People v. Nelson , 86 Mich. App. 651 ( 1978 )

M. F. Cavanagh, J.

(dissenting). Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of armed robbery, MCL 750.529; MSA 28.797. He appeals by right raising three issues, only one of which merits discussion.

Defendant claims that references to his economic and employment status by the prosecuting attorney were error requiring reversal.¹ I agree. The questions and references were irrelevant. The prosecutor suggests on appeal that the questions were designed to establish defendant’s whereabouts immediately before the robbery. If this were so, why was it necessary to inquire about the defendant’s employment status during a three-month period? An examination of the record reveals that the questions on employment were a digression from, not a development of cross-examination dealing with defendant’s whereabouts the day of the robbery. There was no reason to ask the witness — twice—whether defendant was working at that time. This served no purpose other than to inject impermissible prejudicial inferences into the trial. See People v Henderson, 80 Mich App 477; 264 NW2d 22 (1978), lv gtd, 403 Mich 825 (1978).

While the error complained of here is less glaring than that oppugned in People v Johnson, 393 Mich 488; 227 NW2d 523 (1975), and People v Hammond, 394 Mich 627; 232 NW2d 174 (1975), if this Court is to effectuate the rule of Johnson and Hammond, it has no choice but to reverse convictions in cases like this one where the proffered rationale for interjection of the subject of the defendant’s unemployment is obviously an expedient, where reiteration of the matter in closing argument makes clear it was not an inadvertent slip, and where the defendant has by some form of objection raised the issue at trial.

Accordingly, I would reverse defendant’s conviction and remand for a new trial.

1 In cross-examining defendant’s girlfriend, an alibi witness, the prosecutor twice asked whether defendant was unemployed during the period when the robberies occurred:

"Q. The period of time through the month of March and June, did the Defendant visit you a lot at home?

"A. Yes.

"Q. He wasn’t working, was he?

"A. No.

"Q. So he had a lot of time?

"A. Right, he spent a lot of time around my house.

"Q. Okay. But you know he had no job?

"A. No.

"Q. In other words, then shortly before — you know the Defendant is accused of a robbery on March 12th?

"A. I didn’t hear you.

"Q. I said you know the Defendant is accused of a robbery on March 12th? You know that?

"A. Yes.”

There was no objection by defense counsel. In closing argument, the prosecutor brought the matter up again and this time there was an objection:

"I ask you again to focus your attention to minutes before the crime or minutes after as to where he was — I don’t care about that, that doesn’t mean anything. She indicated that he was with her all the time and he didn’t have a job, he had all of this free time on his hands, I wonder what his source of income was—

"MR. FEINBERG: Objection, your Honor, that was never gone into.”