Commonwealth v. Kouma, 53 A.3d 760

Appellant Bakary Kouma was convicted by jury of possession with intent to deliver, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The defense sought to present reputation evidence of Kouma as law-abiding; the Commonwealth sought to cross-examine any character witnesses about Kouma’s immigration status as an illegal alien.
The trial court ruled that if Kouma offered character witnesses, the Commonwealth could question their knowledge of Kouma’s immigration status.
Evidence at trial included covert surveillance leading to stop of Kouma’s red Honda, drugs and paraphernalia found, and Kouma’s identified names and addresses linking him to the vehicle and location.
A single defense witness testified to Kouma’s alibi, but Kouma elected not to testify on his own behalf.
The court later held that cross-examination about immigration status was permissible and the error, if any, was harmless given overwhelming evidence of guilt.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
May the Commonwealth cross-examine reputation witnesses about immigration status?	Kouma	Kouma	Yes; permissible to test knowledge of immigration status under Rule 404/405/403
Is any error on cross-examination harmless given the evidence?	Kouma	Kouma	Harmless; overwhelming evidence supports guilt

Commonwealth v. Fletcher, 580 Pa. 403 (Pa. 2004) (reputation evidence; cross-examination to test the trait)
Commonwealth v. Hoover, 16 A.3d 1148 (Pa. Super. 2011) (cross-examination of character witnesses permitted)
Commonwealth v. Molina, 897 A.2d 1190 (Pa. Super. 2006) (immigration status evidence linked to credibility in chain of events)
Commonwealth v. Sanchez, 407 Pa. Super. 234 (Pa. Super. 1991) (immigration status evidence and prejudice considerations)
Commonwealth v. Page, 965 A.2d 1212 (Pa. Super. 2009) (harmless error standard; prejudice must be substantial to overturn)