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People v. Spaulding, Docket No. 12034 (Mich. Ct. App. Aug. 29, 1972)

Factual and Procedural Background

On October 5, 1970, the 14-year-old victim testified she was accosted while walking, dragged behind a house, had her mouth and eyes covered, and was forced to submit to sexual intercourse. She testified she was face-to-face with her assailant before he covered her eyes. Immediately after the incident she reported it to a relative, who summoned the police. The victim identified Edward B. Spaulding to the officers and led them to the neighborhood; while police shone a spotlight to read a house number, the porch light at the Spaulding residence came on and Spaulding appeared on the porch; the victim then identified him and he was arrested.

On March 18, 1971, Spaulding was convicted by a jury of statutory rape under MCLA 750.520; MSA 28.788. He was sentenced on May 10, 1971, to 5 to 15 years' imprisonment. On March 4, 1971, the defendant had filed a timely notice of alibi; at trial his wife and two stepsons testified he was home watching television at the time of the offense. The parties stipulated that the victim was 14 and that a physician shortly after the incident found torn tissue and sperm in her vaginal area. The defendant appealed and the Court of Appeals affirmed.

Legal Issues Presented

  1. Did the trial court's charge to the jury shift the burden of proving an alibi to the defendant, thereby violating due process?
  2. Did the trial court err by withdrawing from the jury's consideration the fact that the crime had been committed, thereby limiting the scope of the jury's consideration to the question of identification?
  3. Was the defendant denied a fair and impartial trial due to the bias and partiality exhibited by the trial court?
  4. Did the trial court err by allowing the arresting officers to repeat statements made by the victim of the rape about the description of her attacker?
  5. Were statements made by the prosecutor during closing argument so prejudicial as to deny the defendant a fair trial?
  6. Was the street confrontation in which defendant was identified a violation of defendant's Sixth Amendment rights and a violation of due process?

Arguments of the Parties

Defendant's Arguments

  • The jury instruction on alibi shifted the burden to the defendant by requiring the jury to "believe the alibi" to find not guilty.
  • The trial court improperly removed from the jury the question whether a rape had been committed and limited the jury to the question of identification.
  • The trial judge's remarks and interruptions showed bias and partiality, denying a fair trial.
  • It was reversible error to permit arresting officers to testify repeating the victim's description of her attacker.
  • The prosecutor's closing argument contained multiple prejudicial remarks (13 identified) which denied the defendant a fair trial; counsel's failure to object at trial should not preclude review.
  • The street confrontation/identification at the defendant's home was unnecessarily suggestive, violating Sixth Amendment rights and due process, and tainted the subsequent in-court identification.

People's (Prosecution's) Position

  • The jury instructions must be read as a whole; taken in context they did not shift the burden of proof, and defense counsel did not object at trial.
  • The fact that a rape had been committed was not disputed (stipulation and defense counsel's closing), so limiting the jury to identification did not prejudice the defendant.
  • The trial judge's remarks were aimed at clarifying testimony and did not prevent a fair and impartial trial.
  • The victim's description to the police shortly after the event was admissible as part of the res gestae and therefore properly elicited through the officers.
  • The prosecutor's remarks, read as a whole and considered with the court's cautionary instructions, did not amount to a clear abuse warranting reversal.
  • Even assuming the pretrial confrontation was suggestive, the in-court identification had an independent basis under governing tests (Maniez; Hutton) and was therefore admissible.

