State v. Jackson

683 P.2d 120, 68 Or. App. 506
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJune 29, 1984
Docket82-1997-C-1; CA A27928
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 683 P.2d 120 (State v. Jackson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Jackson, 683 P.2d 120, 68 Or. App. 506 (Or. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

BUTTLER, P. J.

Defendant appeals his convictions for murder, felony murder, kidnapping in the first degree and criminal conspiracy. He assigns four errors, two of which were not raised below and will not be discussed. Another one was also not raised below but is apparent on the face of the record and will be considered. The fourth requires some discussion to determine whether the error was properly preserved; because we conclude that it was not, we affirm the convictions, but modify the sentence.

This case is the third one to reach this court involving the kidnapping and killing of Andrew Norwest, for which Archie Snider, Kenneth Foster, Terry Walker and defendant were charged. Snider and Foster were convicted in earlier trials, but their convictions were reversed by the Supreme Court. State v. Snider, 296 Or 168, 674 P2d 585 (1983); State v. Foster, 296 Or 174, 674 P2d 587 (1983). Walker entered into a plea agreement with the state that required him to testify in the trials of his three codefendants. It also required that he take a polygraph examination as to the truthfulness of his statements to the police and as to his testimony at trial. If the polygraph results demonstrated that he had been truthful, he would be allowed to plead guilty to the lesser-included offense of manslaughter in the first degree.

In Snider’s trial, after Walker had testified on direct examination, he was cross-examined about his plea agreement for the purpose of impeaching him. On redirect examination, the state introduced the written plea agreement in its entirety, to which defense counsel objected. The objection was overruled, and the agreement was admitted. We reversed the conviction, 62 Or App 658, 661 P2d 124 (1983), and the Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court’s ruling was both erroneous and prejudicial.

In Foster’s trial, the plea agreement was not admitted in evidence; rather, defense counsel sought a pretrial ruling that would permit him to cross-examine Walker about his agreement without permitting the state, on redirect examination, to put in evidence the entire plea agreement, including the polygraph provisions. The trial court had stated that, although the polygraph provisions were not admissible as such, if the defendant cross-examined Walker about the plea [509]*509agreement the state would be permitted to put in the total agreement, including evidence of what the lie detector results were. In the light of that ruling, defense counsel did not cross-examine Walker about the plea agreement. He did, however, raise the question again at a recess after he had finished cross-examination of Walker, and the trial court adhered to its preliminary ruling.

On appeal, he assigned error to the trial court’s rulings, under which he claimed that he was denied the opportunity to attempt to impeach Walker by virtue of his plea agreement. We affirmed the conviction, 62 Or App 298, 660 P2d 200 (1983), holding that the defendant was required to ask whatever questions he wished to ask on cross-examination, and if the polygraph condition of the plea agreement was admitted on redirect examination over the defendant’s objection, the claimed error would be properly before us. Because that was not done, we held that there was no error requiring reversal.

The Supreme Court reversed. Although the court agreed with us that the pretrial indication by the trial judge was tentative and did not amount to a ruling on which the defendant could claim error on appeal, it held that defense counsel’s renewal of the issue during the trial was sufficient. After counsel’s cross-examination of Walker, he had asked the court to reconsider its “ruling” so that counsel could cross-examine Walker about his plea agreement without letting in the “lie detector test.” The court responded that counsel was asking it to make a premature determination, at which point counsel made a brief offer of proof indicating what he would ask Walker and that the state would offer the plea agreement on redirect. He then inquired again whether the court would admit the agreement. The court responded that it would, and counsel stated he would then move for a mistrial. The plea agreement was offered as an exhibit as part of the offer of proof. The Supreme Court held that defense counsel had made an appropriate offer of proof of the agreement for the record, and that the trial court’s ruling at that point was definite and that defense counsel was required to do no more.

This case is a third variant of the theme. The following took place during a pretrial conference and is the sole basis for defendant’s first assignment of error:

[510]*510“[PROSECUTOR]: First of all the next witness will be Terry Walker. He is a Co-Defendant that I advised the Jury would be testifying. He has entered into an agreement with the State. * * *
<<* * * * *
“[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Your Honor, the first case among these three the Defense Counsel objected or tried to impeach the credibility of the witness, Walker, by attacking, by bringing up the fact that he had made an agreement with the State for immunity. Part of that immunity I agree consists of an agreement to take a polygraph test and be truthful in the polygraph test. I would like to object on the grounds of the Prosecutor’s misconduct. They incorporated into an immunity the polygraph situation which makes it impossible for us to bring up or attack the credibility of the witness based on his bias because incorporated in the agreement is the polygraph, obviously the polygraph examination would not be admissible under ordinary circumstances, and what the State is trying to do is bolster their witness by providing the Jury with the fact that he took and passed a polygraph examination because it was incorporated in the agreement. For that reason we would object that the Prosecutor engaged in misconduct by attacking the credibility of the witness by incorporating that polygraph examination.
“THE COURT: I simply don’t want the Jury to hear about the polygraph.
“[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: I think it is a two part agreement, one that he take the polygraph, one of the other terms of the immunity is that we at least have the ability to show this was a normal case, the witness was given immunity and may possibly be biased in his testimony.
“THE COURT: My question, however, is your purpose that you wish to avoid the Jurors hearing about the polygraph examination.
“[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: The purpose is it would — its prejudice would outweigh the probative value, I guess the layman would not be aware of the problem with the polygraph, we had no control over who the operator was, what the questions were that were asked, and all they hear is that a lie detector test was given and apparently anything I asked him in cross-examination or any areas that could be potential lies will probably be dismissed by the Jury because he passed the polygraph, therefore he must be telling the truth.
“THE COURT: Okay, Mr. [Prosecutor].
[511]*511“[PROSECUTOR]: Okay.

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Bluebook (online)
683 P.2d 120, 68 Or. App. 506, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jackson-orctapp-1984.