After respondent and another man (McLeroth) arrived at the Miami
Airport on a flight from Peru, a customs officer searched McLeroth
and found cocaine sewed into makeshift pockets in a T-shirt he was
wearing. When McLeroth implicated respondent, respondent was
arrested and his luggage was searched without a warrant. A T-shirt
from which pieces had been cut that matched the pieces sewn to
McLeroth's T-shirt was found in the luggage and seized. The seized
T-shirt was suppressed prior to respondent's trial on federal drug
charges. At the trial, McLeroth, who had pleaded guilty, testified
against respondent, asserting that respondent had supplied him with
the altered T-shirt and had sewed the makeshift pockets shut.
Respondent, taking the stand in his own defense, acknowledged, in
his direct testimony, McLeroth's prior testimony that the cocaine
was "taped or draped around his body," but denied that he had "ever
engage[d] in that kind of activity" with McLeroth. On
cross-examination, the Government called attention to these answers
and then asked whether respondent had anything to do with sewing
the makeshift pockets on McLeroth's T-shirt. Respondent denied that
he had. And when the Government asked him whether he had a T-shirt
with pieces missing in his luggage and whether the seized T-shirt
was in his luggage, respondent replied to both questions: "Not to
my knowledge." After rebuttal testimony for the Government, the
seized T-shirt was admitted into evidence over objection, the jury
being instructed that the rebuttal evidence was to be considered
only for impeaching respondent's credibility. Respondent's
conviction was reversed by the Court of Appeals, which held that
illegally seized evidence may be used for impeachment only if the
evidence contradicts a particular statement made by a defendant in
the course of his direct examination.
Held: A defendant's statements made in response to
proper cross-examination reasonably suggested by the defendant's
direct examination are subject to otherwise proper impeachment by
the Government, albeit by evidence that has been illegally obtained
and is inadmissible as substantive evidence of guilt.
Cf.
Harris v. New York, 401 U. S. 222;
Oregon v. Hass, 420 U. S. 714.
Here, respondent's testimony on direct examination could easily be
understood as a denial of any connection with
Page 446 U. S. 621
McLeroth's T-shirt and as a contradiction of McLeroth's
testimony, and the Government on cross-examination reasonably
called attention to respondent's answers on direct and then asked
whether he had anything to do with sewing the pockets on McLeroth's
T-shirt. This was cross-examination growing out of respondent's
direct testimony, and the ensuing impeachment did not violate his
constitutional rights. Pp.
446 U. S. 624-628.
592 F.2d 848, reversed and remanded.
WHITE, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER,
C.J., and BLACKMUN, POWELL, and REHNQUIST, JJ., joined. BRENNAN,
J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which MARSHALL, J., joined, and
in Part I of which STEWART and STEVENS, JJ., joined,
post,
p.
446 U. S.
629.
MR. JUSTICE WHITE delivered the opinion of the Court.
The petition for certiorari filed by the United States in this
criminal case presented a single question: whether evidence
suppressed as the fruit of an unlawful search and seizure may
nevertheless be used to impeach a defendant's false trial
testimony, given in response to proper cross-examination, where the
evidence does not squarely contradict the defendant's testimony on
direct examination. We issued the writ, 444 U.S. 962 (1979).
I
Respondent was convicted of importing, conspiring to import, and
intentionally possessing a controlled substance, cocaine. According
to the evidence at his trial, Havens and John McLeroth, both
attorneys from Ft. Wayne, Ind., boarded a flight from Lima, Peru,
to Miami, Fla. In Miami, a customs officer searched McLeroth and
found cocaine sewed into makeshift pockets in a T-shirt he was
wearing under his outer
Page 446 U. S. 622
clothing. McLeroth implicated respondent, who had previously
cleared customs and who was then arrested. His luggage was seized
and searched without a warrant. The officers found no drugs, but
seized a T-shirt from which pieces had been cut that matched the
pieces that had been sewn to McLeroth's T-shirt. The T-shirt and
other evidence seized in the course of the search were suppressed
on motion prior to trial.
Both men were charged in a three-count indictment, but McLeroth
pleaded guilty to one count and testified against Havens. Among
other things, he asserted that Havens had supplied him with the
altered T-shirt and had sewed the makeshift pockets shut. Havens
took the stand in his own defense and denied involvement in
smuggling cocaine. His direct testimony included the following:
"Q. And you heard Mr. McLeroth testify earlier as to something
to the effect that this material was taped or draped around his
body and so on, you heard that testimony?"