Table of Precedents Cited

Precedent Rule or Principle Cited For Application by the Court
People v. Pearson, 13 Mich. App. 371 Instructional review: examine jury instructions as a whole rather than in isolated excerpts. Applied to conclude the alibi instruction, read in context, did not demonstrate prejudice.
People v. Haggai, 332 Mich. 467 Instructional review: same principle as Pearson about considering instructions as a whole. Applied with Pearson to support the court's view that the instruction did not shift the burden.
People v. Tubbs, 22 Mich. App. 549 Requirement that objections to instructions be made before the jury retires (waiver of appellate review absent manifest injustice). Used to hold defendant waived appellate review of instructions by failing to object at trial.
People v. Keys, 9 Mich. App. 482 Authority cited on procedural requirement to object to jury instructions at trial. Referenced as part of authorities supporting waiver for failure to object.
People v. Keiswetter, 7 Mich. App. 334 Procedural rule on timely objection to instructions. Included among cases showing objection requirement; court relied on waiver doctrine.
People v. Cassiday, 4 Mich. App. 215 Procedural authority on objections to jury instructions. Part of the body of cases cited to support waiver for failure to object at trial.
People v. Griffin, 36 Mich. App. 368, 371 (1971) Judge's comment on the existence of the underlying offense is improper if that fact is disputed; harmless if the fact is undisputed. Applied to hold limiting the jury to identification was not reversible error because the rape itself was not disputed.
People v. Wichman, (1968), 15 Mich. App. 110 Support for reversal when a trial judge comments improvidently on a fact that is disputed. Cited within the Griffin discussion to show reversal would be required if the fact were disputed; here it was not.
People v. Roby, 38 Mich. App. 387, 389 (1972) Standard for reviewing trial judge's conduct: whether conduct prevented a fair and impartial trial. Adopted as the applicable test; under it the court found no prejudice from the judge's remarks.
People v. Cole, 348 Mich. 175 (1957) Judicial conduct standard (cited as authority for Roby standard). Referenced as precedent supporting the fairness test; court used it to evaluate judge's remarks.
People v. O'Hara, 278 Mich. 281 (1936) Judicial conduct standard (cited alongside Cole). Referenced in assessing whether trial judge's conduct denied a fair trial; court found it did not.
People v. Baker, 251 Mich. 322 (1930) Authority stating details of a rape cannot be corroborated by other witnesses, subject to res gestae or tender-years exceptions. Court acknowledged Baker but distinguished it, treating the victim's near-immediate description as admissible under res gestae.
People v. Bonneau, 323 Mich. 237 (1948) Res gestae exception admitting contemporaneous statements/descriptions. Cited to support admissibility of the victim's description given shortly after the rape as res gestae.
People v. Woodward, 21 Mich. App. 549 (1970) Authority supporting res gestae admission of contemporaneous statements/descriptions. Relied upon to conclude the officers' repetition of the victim's description was admissible.
People v. Noble, 23 Mich. App. 100 (1970) Authority related to res gestae and admissibility of early descriptions. Used with Bonneau and Woodward to justify admitting the victim's immediate description.
People v. Humphreys, 24 Mich. App. 411 (1970) Referenced by defendant to argue that failure to object does not preclude appellate review of prosecutorial misconduct. Court rejected the defendant's reliance on Humphreys and declined to find the prosecutor's remarks so prejudicial as to require reversal.
People v. Dawson, 29 Mich. App. 488, 494 (1971) Quoted authority (via Gillespie) on the limited circumstances in which prosecutor argument warrants reversal—requiring clear abuse prejudicing rights. Applied to evaluate the prosecutor's closing; court found no clear abuse and no prejudice requiring reversal.
People v. Lyle Brown, 37 Mich. App. 25 (1971) Case cited in support of refusing to overturn verdict based on prosecutorial argument when no clear abuse shown. Referenced to bolster the conclusion that the prosecutor's argument here did not deny a fair trial.
People v. David Smith, 16 Mich. App. 198 (1969) Authority illustrating appellate reluctance to reverse for closing argument absent prejudicial abuse. Used to support the court's finding that the prosecutor's summation did not require reversal.
People v. Maniez, 34 Mich. App. 55 (1971) Holds that an in-court identification is admissible if it has an independent basis despite an allegedly suggestive pretrial confrontation. Applied to assume arguendo a suggestive confrontation yet admit the in-court identification because an independent basis existed.
People v. Hutton, 21 Mich. App. 312, 326 (1970) Sets forth factors to determine whether an in-court identification has an independent basis (prior opportunity to observe, consistency of description, etc.). The court applied the Hutton factors (opportunity to observe, consistency, description fitting defendant, prior acquaintance) and found the in-court ID independent and admissible.

Court's Reasoning and Analysis

The court addressed the six issues in order, applying procedural and substantive authorities cited in the opinion.

