Opinion ID: 1205526
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Defendant's right to a free transcript of a previous, unrelated trial

Text: Before trial, Defendant asked the court by written motion to provide a free transcript of a prior trial in which he had been convicted of armed robbery. That trial took place in mid-March 1992, about six months after Jones' murder and about five months before Defendant's homicide trial. He stated that he needed the transcript because the prosecutor had filed notice that the State intended to call witnesses from the armed robbery trial. [9] The judge denied his request on grounds that no good cause has been shown for the need of the trial transcripts, advising him to renew his motion setting forth some facts which demonstrate an actual need other than the bare conclusion that he needs the transcript `to prepare a defense'. Minute Entry, June 13, 1992, at 19. Defendant made no further request for the transcript. On appeal, Defendant claims that in denying him valuable defense information, the judge violated his equal protection and due process rights. The United States Supreme Court has held that requiring an indigent defendant to demonstrate a particularized need for a free transcript of a prior mistrial or preliminary hearing can violate equal protection. Britt v. North Carolina, 404 U.S. 226, 227, 92 S.Ct. 431, 433-34, 30 L.Ed.2d 400 (1971); Roberts v. LaVallee, 389 U.S. 40, 88 S.Ct. 194, 19 L.Ed.2d 41 (1967); Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, 17, 76 S.Ct. 585, 590, 100 L.Ed. 891 (1956) (In criminal trials, a State can no more discriminate on account of poverty then on account of religion, race, or color.). Only financial need, not particularized need, must be shown. Britt held that two factors are relevant in determining if a trial court has erred by refusing an indigent defendant a free trial transcript: (1) the value of the transcript to the defendant for an effective defense at trial or on appeal, and (2) the availability of alternative devices that would fulfil the same functions as the transcript. Britt, 404 U.S. at 227, 92 S.Ct. at 434. [10] The transcript from a prior mistrial has been recognized as a valuable resource for impeaching witnesses, guiding discovery, and developing trial strategy. Id. at 232, 92 S.Ct. at 436 (Douglas, J., dissenting). Thus, when a transcript from a mistrial is requested for use at the retrial, the value of the transcript is generally presumed without a showing of specific need. United States v. Rosales-Lopez, 617 F.2d 1349, 1355-56 (9th Cir.1980), aff'd, 451 U.S. 182, 101 S.Ct. 1629, 68 L.Ed.2d 22 (1981). A preliminary hearing transcript may also be presumed to have value in connection with a pending trial. See id. In this case, however, Defendant asked for a free transcript of his trial on an unrelated charge. Our cases have held that there is no presumed value to the defense in the transcript of a co-defendant's trial. See State v. Tison, 129 Ariz. 526, 540, 633 P.2d 335, 349 (1981) (indigent defendant must show special need in requesting a transcript of co-defendant's trial), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 882, 103 S.Ct. 180, 74 L.Ed.2d 147 (1982); State v. Razinha, 123 Ariz. 355, 358, 599 P.2d 808, 811 (App. 1979) (citing cases). But see State v. Campbell, 215 N.W.2d 227 (Iowa 1974). Although the present question is one of first impression for this court, we partially answered it in Tison. Tison claimed the trial judge erred in denying him a free transcript of his co-defendant's trial on the same charges. In holding that there is no presumed value of a co-defendant's trial transcript even when the same witnesses are called, we emphasized that the constitution does not require the State to provide every service that might be of benefit to an indigent defendant ... but only to assure the indigent defendant an adequate opportunity to present his claims fairly.... Tison, 129 Ariz. at 540, 633 P.2d at 349, quoting Ross v. Moffitt, 417 U.S. 600, 616, 94 S.Ct. 2437, 2447, 41 L.Ed.2d 341 (1974). Because a mistrial effectively serves as a dry run of the State's case, a transcript is ordinarily considered invaluable as a discovery device and tool for impeaching prosecution witnesses at the subsequent trial. Britt, 404 U.S. at 228, 92 S.Ct. at 434. But when the transcript sought is that for an unrelated charge  even against the same defendant  the crime, victim(s), time, place, facts, and witnesses are ordinarily different. Thus, the rationale for the presumption of need does not apply to a transcript of the defendant's trial on unrelated charges. Its value must be established, and unless the defendant demonstrates a specific need for the trial transcript, the court does not err in concluding that the transcript is not necessary for an effective defense. The mere fact that a witness who testified at the first, unrelated trial may be called at the second is not sufficient for a presumption of value. See Fisher v. Hargett, 997 F.2d 1095, 1098 (5th Cir.1993) (free transcript of a prior trial involving a different victim and offense at a different time not constitutionally required); McAllister v. Garrison, 569 F.2d 813, 815 (4th Cir.1978) (holding that defendant must make a reasonable showing of transcript's value even though common witnesses called), cert. denied, 436 U.S. 928, 98 S.Ct. 2824, 56 L.Ed.2d 771 (1978). When asking for a free transcript of an unrelated trial, therefore, a defendant may be required to demonstrate some reasonable probability of defense value. Defendant said he needed the robbery trial transcript because the State intended to call common witnesses from the armed robbery trial. Despite the judge's request, Defendant made no further showing of particularized need for the transcript. Without a sufficient showing of the transcript's value for an effective defense, the judge did not err in denying Defendant a free copy. We reach this conclusion, as we must, the same way the judge did, on the record as it then existed. Although the robbery victim did not testify at the homicide trial, three other witnesses testified at both trials. At the murder trial, one of these witnesses, Defendant's roommate John Meacham, testified that he overheard Defendant make an inculpatory statement. The same prosecutor had elicited similar testimony from Meacham at the robbery trial. Defendant argues that the statements attributed to him by Meacham refer to the same incident but were introduced at two separate trials to prove two separate crimes. Because Defendant had different lawyers at each trial, his trial lawyer in the present case may not have known about Meacham's previous testimony without reading the transcript. Defendant is correct that the transcript of Meacham's robbery trial testimony might have alerted defense counsel that the State was making inconsistent use of Meacham's testimony. Thus the transcript might have helped impeach Meacham at the murder trial. [11] His testimony at both trials was offered to prove Defendant's culpability in unrelated crimes. But neither Defendant nor the trial judge could have reasonably anticipated that the prosecutor would make inconsistent use of the same testimony. Because the prosecutor did not inform the court of his intent to elicit the same testimony from an unrelated trial, the court had no way of knowing that the requested transcript might help the defense. If the transcript would have been valuable to Defendant, any prejudice caused by the denial of a free copy was attributable not to the trial judge, who ruled correctly on the record before her, but to the prosecutor. Thus, we find no equal protection violation.