Opinion ID: 185178
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Diligence in procuring evidence

Text: 16 What constitutes diligence in the pursuit of evidence depends entirely on the circumstances of the particular case. When, as here, a defendant believes that a particular person's testimony would be vital to his defense but either cannot locate the witness or believes it would be futile to subpoena him, the defendant has the obligation to seek a continuance of his trial or to explain to the trial court why the desired witness will not be produced. A defendant who fails to inform the court of his predicament will not satisfy Thompson's second prerequisite. See, e.g., United States v. Garland, 991 F.2d 328, 335 (6th Cir. 1993) (defendant who sought continuance after unsuccessful attempt to locate witness satisfied diligence requirement); United States v. Kamel, 965 F.2d 484, 493 (7th Cir. 1992) (If there is possible evidence which would exonerate a defendant, he may not simply ignore it....); United States v. Kulczyk, 931 F.2d 542, 549 (9th Cir. 1991) (counsel's failure to inform court before or during trial that he could not locate two witnesses indicates a lack of due diligence); United States v. Wright, 625 F.2d 1017, 1019 (1st Cir. 1980) (defendant who failed to seek continuance to locate witness was not diligent). 17 Schaffer repeats the argument made at the motion hearing that it would have been futile to subpoena Espy or seek a continuance. As suggested by the cases cited in the preceding paragraph, however, a belief in the futility of any such action will not satisfy the need for a concrete attempt either to compel the production of relevant evidence or to seek some accommodation from the trial court that would preserve the defendant's right to present evidence that was critical to his case. Whatever the minimum requirement of diligence, it cannot be a purely private evaluation of the availability of the testimony or the likelihood of relief from the court. Such a standard would seriously impair the important goal of finality that the diligence requirement serves. See UnitedStates v. Ugalde, 861 F.2d 802, 808 (5th Cir. 1988) (motion for new trial is subject to an unusually stringent [five requirement] test ... [that] gives great weight to society's interest in the finality of criminal convictions).