1. Alibi Instruction / Burden of Proof. The court emphasized that jury instructions are reviewed as a whole (People v. Pearson; People v. Haggai). It noted the rule in GCR 1963, 516.2 requiring timely objections to instructions and cited cases applying that rule (People v. Tubbs; People v. Keys; People v. Keiswetter; People v. Cassiday). Because defense counsel did not object to the alibi instruction before the jury retired, the claim was waived absent manifest injustice. After reviewing the entire alibi charge, the court concluded the defendant was not prejudiced and the argument raised for the first time on appeal lacked merit.

2. Withdrawal of the Issue Whether a Rape Occurred. The court observed defense counsel had not objected. It relied on People v. Griffin (and the authority cited therein, e.g., People v. Wichman) that a trial judge's comment about the occurrence of the crime is improper only if the occurrence is disputed. Here the parties stipulated to the victim's age and medical findings and defense counsel admitted the victim had been raped; thus the only contested issue was identity. Because the fact of the rape was undisputed, limiting the jury to identification did not prejudice the defendant.

3. Alleged Judicial Bias and Partiality. The court adopted the standard from People v. Roby (with People v. Cole and People v. O'Hara) — whether the judge's conduct prevented a fair and impartial trial. After reviewing the transcript, the court found the judge's comments largely served to clear ambiguities and did not demonstrate prejudice or deny the defendant a fair trial.

4. Admission of the Victim's Description via Officers. The court noted defendant relied on People v. Baker, which precludes corroboration of rape details except as res gestae or when the victim is of tender years. The court treated the victim's description to police within 45 minutes as part of the res gestae and therefore admissible, citing People v. Bonneau, People v. Woodward, and People v. Noble to support that conclusion.

5. Prosecutorial Argument. Although defense counsel did not object at trial (and relied on People v. Humphreys to argue that failure to object should not foreclose review), the court applied the quoted standard from People v. Dawson (citing Gillespie): reversal for prosecutorial argument is warranted only in clear cases of abuse where the respondent's rights were prejudiced. Considering the prosecutor's remarks in context with the court's cautionary instruction, and by analogy to People v. Lyle Brown and People v. David Smith, the court found no clear abuse or prejudice requiring reversal.

6. Pretrial Confrontation and In-Court Identification. The court assumed, without deciding, that the street/home confrontation might have been impermissibly suggestive. It relied on People v. Maniez for the principle that an in-court identification remains admissible if it has an independent basis. Using the Hutton factors (prior opportunity to observe the alleged act; consistency of description; defendant's appearance matching description; prior acquaintance; lapse of time), the court concluded the victim had an independent basis for identification — she had seen the defendant frequently in the neighborhood, knew where he lived, had closely observed him during the offense, and had given consistent descriptions — and therefore the in-court identification was not tainted and was admissible.

Holding and Implications

AFFIRMED

The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence. The direct effect is that the jury's verdict and the sentence of 5 to 15 years stand. The opinion applies existing precedents to the facts but does not announce new legal principles beyond those applications; no broader or novel rule was adopted by the court in this decision.

PEOPLE v. SPAULDING

T.M. BURNS, J.

On March 18, 1971, defendant Edward Spaulding was convicted by a jury of statutory rape pursuant to MCLA 750.520; MSA 28.788. He was sentenced May 10, 1971, to a term of from 5 to 15 years imprisonment. Defendant appeals as of right.

The victim of the rape testified that while she was walking down the street on the evening of October 5, 1970, a man came out of the bushes and put his hand over her mouth and eyes. Her assailant then dragged her in back of a house and there forced her to submit to sexual intercourse. She testified that he told her to lie down and that when she did, she was face to face with him and could identify him. Thereupon he put his hands over her eyes, took off his clothes and committed the act. Afterwards, he told her to turn over and count to 20. She did so, got up, and saw no one.

The victim immediately reported the incident to a relative who promptly summoned the police. When the police arrived, the victim told them that defendant Spaulding was the man who had perpetrated the rape. She also told the officers where the defendant resided. After they had finished their questioning, the police, accompanied by the victim, drove by the scene of the rape and by the house where the defendant lived. The police cruiser nearly came to a stop in front of the Spaulding home. One of the officers shone a spotlight on the front of the house for the purpose of ascertaining the street number. The officer obtained the number and shut off the light. At this juncture, the porch light of the house came on and defendant Spaulding appeared on the porch. The victim turned around, looked through the rear window of the police cruiser and stated, "There he is, that is him". Thereupon defendant was arrested.

