People v. Pavao, 59 N.Y.2d 282 (1983)
A party has the right to call a witness to testify that a key opposing witness, who gave substantive evidence, has a bad reputation in the community for truth and veracity.
Summary
Frank Pavao was convicted of assault. The New York Court of Appeals reversed the conviction due to the trial court’s improper refusal to allow a defense witness to testify about the bad reputation for truthfulness of a key prosecution witness. The Court of Appeals held that excluding this testimony was prejudicial error. Furthermore, the Court found insufficient evidence to support the convictions for second-degree assault. This case clarifies the admissibility of reputation evidence to impeach a witness’s credibility and highlights the importance of a fair trial.
Facts
A fight occurred at “Pop’s Bar” where James Irwin and John Staganelli were assaulted. The fight spilled outside where Patricia Pittman and Thomas Walters were passing by. Defendant Pavao allegedly hurled racial slurs at Pittman and Walters, leading to another fight. Walters was beaten, shot by the defendant, and Pittman identified Pavao as the shooter.
At trial, Serafim Pelarigo, a witness for the prosecution, testified that Pavao admitted to shooting a black man. Defense counsel attempted to call James Velasquez to testify regarding Pelarigo’s reputation for truthfulness in the community.
Procedural History
Pavao was convicted of assault in the first degree and two counts of assault in the second degree in the Supreme Court, Queens County. The Appellate Division affirmed the convictions. Pavao appealed to the New York Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals reversed the first-degree assault conviction and dismissed the second-degree assault counts.
Issue(s)
- Whether the trial court erred in refusing to allow a defense witness to testify regarding the bad reputation for truthfulness of a key prosecution witness.
- Whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain the convictions for assault in the first and second degrees.
Holding
- Yes, because a party has the right to present evidence that a key opposing witness has a bad reputation for truth and veracity.
- No, the evidence was insufficient to sustain the convictions for second degree assault because the complainants and another witness testified that the defendant was not the person who assaulted them.
Court’s Reasoning
The Court reasoned that while extrinsic evidence to contradict a witness’s answers on collateral matters is generally inadmissible for impeachment purposes, this rule does not apply when the aim is to demonstrate the witness’s bad reputation for truthfulness. Citing People v. Hinksman, the court emphasized that such testimony is limited to the witness’s reputation for truth and veracity, distinguishing it from general reputation evidence. The court found that denying the defendant the opportunity to challenge the key prosecution witness’s (Pelarigo) veracity deprived the jury of evidence assisting them in evaluating credibility. The court stated, “When the use of extrinsic impeaching testimony is limited to a general statement that the witness’ reputation in the community for truth and veracity is bad, there is no fear that trials will become unnecessarily protracted affairs involving numerous minitrials over whether or not a witness’ answer was accurate or whether a witness did a particular act.” The court emphasized that “the known reputation of a key witness for honesty and truth should be considered in testing his credibility.” As for the second-degree assault charges, the court found the evidence insufficient as the alleged victims themselves testified that Pavao was not their assailant, along with testimony from a barmaid that Pavao was not present.