United States v. Wilford

710 F.2d 439 (8th Cir. 1983)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Wilford was the secretary/treasurer and chief executive officer of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Local (Local 238) of the Teamsters Union. Dague and Casten were business agents for the Local. Boeding, unlike the other three defendants, was not an officer or an employee of the local; he was, however, a member of Local 238. Ds were indicted for their activities at a waste treatment construction site. P presented a witness during its rebuttal. That witness brought forward new facts not raised earlier, and Ds claimed they were entitled to present evidence on surrebuttal to counter the witness' testimony and to impeach his credibility. The trial court sustained P's objection to surrebuttal by Ds. The witness, an investigator for the NLRB, testified as to his observation of events taking place at a different site at the Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Co. P's stated purpose in offering the investigator's testimony was to show the similarity of the Pittsburgh-Des Moines incident to the incident for which Ds were being tried. Ds argue that they were entitled to present evidence in surrebuttal because the witness intimated that a violent act took place in connection with the stopping of a truck driven by a non-union driver, and because Ds were entitled to show the investigator's bias against the Teamsters Union. Ds were convicted and appealed in part on this issue.