United States v. John Clyde Abel

In 1981 defendant John Abel was indicted for armed bank robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (a), (d). He was convicted by a jury and sentenced to a term of twenty-five years. He appeals the conviction on three grounds: first, that the district court improperly denied his motion to suppress evidence seized at the time of his arrest; second, that the court impaired his ability to present witnesses; and third, that the court improperly allowed the introduction of inflamatory references to a secret prison organization for purposes of impeachment. Because we agree that the district court abused its discretion in allowing the inflamatory secret prison organization references, we reverse the conviction and remand to the district court for a new trial.

FACTS

On September 8,1981 the Bellflower Savings and Loan Association in Bellflower, California was robbed by four white males. A witness gave the FBI the license number of the getaway vehicle, a white Camaro, which was found to be registered to Anna Sainz.

That same day, several members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office went to Sainz’s home and interviewed her there. She informed the officers that she had loaned the car…

dissenting:

This case announces a rule that is incorrect and most unfortunate. It reverses a conviction because of a question I should have thought relevant and proper in any sensible legal system. The court holds that a jury may not be told that both a witness and the defendant for whom he vouches belong to a prison gang bound by oath to lie on each others’ behalf in open court, because, without more, that affiliation is not probative of the witness’ credibility.

The line of questioning barred by the majority in this case is akin to inquiry respecting family ties, prior business relations, or the myriad other past or present associations that may cause a witness, consciously or otherwise, to color his testimony. There is consensus that such matters are admissible, as probative on the issue of bias. See 3 J. Weinstein & M. Berger, Evidence § 607[03] (1982 & Supp.1982); 3A J. Wig-more, Evidence § 949 (J. Chadbourn rev. 1970 & W. Reiser Supp.1982). Even with respect to the sensitive area of religion, the Advisory Committee’s notes to the Federal Rules of Evidence make it clear that evidence of membership, if relevant to bias, is admissible. Fed.R.Evid. 610 advisory committee note.…

707 F.2d 1013 13 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 219 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. John Clyde ABEL, Defendant-Appellant. No. 81-1666. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Oct. 6, 1982. Decided May 20, 1983. As Amended June 6, 1983. Darrell W. MacIntyre, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendant-appellant. Yoland Barrera Gomez, Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before KENNEDY, TANG and FERGUSON, Circuit Judges. FERGUSON, Circuit Judge: 1 In 1981 defendant John Abel was indicted for armed bank robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2113 (a), (d). He was convicted by a jury and sentenced to a term of twenty-five years. He appeals the conviction on three grounds: first, that the district court improperly denied his motion to suppress evidence seized at the time of his arrest; second, that the court impaired his ability to present witnesses; and third, that the court improperly allowed the introduction of inflamatory references to a secret prison organization for purposes of impeachment. Because we agree that the district court abused its discretion in allowing…