"A. Yes, I did."
"Q. Did you ever engage in that kind of activity with Mr.
McLeroth and Augusto or Mr. McLeroth and anyone else on that fourth
visit to Lima, Peru?"
"A. I did not."
App. 34. On cross-examination, Havens testified as follows:
"Q. Now, on direct examination, sir, you testified that, on the
fourth trip, you had absolutely nothing to do with the wrapping of
any bandages or tee shirts or anything involving Mr. McLeroth; is
that correct?"
"A. I don't -- I said I had nothing to do with any wrapping or
bandages or anything, yes. I had nothing to do with anything with
McLeroth in connection with this cocaine matter."
"
* * * *"
"Q. And your testimony is that you had nothing to
Page 446 U. S. 623
do with the sewing of the cotton swatches to make pockets on
that tee shirt?"
"A. Absolutely not."
"Q. Sir, when you came through Customs, the Miami International
Airport, on October 2, 1977, did you have in your suitcase Size
38-40 medium tee shirts?"
Id. at 35. An objection to the latter question was
overruled, and questioning continued:
"Q. On that day, sir, did you have in your luggage a Size 38-40
medium man's tee shirt with swatches of clothing missing from the
tail of that tee shirt?"
"A. Not to my knowledge."
"Q. Mr. Havens, I'm going to hand you what is Government's
Exhibit 9 for identification and ask you if this tee shirt was in
your luggage on October 2nd, 1975 [
sic]?"
"A. Not to my knowledge. No."
Id. at 46. Respondent Havens also denied having told a
Government agent that the T-shirts found in his luggage belonged to
McLeroth.
On rebuttal, a Government agent testified that Exhibit 9 had
been found in respondent's suitcase and that Havens claimed the
T-shirts found in his bag, including Exhibit 9, belonged to
McLeroth. Over objection, the T-shirt was then admitted into
evidence, the jury being instructed that the rebuttal evidence
should be considered only for impeaching Havens' credibility.
The Court of Appeals reversed, relying on
Agnello v. United
States, 269 U. S. 20
(1925), and
Walder v. United States, 347 U. S.
62 (1954). The court held that illegally seized evidence
may be used for impeachment only if the evidence contradicts a
particular statement made by a defendant in the course of his
direct examination. 592 F.2d 848 (CA5 1979). We reverse.
Page 446 U. S. 624
II
In
Agnello v. United States, supra, a defendant charged
with conspiracy to sell a package. of cocaine testified on direct
examination that he had possessed the packages involved, but did
not know what was in them. On cross-examination, he denied ever
having seen narcotics and ever having seen a can of cocaine which
was exhibited to him and which had been illegally seized from his
apartment. The can of cocaine was permitted into evidence on
rebuttal. Agnello was convicted, and his conviction was affirmed by
the Court of Appeals. This Court reversed, holding that the Fourth
Amendment required exclusion of the evidence. The Court pointed out
that, "[i]n his direct examination, Agnello was not asked and did
not testify concerning the can of cocaine," and
"did nothing to waive his constitutional protection or to
justify cross-examination in respect of the evidence claimed to
have been obtained by the search."
269 U.S. at
269 U. S. 35.
The Court also said, quoting from
Silverthorne Lumber Co. v.
United States, 251 U. S. 385,
251 U. S. 392
(1920), that the exclusionary rule not only commands that illegally
seized evidence "shall not be used before the Court, but that it
shall not be used at all." 269 U.S. at
269 U. S.
35.
The latter statement has been rejected in our later cases,
however, and
Agnello otherwise limited. In
Walder v.
United States, supra, the use of evidence obtained in an
illegal search and inadmissible in the Government's case in chief
was admitted to impeach the direct testimony of the defendant. This
Court approved, saying that it would pervert the rule of
Weeks
v. United States, 232 U. S. 383
(1914) to hold otherwise. Similarly, in
Harris v. New
York, 401 U. S. 222
(1971), and
Oregon v. Hass, 420 U.
S. 714 (1975), statements taken in violation of
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U. S. 436
(1966), and unusable by the prosecution as part of its own case,
were held admissible to impeach statements made by the defendant in
the course of his direct testimony.
Harris
Page 446 U. S. 625
also made clear that the permitted impeachment by otherwise
inadmissible evidence is not limited to collateral matters. 401
U.S. at
401 U. S.
225.
