In People v. Haigler , Haigler was convicted of three counts of robbery in the first degree and was sentenced, as a second felony offender, to concurrent terms of 20 years to life.
On the eve of that trial, Haigler reportedly placed telephone calls to several prosecution witnesses. While the decision does not divulge the precise nature of those conversations, the calls were sufficiently coercive that any testimony thereafter given by the witnesses was found to have been tainted or compromised.
Voice recognition testimony and circumstantial evidence were used to establish Haigler's guilt and the prosecution argued that these calls had induced a change of testimony that was more favorable to the defendant.
During the course of the trial, one of the recipients of Haigler's calls also made reference to the defendant's plea negotiations -- testimony which was not properly admissible. That "slip" was characterized as prejudicial and served as a basis for Haigler's request that the case be thrown out.
Although the New York County Supreme Court denied Haigler's motion for a mistrial, it offered (and Haigler declined) a curative jury instruction.
On appeal, the Appellate Division, First Department, found the phone calls to be "highly probative of defendant's consciousness of guilt" and that the evidence had supported the prosecution's argument that a witness had changed his testimony as a result of Haigler's misconduct. Though it conceded that the reference to Haigler's plea negotiations was improper, the AD1 was of the opinion that the curative instruction, which Haigler rebuffed, would have sufficed as a remedy.
The appellate court was also dismissive of Haigler's claim that he had been denied a fair trial as a result of the prosecutor's remark -- made during summations -- that "defendant had engaged in manipulative behavior." According to the AD1, that statement "constituted fair comment on the evidence."
We got no hangups with that.
To view a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: People v. Haigler