On March 4, 1971, defendant timely filed a notice of alibi. At the trial, defendant's wife and two stepsons testified that at the time the rape occurred, defendant was home with them watching television.

At the beginning of defendant's trial, both the prosecution and the defense stipulated that shortly after the rape had been committed, a physician examined the victim and found lesions and the presence of sperm in her vaginal area. It was also agreed that she was 14 at the time the offense was committed.

On appeal defendant raises six issues. We will discuss them in the order presented below.

1. Did the trial court's charge to the jury shift the burden of proving an alibi to the defendant, thereby violating due process?

The particular portion of the instruction which forms the heart of defendant's claim is quoted below:

"If you find that they haven't proved that (defendant was the man) to your satisfaction beyond a reasonable doubt and you believe the alibi, it would be your duty to find the respondent not guilty."

From this, defendant argues that the trial court reversibly erred in its instruction to the jury on alibi by shifting the burden of proof from the prosecution to the defendant by stating that in order to find the defendant not guilty, the jury would have to "believe the alibi". Moreover, defendant contends that such error was not harmless and defense counsel's failure to object to the error at the trial does not preclude raising it on appeal. We disagree.

When reviewing an instruction to determine whether or not it stated the applicable law or prejudiced the defendant, we will examine the instruction as a whole rather than in small excerpts. People v. Pearson, 13 Mich. App. 371 (1968), and People v. Haggai, 332 Mich. 467 (1952). Moreover, it is well settled that, absent a showing of manifest injustice, criminal defendants seeking a review of allegedly erroneous instructions to the jury must make a timely objection to those instructions in accordance with GCR 1963, 516.2 which provides:

"2. Objections. No party may assign as error the giving or the failure to give an instruction unless he objects thereto before the jury retires to consider the verdict, stating specifically the matter to which he objects and the grounds of his objection. Opportunity shall be given to make the objection out of the hearing of the jury."

See also People v. Tubbs, 22 Mich. App. 549 (1970); People v. Keys, 9 Mich. App. 482 (1968); People v. Keiswetter, 7 Mich. App. 334 (1967), and People v. Cassiday, 4 Mich. App. 215 (1966).

A review of the record in the instant case indicates that although defense counsel was given ample opportunity to object to the instruction given by the court before the jury retired, no such objection was voiced.

Furthermore, after a close reading of the trial court's entire alibi instruction, we are not convinced that, taken as a whole, defendant was prejudiced thereby.

See jury instructions, infra.

Defendant's argument raised here for the first time on appeal is, therefore, without merit.

2. Did the trial court err by withdrawing from the jury's consideration the fact that the crime had been committed, thereby limiting the scope of the jury's consideration to the question of identification?

The defendant contends that the trial court erred in its instruction to the jury by eliminating the question of whether or not a rape had been committed, leaving only the question of whether the defendant was the perpetrator of the crime.

The portion of the charge criticized by defendant reads as follows:

"So, the only question that the jury has to decide is, was this offense committed by the defendant, Mr. Spaulding, that is your only question.

"So, take this case and analyze all the evidence, determine what the facts are and if you find that the prosecution has proved by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Spaulding was the man, then it would be your duty to find him guilty as charged."

Defendant's position is not well taken. Defense counsel neither made an objection nor requested a correction of the instruction here in question. Any objections to the trial court's instructions must be raised at the time the instructions are given or else, absent manifest prejudice to the defendant, they are waived. GCR 1963, 516.2; People v. Tubbs, supra.

Notwithstanding defense counsel's failure to object, we will next turn to the question of whether defendant was prejudiced by the trial court's instruction.

In People v. Griffin, 36 Mich. App. 368, 371 (1971), which involved a prosecution for second-degree murder, the trial judge in his charge to the jury stated:

"I may say that I don't believe this jury is going to have much difficulty in arriving at the conclusion that a felonious assault was committed, and that the homicide was second-degree murder."