These cases were understood by the Court of Appeals to hold that
tainted evidence, inadmissible when offered as part of the
Government's main case, may not be used as rebuttal evidence to
impeach a defendant's credibility unless the evidence is offered to
contradict a particular statement made by a defendant during his
direct examination; a statement made for the first time on
cross-examination may not be so impeached. This approach required
the exclusion of the T-shirt taken from Havens' luggage because, as
the Court of Appeals read the record, Havens was asked nothing on
his direct testimony about the incriminating T-shirt or about the
contents of his luggage; the testimony about the T-shirt, which the
Government desired to impeach first appeared on cross-examination,
not on direct.
It is true that
Agnello involved the impeachment of
testimony first brought out on cross-examination, and that, in
Walder, Harris, and
Hass, the testimony impeached
was given by the defendant while testifying on direct examination.
In our view, however, a flat rule permitting only statements on
direct examination to be impeached misapprehends the underlying
rationale of
Walder, Harris, and
Hass. These
cases repudiated the statement in
Agnello that no use at
all may be made of illegally obtained evidence. Furthermore, in
Walder, the Court said that, in
Agnello, the
Government had "smuggled in" the impeaching opportunity in the
course of cross-examination. The Court also relied on the statement
in
Agnello, supra at
269 U. S. 35,
that Agnello had done nothing "to justify cross-examination in
respect of the evidence claimed to have been obtained by the
search." The implication of
Walder is that
Agnello was a case of cross-examination's having too
tenuous a connection with any subject opened upon direct
examination to permit impeachment by tainted evidence.
Page 446 U. S. 626
In reversing.the District Court in the case before us, the Court
of Appeals did not stop to consider how closely the
cross-examination about the T-shirt and the luggage was connected
with matters gone into in direct examination. If these questions
would have been suggested to a reasonably competent cross-examiner
by Havens' direct testimony, they were not "smuggled in"; and
forbidding the Government to impeach the answers to these questions
by using contrary and reliable evidence in its possession fails to
take account of our cases, particularly
Harris and
Hass. In both cases, the Court stressed the importance of
arriving at the truth in criminal trials, as well as the
defendant's obligation to speak the truth in response to proper
questions. We rejected the notion that the defendant's
constitutional shield against having illegally seized evidence used
against him could be "perverted into a license to use perjury by
way of a defense, free from the risk of confrontation with prior
inconsistent utterances." 401 U.S. at
401 U. S. 226.
See also Oregon v. Hass, supra at
420 U. S. 722,
420 U. S. 723.
Both cases also held that the deterrent function of the rules
excluding unconstitutionally obtained evidence is sufficiently
served by denying its use to the government on its direct case. It
was only a "speculative possibility" that also making it
unavailable to the government for otherwise proper impeachment
would contribute substantially in this respect.
Harris v. New
York, supra at
401 U. S. 225.
Oregon v. Hass, supra at
420 U. S.
723.
Neither
Harris nor
Hass involved the
impeachment of assertedly false testimony first given on
cross-examination, but the reasoning of those cases controls this
one. There is no gainsaying that arriving at the truth is a
fundamental goal of our legal system.
Oregon v. Hass,
supra at
420 U. S. 722.
We have repeatedly insisted that, when defendants testify, they
must testify truthfully or suffer the consequences. This is true
even though a defendant is compelled to testify against his will.
Bryson v. United States, 396 U. S. 64,
396 U. S. 72
(1969);
United States v. Knox, 396 U. S.
77 (1969). It is essential,
Page 446 U. S. 627
therefore; to the proper functioning of the adversary system
that, when a defendant takes the stand, the government be permitted
proper and effective cross-examination in an attempt to elicit the
truth. The defendant's obligation to testify truthfully is fully
binding on him when he is cross-examined. His privilege against
self-incrimination does not shield him from proper questioning.
Brown v. United States, 356 U. S. 148,
356 U. S.
154-155 (1958). He would unquestionably be subject to a
perjury prosecution if he knowingly lies on cross-examination.
Cf. United States v. Apfelbaum, 445 U.
S. 115 (1980);
Bryson v. United States, supra;
United States v. Knox, supra; United States v. Wong,
431 U. S. 174
(1977). In terms of impeaching a defendant's seemingly false
statements with his prior inconsistent utterances or with other
reliable evidence available to the government, we see no difference
of constitutional magnitude between the defendant's statements on
direct examination and his answers to questions put to him on
cross-examination that are plainly within the scope of the
defendant's direct examination. Without this opportunity, the
normal function of cross-examination would be severely impeded.
