Opinion ID: 2240193
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Witness Interviews

Text: Koehler filed a pre-trial motion to suppress the testimony of two State witnesses, his girlfriend and the victim. He contended that he had not been provided with their arrest records, although the State had been ordered at a pre-trial conference to provide them. The court denied the motion but agreed to order a short recess during trial if Koehler needed to review materials. The State provided the arrest records before the witnesses testified. Koehler claims on appeal that the trial court improperly denied his motion to suppress. He concedes the normal remedy for the State's failure to provide discoverable material is a brief continuance. Where the State's actions are blatant and purposeful and the defendant is prejudiced, the trial court may suppress the testimony to which the documents relate. Such a case is not presented here. The record indicates that the State provided four supplemental discovery responses, and the omission of the arrest records was inadvertent. Furthermore, Koehler was able to review the records before the witnesses testified; the records were discussed during both direct examination and cross examination. Thus, Koehler has not established prejudice which would warrant a reversal. He further claims that the testimony should have been suppressed because he was not given an opportunity to interview the two witnesses before trial. He requested a continuance immediately before their testimony, so he could interview them. The trial court refused to grant the continuance, noting that he had nearly 10 months to interview the witnesses. Koehler fired his two public defenders before they could interview the witnesses. He had no luck obtaining statements from the witnesses by telephone from the jail where he remained from his arrest until his conviction. The proper procedure would have been to schedule a deposition, which easily could have been accomplished by a public defender, if not by Koehler during his incarceration. His alleged inability to have his case investigated was a self-imposed limitation arising out of his decision to represent himself. Engle v. State (1984), Ind., 467 N.E.2d 712. Therefore, the trial court exercised appropriate discretion in refusing to suppress the testimony or to grant a continuance.