This Court held:

"The comment was improper, and if the fact that a homicide had been committed had been disputed, it would require reversal, People v. Wichman, (1968), 15 Mich. App. 110. However, the fact that a homicide had been committed was not disputed at trial. The contest was over who did it and defendant's defense was that he did not do it. If the comment was error, it was not reversible error."

Such is the case here. The prosecution and the defense stipulated that the victim was 14, and that shortly after the rape, a physician found torn tissue and sperm in her vaginal area. Furthermore, defense counsel in the closing argument admitted the victim had been raped and stated that the only question for the jury to determine was whether or not defendant was the perpetrator. The fact that a statutory rape had been committed was not in dispute. The sole controversy was over who did it.

We hold, therefore, that the defendant was not prejudiced by the trial court's instruction which limited the jury's consideration to a question of identification of the perpetrator of the crime, where the fact that the crime had been committed was not in dispute.

3. Was the defendant denied a fair and impartial trial due to the bias and partiality exhibited by the trial court?

Next defendant asserts that he was prejudiced by various remarks and interruptions made by the trial judge during the course of the trial. Defendant's assertion is without merit.

The standard by which a trial judge's conduct is reviewed was recently stated in People v. Roby, 38 Mich. App. 387, 389 (1972):

"In determining the effect of comment and interrogation by the trial judge, the applicable test is whether what occurred prevented defendant from having a fair and impartial trial. People v. Cole, 348 Mich. 175 (1957); People v. O'Hara, 278 Mich. 281 (1936)."

After a thorough review of the transcript in the present case, we find no indication that the trial court's comments and interruptions caused the jury to be prejudiced against the defendant. The trial judge's remarks for the most part were confined to clearing up ambiguities in the testimony elicited on direct and cross-examination.

We find, therefore, that the trial in the instant case as opposed to the one in People v. Roby, supra, was handled fairly, impartially, and without prejudice to the defendant.

4. Did the trial court err by allowing the arresting officers to repeat statements made by the victim of the rape about the description of her attacker?

It is the defendant's position that it was reversible error to allow the arresting officers to repeat the description of the attacker given to them by the victim of the rape.

At trial, the arresting officers testified as to the description of the rapist which was given to them by the victim within 45 minutes after the rape occurred.

The only authority cited by defendant which is applicable here is People v. Baker, 251 Mich. 322 (1930). However, Baker only says that the details of a rape cannot be corroborated by other witnesses, subject to the exception where testimony is part of the res gestae or the victim is of tender years. See 4 Gillespie, Michigan Criminal Law Procedure (2d ed), § 2191, pp 2414-2417.

Putting aside the semantic question of whether the details of a rape would include a description of the assailant, we conclude that here the description of the rapist given to the police shortly after the occurrence of the event, thereby allowing little or no time for fabrication, was admissible as part of the res gestae. People v. Bonneau, 323 Mich. 237 (1948); People v. Woodward, 21 Mich. App. 549 (1970); People v. Noble, 23 Mich. App. 100 (1970).

5. Were statements made by the prosecutor during closing argument so prejudicial as to deny the defendant a fair trial?

Defendant argues that he was denied a fair trial by the prosecutor's closing argument and assigns error to 13 comments made by the prosecutor during the closing argument. Defense counsel admits that he made no objections but claims this does not preclude review in that a cautionary instruction would not have eliminated the prejudice. See People v. Humphreys, 24 Mich. App. 411 (1970). We disagree.

The law governing the permissible scope of the prosecutor's argument was quoted from 2 Gillespie, Michigan Criminal Law Procedure (2d ed), § 621, pp 804-805, in People v. Dawson, 29 Mich. App. 488, 494 (1971), as follows:

"`It is only in a very clear case of abuse shown by remarks of the prosecuting attorney, where the respondent's rights have been prejudiced, that the court will set aside a verdict otherwise manifestly proper. The appellate court is not inclined to reverse convictions in criminal cases because of claimed errors during argument, unless such arguments are of a prejudicial nature and contribute to an improper verdict. It is not presumed that jurors in direct violation of their well-known duty will indulge in unjustifiable inferences from remarks made by counsel during the heat of the trial.'"