We also think that the policies of the exclusionary rule no more
bar impeachment here than they did in
Walder, Harris, and
Hass. In those cases, the ends of the exclusionary rules
were thought adequately implemented by denying the government the
use of the challenged evidence to make out its case in chief. The
incremental furthering of those ends by forbidding impeachment of
the defendant who testifies was deemed insufficient to permit or
require that false testimony go unchallenged, with the resulting
impairment of the integrity of the factfinding goals of the
criminal trial. We reaffirm this assessment of the competing
interests, and hold that a defendant's statements made in response
to proper cross-examination reasonably suggested by the defendant's
direct examination are subject to otherwise proper impeachment
Page 446 U. S. 628
by the government, albeit by evidence that has been illegally
obtained and that is inadmissible on the government's direct case,
or otherwise, as substantive evidence of guilt.
In arriving at its judgment, the Court of Appeals noted that, in
response to defense counsel's objection to the impeaching evidence
on the ground that the matter had not been "covered on direct," the
trial court had remarked that "[i]t does not have to be covered on
direct." The Court of Appeals thought this was error, since, in its
view, illegally seized evidence could be used only to impeach a
statement made on direct examination. As we have indicated, we hold
a contrary view; and we do not understand the District Court to
have indicated that the Government's question, the answer to which
is sought to be impeached, need not be proper cross-examination in
the first instance. The Court of Appeals did not suggest that
either the cross-examination or the impeachment of Havens would
have been improper absent the use of illegally seized evidence, and
we cannot accept respondent's suggestions that, because of the
illegal search and seizure, the Government's questions about the
T-shirt were improper cross-examination. McLeroth testified that
Havens had assisted him in preparing the T-shirt for smuggling.
Havens, in his direct testimony, acknowledged McLeroth's prior
testimony that the cocaine "was taped or draped around his body and
so on," but denied that he had "ever engage[d] in that kind of
activity with Mr. McLeroth. . . ." This testimony could easily be
understood as a denial of any connection with McLeroth's T-shirt
and as a contradiction of McLeroth's testimony. Quite reasonably,
it seems to us, the Government, on cross-examination, called
attention to his answers on direct, and then asked whether he had
anything to do with sewing the cotton swatches on McLeroth's
T-shirt. This was cross-examination growing out of Havens' direct
testimony; and, as we hold above, the ensuing impeachment did not
violate Havens' constitutional rights.
Page 446 U. S. 629
We reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand the
case to that court for further proceedings consistent with this
opinion.
So ordered.
MR. JUSTICE BRENNAN, joined by MR. JUSTICE MARSHALL and joined
in Part I by MR. JUSTICE STEWART and MR. JUSTICE STEVENS,
dissenting.
The Court upholds the admission at trial of illegally seized
evidence to impeach a defendant's testimony deliberately elicited
by the Government under the cover of impeaching an accused
who takes the stand in his own behalf. I dissent. Criminal
defendants now told that prosecutors are licensed to insinuate
otherwise inadmissible evidence under the guise of
cross-examination no longer have the unfettered right to elect
whether or not to testify in their own behalf. Not only is today's
decision an unwarranted departure from prior controlling cases,
but, regrettably, it is yet another element in the trend to
depreciate the constitutional protections guaranteed the criminally
accused.
I
The question before us is not of first impression. The identical
issue was confronted in
Agnello v. United States,
269 U. S. 20
(1925), which determined -- contrary to the instant decision --
that it was constitutionally impermissible to admit evidence
obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment to rebut a
defendant's response to a matter first raised during the
Government's cross-examination. Subsequently,
Walder v. United
States, 347 U. S. 62
(1954), affirmed the introduction of unlawfully acquired evidence
to impeach an accused's false assertions about previous conduct
that had been offered during direct testimony. But
Walder
took pains to draw the distinction between its own holding and
Agnello, noting that
"the defendant [
Walder] went beyond a mere denial of
complicity in the crimes of which he was charged and made the
sweeping
Page 446 U. S. 630
[and untrue] claim that he had never dealt in or possessed any
narcotics."
347 U.S. at
347 U. S. 65. In
"shar[p] contras[t]," in
Agnello, "the Government . . .
tried to smuggle [the tainted evidence] . . . in on
cross-examination," and "elicit[ed] the expected denial. . . ." 347
U.S. at
347 U. S.
66.
