426
Souter, J., dissenting
iff never denied that he knew this. He admitted that he read some of that record; he said he knew it was "long"; he said he was sure he had noticed charges of driving with a suspended license; and he said that he had taken the trouble to make an independent search for any outstanding warrant for Burns's arrest. As he put it, however, he somehow failed to "notice" charges of assault and battery or the list of offenses so long as to point either to contempt for law or to incapacity to obey it. Although the jury might have accepted the sheriff's disclaimer, no one who has read the transcript would assume that the jurors gave any credit to that testimony,4 and it was open to them to find that the sheriff
4 After Sheriff Moore testified that he knew Burns had been charged with driving while intoxicated, the following exchange with respondent's counsel took place: "Q. And how did you obtain that information? "A. I don't remember now how I got it. "Q. Did you make an inquiry with the proper authorities in Oklahoma to get a copy of Mr. Burns' rap sheet? "A. I run his driving record, yes. "Q. All right. And you can get that rap sheet immediately, can't you? "A. It don't take long. "Q. All right. And did you not see on there where Mr. Burns had been arrested for assault and battery. Did you see that one on there? "A. I never noticed it, no. "Q. Did you notice on there he'd been arrested or charged with [Driving While License Suspended] on several occasions?
. . . . . "A. I'm sure I did. "Q. All right. Did you notice on there that he'd been arrested and convicted for possession of false identification? "A. No, I never noticed that. "Q. Did you notice on there where he had been arrested for public drunk? "A. He had a long record. "Q. Did you notice on there where he had been arrested for resisting arrest? "A. No, I didn't.
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