Barbara v. Johnson

This is an appeal from an order of the District Court granting a writ of habeas corpus to petitioner-appellee, Joseph Barbara, Jr. Barbara was convicted in the state court of the crime of extortion and his conviction was affirmed on appeal. People v. Barbara, 23 Mich.App. 540, 179 N.W.2d 105, leave to appeal denied July 16, 1970. Barbara then petitioned the District Court for a writ of habeas corpus alleging that his constitutional right to a fair trial had been violated. Specifically, Barbara contended certain unresponsive answers made during this trial by two prosecution witnesses on cross-examination tended to connect him with the Mafia. He argued the answers were so prejudicial as to deny him a fair trial by an impartial jury. The State of Michigan maintained that Barbaras attorney deliberately asked questions calculated to bring out references to the Mafia for the purpose of inviting error and a mistrial. Also, it maintained that no prejudice resulted from the references that were allegedly provoked and that the jury was properly instructed to disregard any such references as may have indicated any prejudicial tendency. In holding petitioners constitutional due process rights were violated, the District Court ruled that the cumulative effect of the references was inherently prejudicial and not cured by the trial courts cautionary instructions to the jury to disregard them. We disagree and reverse.