Opinion ID: 1297776
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Prosecution Witness Impeachment

Text: The State's crucial witness was defendant Roxanne Gregory. As its brief acknowledges, [a]ll Appellants, however, had one thing in common: all dealt direct with Roxanne Gregory.... Appellants contend the trial court committed reversible error in refusing to allow them to inspect a SLED file and to use its contents to impeach Roxanne. We disagree. In 1986, Roxanne's mother was arrested on drug charges. Her initial cash bond was reduced to a personal recognizance bond by a magistrate. Following a SLED investigation into this bond reduction, the magistrate resigned. During trial, appellants' counsel became aware of this incident, and of allegations that the SLED investigation found the bond reduction came about after Roxanne agreed to a sexual encounter with the magistrate. Appellants sought to inspect the SLED file and to use its contents to impeach Roxanne. The trial judge inspected the file in camera and refused to permit appellants access to it. He ruled the prejudicial content of the file outweighed its probative value, and held its impeachment value was merely cumulative to other available evidence impeaching Roxanne. He also ruled the material was not Brady [9] material. We disagree. Impeachment evidence must be disclosed pursuant to a Brady request. United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985); State v. Bryant, 307 S.C. 458, 415 S.E.2d 806 (1992). Our review of this file convinces us that disclosure of it to the appellants would have provided them with a good faith basis for seeking to impeach Roxanne for false swearing, if not for attempted bribery or bribery of a judicial officer. See State v. McGuire, 272 S.C. 547, 253 S.E.2d 103 (1979) (a witness may be impeached by past conduct which fairly tends to affect her credibility if the questioner has a good faith basis for asking the question). The trial judge erred in weighing the evidence's prejudicial impact against its probative value where the issue was whether to allow a critical witness's, rather than a defendant's, impeachment. The State argues, however, that the evidence in the SLED file was merely cumulative to other evidence impeaching Roxanne's credibility. At trial, she admitted she was a drug user, that she initially lied to officers about her knowledge and involvement in the Dilaudid business because she was a junkie, that she had prior convictions for possession of marijuana and forgery, and that when she was a junkie she would, and had, done anything to support her habit, including lying, cheating, stealing, and prostitution. Failure to disclose Brady material is reversible error only when its omission deprives the defendant of a fair trial. State v. Thompson, 276 S.C. 616, 281 S.E.2d 216 (1981). The exclusion of impeaching evidence is not prejudicial where it has no meaningful impact on a witness's credibility. State v. Ferguson, 300 S.C. 408, 388 S.E.2d 642 (1990). In light of the abundance of other evidence detailing Roxanne's unabashed disrespect for the law, appellants cannot establish that the trial court's ruling denied them a fair trial. State v. Thompson, supra ; State v. Ferguson, supra .