Jackson v. State

645 So. 2d 921, 1994 WL 646460
Mississippi Supreme Court·Decided November 10, 1994·No. 92-KA-00557·Published·Cited by 53 cases

Opinion

645 So.2d 921 (1994)

Duan Lewis JACKSON
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 92-KA-00557.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

November 10, 1994.

*922 James H. Powell, III, Durant, for appellant.

Michael C. Moore, Atty. Gen., W. Glenn Watts, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

Before PRATHER, P.J., and SULLIVAN and JAMES L. ROBERTS, Jr., JJ.

JAMES L. ROBERTS, Jr., Justice, for the Court:

INTRODUCTION

Duan Lewis Jackson was convicted in the Holmes County Circuit Court of selling cocaine and sentenced to thirty years imprisonment. At trial, Jackson presented an alibi defense, offering a number of witnesses who testified that he had been with them at a party during the time he had allegedly sold the cocaine. Jackson appealed, assigning the following errors:

I. THE TRIAL COURT DENIED JACKSON A FAIR TRIAL BY ALLOWING THE STATE TO ELICIT IMPROPER IMPEACHMENT TESTIMONY CONCERNING CRIMES ALLEGEDLY COMMITTED BY DEFENSE WITNESS DEANDRE JOHNSON, ON AUGUST 19, 1991.
II. THE TRIAL JUDGE ERRONEOUSLY FAILED TO GRANT INSTRUCTION D-1, WHICH FULLY INSTRUCTED THE JURY ON THE DEFENSE OF ALIBI, AND THE COURT'S FAILURE TO GRANT SAID INSTRUCTION AS OFFERED, DENIED JACKSON THE RIGHT TO HAVE A JURY WHICH HAD BEEN FULLY INSTRUCTED AS TO THE LAW, CONSIDER HIS CASE.

Finding that Jackson was denied a fair trial, we reverse and remand for a new trial.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Duan Lewis Jackson was indicted on March 30, 1992, for selling cocaine in violation of Miss. Code Ann. (1972) § 41-29-139 (1972, as amended). On May 4, 1992, Jackson was convicted in the Holmes County Circuit Court and sentenced to thirty years imprisonment.

The crime for which Jackson was charged occurred on the evening of August 19, 1991. At trial, Jackson presented an alibi defense, offering a number of witnesses who testified that he had been with them at a party during the time he had allegedly sold the cocaine. One of these witnesses was DeAndre Johnson, who testified that he was with Jackson at the party on the evening Jackson allegedly made the cocaine sale and that Jackson never left the party during that evening. In rebuttal, the State recalled a police officer who testified that undercover agents had made four drug purchases from Johnson on August 19, 1991, the same evening Johnson claimed he was with Jackson at the party. The judge overruled Jackson's objection to this testimony.

A portion of an alibi instruction offered by Jackson was struck by the judge over Jackson's objection. Jackson requested the following jury instruction:

Alibi means elsewhere or in another place. In this case, the defendant is asserting the defense of alibi by saying that he could not have been selling any controlled substances at the date, time, location and to the person alleged in the indictment, because at such date and time he was attending a party at Hartwood Apartments and was never at the location alleged in the indictment.
Alibi is a legal and proper defense in law. The defendant is not required to establish the truth of the alibi to your satisfaction, but if the evidence or lack of evidence in the case raises in the minds of the jury a reasonable doubt as to whether the defendant was present and committed to the *923 crime, then you must give him the benefit of the doubt and acquit him.

The judge stated that the second part of this instruction was not the law. Jackson's lawyer asserted that it was, and that the instruction had been taken from a "form instruction." The prosecutor suggested omitting part of the second sentence of the second paragraph. The judge agreed to this, and the instruction was granted, deleting the following: "The defendant is not required to establish the truth of the alibi to your satisfaction." The amended version was granted over Jackson's objection.

DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

I. THE TRIAL COURT DENIED JACKSON A FAIR TRIAL BY ALLOWING THE STATE TO ELICIT IMPROPER IMPEACHMENT TESTIMONY CONCERNING CRIMES ALLEGEDLY COMMITTED BY DEFENSE WITNESS DEANDRE JOHNSON, ON AUGUST 19, 1991.

Jackson argues that the trial judge erred in allowing the State to impeach the alibi testimony of defense witness DeAndre Johnson, through an officer's rebuttal testimony that agents had made four drug purchases from Johnson the evening of August 19, 1991. Jackson contends that such impeachment is impermissible under M.R.E. 608. Jackson asserts that the State may not call a witness to testify concerning specific instances of alleged criminal conduct on the part of another witness for impeachment purposes.

Mississippi Rule of Evidence 608 provides in part:

(b) Specific Instances of Conduct. Specific instances of the conduct of a witness, for the purpose of attacking or supporting his credibility, other than conviction of crime as provided in rule 609, may not be proved by extrinsic evidence. They may, however, in the discretion of the court, if probative of truthfulness or untruthfulness, be inquired into on cross-examination of the witness (1) concerning his character for truthfulness or untruthfulness, or (2) concerning the character for truthfulness or untruthfulness of another witness as to which character the witness being cross-examined has testified.

This Court has held that "(s)pecific instances of conduct under our Rules of Evidence may not be proved by extrinsic evidence for impeachment purposes; they may only be inquired about on cross-examination." Lewis v. State, 580 So.2d 1279, 1287 (Miss. 1991) (emphasis added). See also Pinson v. State, 518 So.2d 1220, 1223 (Miss. 1988). In Pinson v. State, the defense offered testimony in a rape trial to impeach the victim's husband. The husband had testified that because of the rape, he was living apart from his wife, and was not living with any other woman. The defense offered testimony that the husband was living with another woman. This Court held that such evidence was not admissible, stating:

Specific instances of conduct under our Rules of Evidence may not be proved by extrinsic evidence for impeachment purposes; they may only be inquired about on cross-examination. (The husband) denied seeing any woman other than his wife when he was questioned about it on cross-examination. The defense may go no further.

Pinson v. State 518 So.2d at 1223.[1]

In the case at bar, the State attempted to impeach a defense witness with extrinsic evidence of specific instances of that witness' conduct, i.e., with testimony by a police officer that Johnson sold drugs to undercover agents the same night as Jackson allegedly committed the crime for which he was being tried. Such attempts at impeachment are *924 clearly forbidden by Rule 608(b). That rule does provide for limited exploration of a witness' conduct, but on cross-examination, not on direct examination or by rebuttal testimony of a third party.

This Court has not yet addressed the question of whether the introduction of extrinsic evidence in violation of Rule 608(b) constitutes reversible error. There is authority that such violation is reversible error. See U.S. v. Reed, 715 F.2d 870 (5th Cir.1983) (introduction of extrinsic evidence to prove misconduct which did not result in a conviction was held reversible

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Jackson v. State, 645 So. 2d 921, 1994 WL 646460 (Mich. 1994).

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