Opinion ID: 1830839
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Undisclosed Investigatory Pictures

Text: ¶ 43. Hughes first contends that the trial court erred when it denied his motion for a mistrial after it was revealed on cross-examination that Mrs. Stella Rowe, a prosecution witness, had been shown what she recalled as two drawings by the police, which Hughes contends are undisclosed exculpatory evidence. Master Sergeant Sammy Aldridge of the Mississippi Highway Patrol was identified as being the individual who showed Mrs. Rowe the pictures, and he was brought back to testify. He still had the pictures in his possession. Master Sergeant Aldridge testified that he went to Mrs. Rowe's house on January 24, 1996, and showed her a computer composite prepared done by the Senatobia Police Department and four to five faxed copies of drivers licenses, some of which came from the files of the Department of Public Safety. These were potential suspects. The computer composite was made of a white male seen standing by Galloway's car later in the morning after her disappearance and was later identified as the wrecker driver called by police to move Galloway's car. Mrs. Rowe did not identify any of these individuals as the white male she saw in the truck. [4] Hughes argued to the trial court, and now pursues on appeal, that the State's failure to turn the composite and faxes over to the defense violated U.R.C.C P. 9.04. Hughes also frames this alleged discovery violation in the context of a more general Brady claim, alleging that a substantial deprivation of his constitutional right to a fair trial was hampered by lack of disclosure of these pictures. This sub-issue is completely without merit. ¶ 44. Brady v. Maryland stands for the general and reasonably comprehensible proposition that the prosecution must disclose exculpatory evidence to a criminal defendant. We now hold that the suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution. Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). ¶ 45. Obviously, Brady, by its own terms, only applies to favorable evidence, i.e. evidence which is either exculpatory, or which tends to impeach the State's case. Here, it is not entirely clear that the evidence of which Hughes complains was favorable. ¶ 46. The exchange during cross-examination surrounding the drawings shown to Mrs. Rowe is as follows: Q: [COUNSEL FOR HUGHES]: Did the police show you any photographs of William Hughes when they were interviewing you? A: STELLA ROWE: They showed me some drawings, but that was all I saw. Q: Have you seen any photographs of William Hughes other than what you said you saw on the TV? A: Not until I saw him on TV. . . . Q. Do you recall who showed you these drawings, Mrs. Rowe? A: I am not really sure which one showed me some drawings. . . . Q. How many drawings did they show you? A: I saw two. Q: What did these drawings consist of? A: I guess someone had drawn the pictures. They weren't photographs. One was of a real heavy-faced person maybe with a beard, and the other one I couldn't tell anything from either one of them that, you know, I could connect with anything. ¶ 47. When the defense subsequently moved for a mistrial, contending that the State had failed to turn over exculpatory evidence, it advanced no theory as to why this material is either exculpatory or probative to impeaching the State's case; nor does the argument on the motion aid in determining exactly how this material could be favorable for Hughes. Hughes' attorney stated, Without the drawings, that could be exculpatory material. It affects our cross-examination rights as guaranteed by the constitution. In other words, if we had these drawings, we could have handed them to Mrs. Rowe on cross-examination a short time ago and said, is this Mr. Hughes? Is this not Mr. Hughes? Is this some of his features? Is this not some of his features? Were you able to identify this drawing when the police officer handed it to you, yes or no? Things of that nature. ¶ 48. Even assuming, arguendo, that the evidence is favorable and thus potentially covered by Brady, there is still no indication whatsoever that the drawings shown to Mrs. Rowe were material omissions. In Kyles v. Whitley the Supreme Court made it quite clear that not every failure of the prosecution to turn over favorable evidence rises to constitutional error. Bagley's touchstone of materiality is a reasonable probability of a different result, and the adjective is important. The question is not whether the defendant would more likely than not have received a different verdict with the evidence, but whether in its absence he received a fair trial, understood as a trial resulting in a verdict worthy of confidence. A reasonable probability of a different result is accordingly shown when the Government's evidentiary suppression undermines confidence in the outcome of the trial.... Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 434, 115 S.Ct. 1555, 131 L.Ed.2d 490 (1995) ( quoting United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 678, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985)). ¶ 49. Here, the prosecution sought out and delivered the pictures to the defendant, and Hughes was given time to assimilate these pictures and formulate whatever response he felt was necessary. Hughes was permitted to question MSG Aldridge concerning the composite and faxed copies of drivers licenses. Mrs. Rowe was not discharged following her testimony. Hughes was completely free to recall her and cross-examine her at length with the aid of these allegedly exculpatory pictures. It is important to note that the prosecutor was also unaware of the existence of these pictures until discovered by Hughes during the cross-examination of Mrs. Rowe. These pictures were no more or no less than the usual suspects law enforcement use when they are trying to come up with a lead in an unsolved case. This case is thus a far cry from Brady and its progeny in which the evidence was actively suppressed until its discovery after the trial. ¶ 50. Hughes' second contention that the failure to disclose these drawings violated state discovery laws is also without merit. Only paragraphs 5 and 6 of Uniform Circuit and County Court Practice Rule (U.R.C.C.P.) 9.04 A would be relevant for consideration, as follows: 5. Any physical evidence and photographs relevant to the case or which may be offered in evidence; and 6. Any exculpatory material concerning the defendant. U.R.C.C.P. 9.04 A. ¶ 51. The seminal case interpreting this rule is Box v. State, 437 So.2d 19 (Miss. 1983). In that case the State had neglected to tell the defendant the identity of a key State's witness. Box, 437 So.2d at 20. This Court, emphasizing the fundamental nature of the defendant's interest, reversed and held that This State is committed to the proposition that these conflicting interests are best accommodated and that justice is more nearly achieved when, well in advance of trial, each side has reasonable access to the evidence of the other. Id. at 21. ¶ 52. Box and U.R.C.C.P. 9.04 have been applied to a variety of evidence, but never to a computer composite and faxed pictures of persons which were not identified by a witness. U.R.C.C.P. 9.04 is obviously much broader than Brady, but the definition of exculpatory in U.R.C.C.P. 9.04(6) is presumably on par with the federal definition of exculpatory under Brady and its progeny. Therefore, there was no discovery violation under Box and U.R.C.C.P. 9.04 because the pictures were not exculpatory. ¶ 53. Next, we are concerned with the issue of unfair surprise caused by the failure to timely disclose the pictures. ¶ 54. This Court has noted that U.R.C.C.P. 9.04 protects the defendant from unfair surprise caused by the unexpected introduction of evidence not disclosed by the State. The essential purpose of Rule 4.06 [now 9.04] is the elimination of trial by ambush and surprise. Disclosure is the hallmark of fairness and the quest for justice that should be the goal of the criminal justice system. Robinson v. State, 508 So.2d 1067, 1070 (Miss.1987). However, the State never intended to offer the pictures into evidence. So we are back to the issue of failure to disclose exculpatory evidence. However, the lower court did all that was possible to accommodate Hughes, and this violation falls short of what would justify a mistrial. ¶ 55. In conclusion, the pictures shown to Mrs. Rowe were not exculpatory, nor did the trial judge err in refusing to grant a mistrial based on the State's failure to disclose the pictures. Issue III(A) is without merit.