We have carefully reviewed the alleged prejudicial remarks in conjunction with the trial court's cautionary instruction concerning counsel's closing arguments and conclude that no clear abuse has been shown and further that the prosecutor's summation read as a whole was not so prejudicial as to deny defendant a fair trial. See People v. Lyle Brown, 37 Mich. App. 25 (1971), and People v. David Smith, 16 Mich. App. 198 (1969).

6. Was the street confrontation in which defendant was identified a violation of defendant's Sixth Amendment rights and a violation of due process?

Finally defendant asserts that the victim's in-court identification was inadmissible as a result of a prior identification at his home which was "so unnecessarily suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistaken identity that he was denied due process of law".

Assuming, but not deciding, that the confrontation at defendant's home was a violation of defendant's rights, the in-court identification is nonetheless admissible if it had an independent basis. People v. Maniez, 34 Mich. App. 55 (1971).

The factors to be considered in ascertaining whether an in-court identification had a sufficient independent basis were set forth in People v. Hutton, 21 Mich. App. 312, 326 (1970) as follows:

"`And among the facts to be considered in applying this test are: the witness' prior opportunity to observe the alleged criminal act; the existence of any discrepancy between any pretrial description and the defendant's actual appearance; any identification of another person before confrontation; photogenic identification before confrontation; failure to identify the defendant on a prior occasion; and the lapse of time between the alleged act and the confrontation identification.'"

Using the Hutton test, it is clear that the victim's in-court identification was not tainted by the prior identification at the defendant's residence. She had seen the defendant in the neighborhood on numerous occasions prior to the rape. She knew where the defendant lived. She explained in detail how she was able to closely observe the defendant during the commission of the crime. The description she gave the police fit the defendant. Moreover, her description of the defendant was consistent throughout the trial and the various proceedings leading up to trial.

We hold, therefore, that the victim's in-court identification was admissible in that it had an independent basis and was not tainted by the prior identification at the defendant's home.

Affirmed.

All concurred.

APPENDIX Jury Instruction:

"On the other hand, defendant claims an alibi. He does not admit that there was a rape but he has not contested it. He doesn't claim that a rape didn't take place, but he claims in his defense that he was not the one who did it and that there has been a wrong identification. That he was home with his family during this period of time. If he was home with his family during that period of time, he couldn't be at 616 Bates Street and therefore he is not guilty of the offense charged.

* * *

"I must give you one other definition. In this case, the defense is what we refer to as an alibi defense. Defense with an alibi, which means just simply a person cannot be two places at the same time, which means if a man is home at 634 Bates Street, he can't be at 616 Bates Street at the same time, that is an alibi.

"Now, an alibi defense may under certain circumstances be a good defense. But in considering this defense, it is necessary for you to take into consideration all of the facts. It is your duty to examine this testimony very carefully. The evidence on this point must be very carefully scrutinized by the jury, because an alibi is easy to prove and it's very difficult to disprove. And that is why it must be examined very carefully by the jury, the evidence regarding the alibi. And so you must be very careful and cautious in examining the evidence bearing upon the question of alibi.

* * *

"So, if you find from the evidence in this case that she was raped, that she was under 16 years of age, and that it was done by the defendant, it would be your duty to find the defendant guilty as charged.

"On the other hand, if you are convinced that he was at home and that he couldn't be at 616 because he was at home with his family at that period of time, you believe the alibi; it would be equally your duty to find the defendant not guilty.

"So, take this case and analyze all the evidence, determine what the facts are and if you find that the prosecution has proved by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Spaulding was the man, then it would be your duty to find him guilty as charged.

"If you find they haven't proved that to your satisfaction beyond a reasonable doubt, and you believe the alibi, it would be equally your duty to find the respondent not guilty."

* * *

"The Court: Mr. McGarry, do you have any corrections?

"Mr. McGarry: I just have one comment, your Honor, and I think this may have been cleared up. You said at one point, if you are convinced from the evidence you find Mr. Spaulding was home, you find him not guilty, I think you may have corrected that later when you said, if they had reasonable doubts. I prefer to have reasonable doubts as to his being there." (Mr. McGarry is defense counsel.)

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PEOPLE v. SPAULDING
(Aug 29, 1972)