Van Ness v. US, 88-145.
Decision Date | 17 January 1990 |
Docket Number | No. 88-145.,88-145. |
Citation | 568 A.2d 1079 |
Parties | Charles L. VAN NESS, a/k/a Charles Jackson, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES, Appellee. |
Court | D.C. Court of Appeals |
Rosemary Herbert, with whom James Klein, Public Defender Service, was on the brief, for appellant.
Per A. Ramfjord, Asst. U.S. Atty., with whom Jay B. Stephens, U.S. Atty., Michael W. Farrell, Asst. U.S. Atty. at the time the brief was filed, and Ellen Bass, Asst. U.S. Atty., were on the brief, for appellee.
Before NEWMAN and SCHWELB, Associate Judges, and GALLAGHER, Senior Judge.
After a jury trial, appellant was convicted for distribution of cocaine in violation of D.C.Code § 33-541(a)(1) (1989 Repl.). He contends that the trial court committed reversible error in (1) denying defense counsel the opportunity to cross-examine a government witness regarding his bias, and (2) refusing to order a mistrial or give a requested instruction to mitigate the impact of prosecutorial misconduct. We affirm.
Appellant first contends that the trial court's restriction of cross-examination resulted in reversible error. He argues that all inquiry was foreclosed "on the crucial subject of bias."1
The segment of the cross-examination at issue, is as follows:
(Emphasis added.)
It is apparent from the foregoing excerpts that the cross-examiner asked and received answers to his questions concerning Operation Clean Sweep, e.g., that the mission of Operation Clean Sweep was "to stop the drug sales in the Washington, D.C. area"; and that part of the officer's "mission" was to make drug arrests. In answer to the question whether part of his mission "was to make as many drug arrests as you could," the officer replied, "I don't know." When asked if he knew "whether statistics were being kept about the results of Operation Clean Sweep, he replied he did not know. Further exploration along this line was terminated by the court.
The cross-examiner then by several questions explored with the officer whether in his "capacity as an undercover officer when you're trying to make illegal drug buys, one of your purposes is to deceive the individuals you are speaking with, isn't that correct?" The officer replied "no, not necessarily." But, he then agreed that he did not tell them he is a police officer; and did not tell them he is giving them marked money. At this point, the cross-examiner asked "so you try to deceive them, don't you?" The officer agreed.
The court then terminated the meaningless cross-examination on this particular point, as it should have.
As is seen, appellant availed himself of an opportunity to cross-examine to some degree on his "bias issue." While the trial court might have permitted a limited further examination on the subject, we surely do not perceive prejudicial error. As a matter of fact, the cross-examination on the ethical aspect of undercover investigation, which was a portion of the restricted cross-examination, did not deserve to be taken seriously.
The cross-examination of the officer, including colloquies, consumed eighty-five pages of transcript, which is a considerable cross-examination of an officer on a street-sale-of-drugs charge.
On this record, we conclude the restriction of cross-examination did not result in reversible error. Singletary v. United States, 383 A.2d 1064,...
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