The Court's recent decisions have left
Agnello
undisturbed.
Harris v. New York, 401 U.
S. 222 (1971), allowed the government to use
inadmissible uncounseled statements to impeach direct examination.
So, too,
Oregon v. Hass, 420 U. S. 714
(1975), reaffirmed
Harris in the context of impeachment of
the defendant's direct testimony. Significantly, neither decision
intimated that
Agnello had lost vitality, or that the
distinction emphasized by
Walder had been effaced.
The Court's opinion attempts to discredit
Agnello by
casting a strawman as its holding, and then demolishing the pitiful
scarecrow of its own creation. Specifically, the Court cites
Agnello's quotation of language from
Silverthorne
Lumber Co. v. United States, 251 U. S. 385,
251 U. S. 392
(1920), that "illegally seized evidence
shall not . . . be used
at all,'" ante at
446 U. S. 624, and then refers to the subsequent
decisions that indeed permit limited use of that evidence for
impeachment. But the actual principle of Agnello, as
discerned by Walder, is that the Government may not employ
its power of cross-examination to predicate the admission of
illegal evidence. In other words, impeachment by cross-examination
about -- or introduction of -- suppressible evidence must be
warranted by defendant's statements upon direct questioning. That
principle is not at all inconsistent with later cases holding that
the defendant may not take advantage of evidentiary suppression to
advance specific perjurious claims as part of his direct
case.
Nor is it correct to read
Agnello as turning upon the
tenuity of the link between the cross-examination involved there
and the subject matter of the direct examination.
Ante at
446 U. S. 625.
The cross-examination about Agnello's previous connection with
cocaine was reasonably related to his direct testimony that he
lacked knowledge that the commodity he was transporting
Page 446 U. S. 631
was cocaine. 269 U.S. at
269 U. S. 29-30.
For
"[t]he possession by Frank Agnello of the can of cocaine which
was seized tended to show guilty knowledge and criminal intent on
his part. . . ."
Id. at
269 U. S. 35.
Thus, the constitutional flaw found in
Agnello was that
the introduction of the tainted evidence had been prompted by
statements of the accused first elicited upon cross-examination.
And the case was so read in
Walder v. United States. That
decision specifically stated that a defendant
"must be free to deny all the elements of the case against him
without thereby giving leave to the Government to introduce by way
of rebuttal evidence illegally secured by it, and therefore not
available for its case in chief."
347 U.S. at
347 U. S. 65.
Since, as a matter of the law of evidence, it would be perfectly
permissible to cross-examine a defendant as to his denial of
complicity in the crime, the quoted passage in
Walder must
be understood to impose a further condition before the prosecutor
may refer to tainted evidence -- that is, some particular direct
testimony by the accused that relies upon "the Government's
disability to challenge his credibility."
Ibid.
In fact, the Court's current interpretation of
Agnello
and
Walder simply trivializes those decisions by
transforming their Fourth Amendment holdings into nothing more than
a constitutional reflection of the common law evidentiary rule of
relevance.
Finally, the rationale of
Harris v. New York and
Oregon v. Hass does not impel the decision at hand. The
exclusionary rule exception established by
Harris and
Hass may be fairly easily cabined by defense counsel's
willingness to forgo certain areas of questioning. But the rule
prescribed by the Court in this case passes control of the
exception to the Government, since the prosecutor can lay the
predicate for admitting otherwise suppressible evidence with his
own questioning. To be sure, the Court requires that
cross-examination be "proper"; however, traditional evidentiary
principles accord parties fairly considerable latitude in
cross-examining
Page 446 U. S. 632
opposing witnesses.
See C. McCormick, Law of Evidence
§§ 21-24 (2d ed.1972). [
Footnote 1] In practical terms, therefore, today's holding
allows even the moderately talented prosecutor to "work in . . .
evidence on cross-examination [as it would] in its case in chief. .
. ."
Walder v. United States, 347 U.S. at
347 U. S. 66. To
avoid this consequence, a defendant will be compelled to forgo
testifying on his own behalf.
"[T]he Constitution guarantees a defendant the fullest
opportunity to meet the accusation against him."
Id. at
347 U. S. 65;
see Harris v. New York, supra, at
401 U. S.
229-230 (BRENNAN, J., dissenting). Regrettably,
surrender of that guarantee is the price the Court imposes for the
defendant to claim his right not to be convicted on the basis of
evidence obtained in violation of the Constitution. [
Footnote 2] I cannot agree that one
constitutional privilege must be purchased at the expense of
another.
