Government of the Virgin Islands v. Archibald
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
987 F.2d 180 (3d Cir. 1993)
At Archibald's (defendant) rape trial, the prosecution's innocuous question to the victim's mother about how she knew Archibald unexpectedly elicited testimony that Archibald had fathered a child with her other, underage daughter -- effectively evidence of an uncharged statutory rape -- prompting an immediate sidebar objection under Rule 404(b), which the district court overruled with only a limiting instruction. Separately, after Archibald's cross-examination asked the mother whether she'd seen Archibald and the victim alone together or overheard conversations about him, and she said no, the prosecution on redirect elicited hearsay that another daughter had reported seeing Archibald and the victim kissing, which the district court admitted on the theory Archibald had "opened the door"; Archibald was convicted and appealed both rulings.
Whether an objection may be deemed timely under Rule 103(a)(1) if it is not raised immediately after opposing counsel asks the question that leads to the purportedly inadmissible evidence, and whether a party may introduce inadmissible evidence under the doctrine of curative admissibility if the opposing party did not first introduce inadmissible evidence.