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appealtrialtestimonywill

defendantappealtrialtestimonywill

Related Cases

Christensen v. State, 274 Md. 133, 333 A.2d 45

Facts

William Dean Christensen was convicted of attempted rape after a trial where the prosecutrix testified that Christensen's neighbor, Jesse Paine, forced her into a car and that Christensen attempted to rape her. Paine did not testify during the trial, and Christensen's defense requested an instruction that no inference should be drawn from Paine's absence. The State argued that the jury could infer something negative from Paine not being called, despite no evidence suggesting Christensen had failed to disclose Paine's whereabouts.

Petitioner, William Dean Christensen (Christensen), was convicted of attempted rape by a Montgomery County jury after trial on that charge and charges of kidnapping, assault with intent to rape, assault and battery, and assault.

Issue

Did the trial court err in failing to grant Christensen's requested jury instruction regarding the missing witness rule, specifically concerning the absence of Jesse Paine?

The court held that where prosecutrix stated that defendant's neighbor, who was missing at time of trial, forced her into car and that neighbor was to be permitted to follow defendant in his rape of her, no inference could properly be drawn, under missing witness rule, from failure of defendant to call as witness the neighbor, his alleged accomplice, even if defendant in fact knew where neighbor was and failure to grant defendant's requested instruction to that effect was prejudicial error.

Rule

The missing witness rule states that the failure to call a material witness raises a presumption that the testimony would be unfavorable to the party failing to call them, but this does not apply if the witness is unavailable or if they are an accomplice not on trial.

The rule, as stated in 1 Underhill, Criminal Evidence s 45 (rev. 6th ed. P. Herrick 1973), is: ‘The failure to call a material witness raises a presumption or inference that the testimony of such person would be unfavorable to the party failing to call him, but there is no such presumption or inference where the witness is not available, or where his testimony is unimportant or cumulative, or where he is equally available to both sides.'

Analysis

The court determined that since Paine was alleged to be an accomplice and was not on trial, the missing witness rule did not apply. The court emphasized that drawing an inference against Christensen for not calling Paine would violate his rights, as it could compel him to call a witness who might invoke the Fifth Amendment. The failure to grant the requested instruction was seen as a prejudicial error.

Since the State's version of this affair as presented through the lips of the prosecutrix is that Paine forced her into the car and that Paine was to be permitted to follow Christensen in his rape of her, it follows that no inference should be drawn by the failure of Christensen to call as a witness on his behalf his alleged accomplice, Paine, if he in fact knew where he was.

Conclusion

The Court of Appeals reversed the conviction and remanded the case for a new trial, concluding that the trial court's failure to instruct the jury on the missing witness rule was a significant error.

Judgment of Court of Special Appeals reversed and case remanded for passage of order reversing conviction and remanding for new trial.

Who won?

William Dean Christensen prevailed because the court found that the trial court's error in not instructing the jury on the missing witness rule was prejudicial to his defense.

The failure of the trial judge to grant the requested instruction was prejudicial error. Therefore, a new trial must be awarded.

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Related Cases

People v. Brock, 38 Cal.3d 180, 695 P.2d 209, 211 Cal.Rptr. 122

Evans v. State, 202 S.W.3d 158

Baldwin v. New York, 399 U.S. 66, 90 S.Ct. 1886, 26 L.Ed.2d 437

Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403, 72 USLW 4546, 04 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 5539, 2004 Daily Journal D.A.R. 7581, 17 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 430, 6 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 619

Commonwealth v. Childs, 94 Mass.App.Ct. 67, 110 N.E.3d 477