II
The foregoing demonstration of its break with precedent provides
a sufficient ground to condemn the present ruling -- unleashing, as
it does, a hitherto relatively confined exception to the
exclusionary rule. But I have a more fundamental difference with
the Court's holding here, which culminates
Page 446 U. S. 633
the approach taken in
Harris v. New York and
Oregon
v. Hass. For this sequence of decisions undercuts the
constitutional canon that convictions cannot be procured by
governmental lawbreaking.
See Harris v. New York, 401 U.S.
at
401 U. S.
226-232 (BRENNAN, J., dissenting);
Oregon v.
Hass, 420 U.S. at
420 U. S.
724-725 (BRENNAN, J., dissenting).
"
[I]t is monstrous that courts should aid or abet the
lawbreaking police officer.'" Id. at 420 U. S. 724,
quoting Harris v. New York, supra, at 401 U. S. 232
(BRENNAN, J., dissenting). And what is especially troubling about
these cases is the mode of analysis employed by the Court. In each,
the judgment that tainted evidence may be admitted has been
bottomed upon a determination that the "incremental furthering" of
constitutional ends would not be sufficient to warrant exclusion of
otherwise probative evidence. Ante at 446 U. S. 627;
see Oregon v. Hass, supra at 401 U. S. 721;
Harris v. New York, supra at 401 U. S.
225.
Of course, "[t]here is no gainsaying that arriving at the truth
is a fundamental goal of our legal system."
Ante at
446 U. S. 626.
But it is also undeniable that promotion of that objective must be
consonant with other ends, in particular, those enshrined in our
Constitution. I still hope that the Court would not be prepared to
acquiesce in torture or other police conduct that "shocks the
conscience" even if it demonstrably advanced the factfinding
process. At any rate, what is important is that the Constitution
does not countenance police misbehavior, even in the pursuit of
truth. The processes of our judicial system may not be fueled by
the illegalities of government authorities.
See, e.g., Mapp v.
Ohio, 367 U. S. 643
(1961).
Nevertheless, the Court has undertaken to strike a "balance"
between the "policies" it finds in the Bill of Rights and the
"competing interes[t]" in accurate trial determinations.
Ante at
446 U. S. 627.
This balancing effort is completely freewheeling. Far from applying
criteria intrinsic to the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, the Court
resolves succeeding cases simply by declaring that so much
exclusion is enough to deter
Page 446 U. S. 634
police misconduct.
Ante at
446 U. S. 626,
446 U. S. 627;
see Oregon v. Hass, supra at
420 U. S. 721;
Harris v. New York, supra at
401 U. S. 225;
cf. Stone v. Powell, 428 U. S. 465,
428 U. S.
486-489 (1976);
United States v. Calandra,
414 U. S. 338,
414 U. S.
350-352 (1974). That hardly conforms to the disciplined
analytical method described as "legal reasoning," through which
judges endeavor to formulate or derive principles of decision that
can be applied consistently and predictably.
Ultimately, I fear, this
ad hoc approach to the
exclusionary rule obscures the difference between judicial
decisionmaking and legislative or administrative policymaking. More
disturbingly, by treating Fourth and Fifth Amendment privileges as
mere incentive schemes, the Court denigrates their unique status as
constitutional protections. Yet the efficacy of the Bill of Rights
as the bulwark of our national liberty depends precisely upon
public appreciation of the special character of constitutional
prescriptions. The Court is charged with the responsibility to
enforce constitutional guarantees; decisions such as today's
patently disregard that obligation.
Accordingly, I dissent.
[
Footnote 1]
Federal Rule of Evidence 611 does provide for limitation of the
scope of cross-examination "to the subject matter of the direct
examination and matters affecting the credibility of the witness."
But even these constraints need not be adopted by the States, which
are generally free to fashion their own rules of evidence.
[
Footnote 2]
Although evidence of prior inconsistent utterances or behavior
may ostensibly be offered merely to attack a defendant's
credibility by contradicting his trial testimony, such evidence can
also serve to buttress the affirmative elements of the
prosecution's case. Thus, almost anytime an accused takes the
stand, the prosecution will have an opportunity to enhance its case
in chief. And it is unrealistic to assume that limiting
instructions will afford the defendant significant protection.
Cf. Bruton v. United States, 391 U.
S. 123 (1968).