Opinion ID: 1237936
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: issues concerning appellate record

Text: During the trial, the defense sought discovery of all statements made to law enforcement authorities by Michael Thompson, Clifford Smith, and Janet Myers, and all Department of Corrections records concerning the AB. The prosecution asserted that much of the requested material was either irrelevant or protected by the statutory privileges for official information (Evid. Code, § 1040) and the identity of confidential informants ( id., § 1041). The trial court held a series of closed hearings, from which the defense was excluded (see id., § 915, subd. (b)), to rule on the prosecution's objections to disclosure. Transcripts of these hearings, and documents that the trial court ruled not subject to discovery, are part of the appellate record and have been provided to this court under seal. On September 19, 1989, defendant's appellate counsel submitted a motion asking this court to review the sealed materials and determine whether any portions could be released to the defense. In response to the motion, this court released some 400 pages of reporter's transcripts of the hearings, after deletion of confidential material disclosed during the course of the hearings. Thereafter, on June 27, 1990, appellant sent us a letter requesting clarification of our ruling. We deemed the letter a motion for reconsideration and denied it on August 15, 1990. Defendant maintains, first, that he cannot determine whether in camera hearings have been held for which transcripts do not exist or for which transcripts exist but have not been released by this court. This court has released to appellate counsel redacted copies of all reporter's transcripts in the appellate record that have not previously been provided to the defense. After lengthy proceedings in the trial court, in which appellate counsel participated, the superior court clerk certified the record as complete. (See Cal. Rules of Court, rules 35(c), 39.5.) We find no reason to question that certification. Second, defendant maintains that this court must release the documents that the trial court found to be not subject to discovery on grounds of relevance or privilege so that appellate counsel can decide whether those rulings were properly made. We may not do so. Evidence that the trial court has found to be privileged may not be released without the consent of the holder of the privilege. (Evid. Code, § 915, subd. (b).) Nor do we find any authority requiring the disclosure of information held nondiscoverable on relevance grounds. In many instances the court did not reach the prosecution's claims of privilege because the material had no conceivable relevance. To disclose such material now could reveal privileged information. Parties who challenge on appeal trial court orders withholding information as privileged or otherwise nondiscoverable must do the best they can with the information they have, and the appellate court will fill the gap by objectively reviewing the whole record. ( People v. Collins (1986) 42 Cal.3d 378, 395, fn. 22 [228 Cal. Rptr. 899, 722 P.2d 173].) (134) Based on the transcripts we have released, defendant argues that certain of the trial court's rulings were prejudicially erroneous, but defendant is mistaken in each instance. The trial court ruled that the polygraph operators' opinions about the veracity of Michael Thompson were not discoverable because they were not admissible evidence (Evid. Code, § 351.1). Although the prosecution has a duty to inform the defense of polygraph results that cast doubt on the credibility of a prosecution witness ( U.S. v. MacEntee, supra, 713 F. Supp. 829, 831), defendant could not have been prejudiced because polygraph results are inadmissible and the defense was well aware of many other grounds to question Thompson's credibility. A memorandum written by Department of Justice Investigator Paul Tulleners, noting disagreements with coworkers and supervisors about which materials should be disclosed to the defense and expressing his personal feelings about these disputes, contains nothing of legitimate use to the defense; all such disputes were resolved ultimately by the court's rulings. The trial court's remark on February 26, 1985, that it had not reviewed Michael Thompson's entire C-file, does not mean the court never did so. On the same page of the transcript the court said that it would look at it and see what's in there. The trial court properly ruled on February 28, 1985, that material would not be disclosed because it was not severable from privileged material. When the prosecutor on March 4, 1985, said one entry was being hidden, he was referring to the name and address of a person who was a relative of a potential witness and who could be endangered by disclosure, and not to any material relevant to this case. Having carefully reviewed the whole record, we find no prejudicial error in the trial court's rulings denying discovery. We reject defendant's claims that the trial court's rulings, or the methods employed by this court to review those rulings, denied defendant any of his federal constitutional rights under the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, or Fourteenth Amendments.