior conviction of a similar offense, that the jury will convict the defendant based on the prior conviction regardless of the weight of the evidence in the pending offense. Despite this danger, Minnesota courts have allowed impeachment by prior conviction of similar crimes. See Ihnot, 575 N.W.2d at 588
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State v. Craig
...and conclude that the prior conviction is admissible. State v. Swanson, 707 N.W.2d 645, 655 (Minn.2006); see also State v. Vanhouse, 634 N.W.2d 715, 719 (Minn.App.2001) (reviewing Jones factors and finding harmless error after district court failed to make a record of its Jones analysis), r......
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...was not exercised here. This is not simply a case of a failure to make a record of the Jones analysis, see, e.g., State v. Vanhouse, 634 N.W.2d 715, 721 (Minn. App. 2001) (affirming when the district court applied the correct standard but failed to make a record of the Jones factors and app......
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State v. Bergren, No. A06-743 (Minn. App. 9/4/2007)
...is harmless "if the conviction could have been admitted after a proper application of the Jones-factor analysis." State v. Vanhouse, 634 N.W.2d 715, 719 (Minn. App. 2001), review denied (Minn. Dec. 11, 2001). "This approach is particularly appropriate where . . . the Jones factors were thor......
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...to the charged offense should not preclude admission. Frank, 364 N.W.2d at 399; Brouillette, 286 N.W.2d at 707; State v. Vanhouse, 634 N.W.2d 715, 720 (Minn. App. 2001), review denied (Minn. Dec. 11, 2001). We hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting evidence o......