PHILLIPS v. THE STATE
41540
Supreme Court of Georgia
April 30, 1985
May 21, 1985
254 Ga. 370 | 329 SE2d 475
HILL, Chief Justice
“You are made by law the sole and exclusive judges of the credibility or reliability of the witnesses, and it is for you to determine what witness or witnesses you will believe, and those which you will not believe, if there are some you do not believe.
“In passing upon their credibility, you may consider all the facts and circumstances of the case, the witnesses’ manner of testifying, their intelligence, their interest or lack of interest, their means and opportunity for knowing the facts to which they testify, the nature of the facts to which they testify, the probability or improbability of their testimony, and of the occurrences to which they testify; and, you may also consider their personal credibility insofar as it may legitimately appear from the trial of this case.” (Emphasis supplied.) Suggested Pattern Jury Instructions, Vol. 2, Criminal Cases, by Council of Superior Court Judges, p. 11.
DECIDED MAY 22, 1985.
Harry D. Dixon, Jr., District Attorney, Richard E. Currie, Assistant District Attorney, for appellant.
Jones & Solomon, M. Theodore Solomon, William J. Edgar, for appellee.
(329 SE2d 475)
HILL, Chief Justice.
We granted certiorari in Phillips v. State, 171 Ga. App. 827 (321 SE2d 393) (1984), to determine whether a defendant in a criminal case who introduces evidence tending to show his bad character has “put his character in issue” within the meaning of
Jimmy Lee Phillips was indicted for and convicted of a robbery by intimidation which occurred in Dougherty County, Georgia, on May 17, 1982. His defense was that he was at his aunt‘s home in Deerfield, Florida, from May 6 until June 1, 1982. On direct examination, his attorney asked him, “[W]hy did you go down there?” He responded, “Well, I was on parole and I had violated my parole and
On cross-examination, the district attorney asked, “What are you on parole for?” When the defendant‘s attorney objected that the defendant had not placed his character in issue, the court overruled the objection, noting that the defendant had placed his character in issue when he testified that he went to Florida because he had violated his parole. The district attorney subsequently introduced into evidence a 1975 conviction for armed robbery.
On appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed in an en banc opinion. Phillips v. State, supra. The majority opinion held that the defendant had put his character in issue within the meaning of
The majority of jurisdictions treat the defendant‘s election to testify as a decision to put his character in issue. 81 AmJur2d 587, Witnesses, § 582, see also § 569 (1970). For example, the Federal Rules of Evidence allow impeachment of a witness, including the accused, by evidence of conviction of crime, albeit with certain exceptions.
The issue is whether a defendant who testifies that he previously has committed a single criminal violation may be cross-examined (1) as to it and other criminal convictions, or (2) only as to that particular violation, or (3) not at all regarding the admitted violation.
May a defendant testify that although he was present at the
May a defendant admit to having been a juvenile offender during his youth, and deprive the prosecutor of proving he had a record of convictions as an adult? Or, may a defendant admit to having committed the offense of shoplifting (thereby implying that this was his only offense) and deprive the prosecutor of proving that, in addition to the one shoplifting offense, the defendant had been convicted of several burglaries? We conclude that he may not.
We therefore hold that where a defendant admits any prior criminal conduct less than all his criminal offenses, he has put his character in issue within the meaning of
To the extent that O‘Neal v. State, 239 Ga. 532 (238 SE2d 73) (1977), is narrower than this decision, this decision controls.
The majority opinion of the Court of Appeals is therefore affirmed.
Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur, except Smith, Gregory and Bell, JJ., who concur specially.
SMITH, Justice, concurring specially.1
“Does it have to be said that the half-baked notion that the defendant has ‘opened the door’ cannot by itself explain or justify the prosecutor‘s right to submit evidence of bad character because the defendant has done so?” Wigmore on Evidence, § 58 at 1210 (Tillers Revision, 1983). Obviously it has to be said in this state, as the majority has concluded that a defendant who introduces evidence of less than all of his prior criminal acts puts his character in issue “by attempting to portray his character, albeit bad, as being better than it really is.”
A defendant‘s prior acts bear no direct relationship to the question of whether that defendant committed a subsequent crime. In order to relate prior acts to subsequent conduct, a party must draw from the acts a preliminary conclusion as to, for example, the defendant‘s motive, intent, or state of mind. A jury may then follow that
A defendant may attempt to bridge the gap between his prior acts and his innocence through the use of character evidence. He may want the jury to conclude from the use of third-party reputation evidence, for example, that: a) This defendant has a good reputation; b) Therefore, this defendant has a good character, and; c) No one with such a good character would have committed this crime. In holding that the defendant in this case has put his character in issue, the majority totally ignores the second step in this process.
Though the defendant‘s testimony was exculpatory, the connection he drew between his prior acts and his innocence did not rest upon his character. The connection rested upon the assumption that if he was not present at the crime scene, he could not have committed the crime. The testimony actually reflected badly upon his character.
Under the majority‘s logic, however, a defendant, through introduction of only a few of his prior criminal convictions, attempts to convince the jury that: a) This defendant‘s character is worse than we thought it was before he told us about that crime, but; b) His character, “albeit bad,” could be even worse, so; c) We conclude from our view of his character that this defendant did not commit this crime. The problem with the majority‘s alchemic discovery of a character issue is that evidence of a defendant‘s previous crimes does not generally establish a character that is inconsistent with criminal conduct.2 The connection between the defendant‘s testimony and his innocence is irrelevant to his character, and the testimony raises no dispute or question as to his character.
Black‘s Law Dictionary defines an issue, for the purpose of practice and pleading, as “a disputed point or question upon which [the parties] are desirous of obtaining either decision of court on question of law or of court or jury on question of fact.”3 Most “issues” in a criminal case, such as intent, differ from the character issue in that the state must obtain a decision of the jury on those issues as a prerequisite for conviction. The elements of a crime must be established regardless of the defendant‘s actions at trial.
Under
As the state may introduce evidence that reflects badly upon a defendant‘s character for limited purposes, a defendant should be allowed to introduce evidence that reflects badly upon his character for the limited purpose of showing his absence from the crime scene, even where the character evidence is not necessary to his goal. Such a rule would reflect the lack of a dispute as to the character issue and would follow the policy underlying the legislature‘s creation of
I am authorized to state that Justice Bell joins in this special concurrence.
GREGORY, Justice, concurring specially.
I concur in the judgment and write to point out that my views are expressed in the concurring opinion of Judge Benham in Phillips v. State, 171 Ga. App. 827, 829 (321 SE2d 393) (1984).
DECIDED APRIL 30, 1985 —
REHEARING DENIED MAY 21, 1985.
Gardner, Willis & Sweat, James H. Moore III, for appellant.