Opinion ID: 739300
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Disclosure Violations

Text: 28 Defendants argue that the government violated its disclosure obligations both under the Jencks Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3500 et seq. (requiring disclosure of statements of a government witness), and Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963) (requiring disclosure of exculpatory evidence), in the following manner. 29 Several hours after defendants were arrested, early in the morning on February 25, 1994, a routine police hearing was conducted to determine whether Crowe had been justified in firing his weapon off-duty. Crowe testified at the hearing, as did Sapienza and Parks, the first officers to arrive on the scene. Before trial, defendants requested copies of the tape recordings of the hearing. The prosecutor turned over one tape marked Board Hearing in the stated belief that this tape was the only tape of the hearing. It turned out, however, that the tape contained only Crowe's testimony and thus the hearing testimony of Sapienza, who later testified at defendants' trial and Parks, who did not, was never disclosed. 30 Although the record is somewhat unclear, the missing hearing testimony apparently came to light following the jury's request during deliberation for a play-back of Crowe's hearing testimony. Defense counsel apparently realized at that time that they had not been provided with the testimony of the other two officers. Following the verdict, defendants claimed that they were entitled to a new trial because the undisclosed tape constituted Jencks Act and Brady material that would have supported defendants' theory of the case by casting further doubt on Crowe's credibility. The district court rejected this argument. 31 We note initially that [b]ecause motions for a new trial are disfavored in this Circuit the standard for granting such a motion is strict; that is, newly discovered evidence must be of a sort that could, if believed, change the verdict. United States v. Gambino, 59 F.3d 353, 364 (2d Cir.1995). This standard has been held to counsel in favor of granting a new trial motion only where the new evidence would probably lead to an acquittal. United States v. Gilbert, 668 F.2d 94, 96 (2d Cir.1981). Moreover, the trial court's rulings are given great deference on these issues because it presided over the trial and is better able to determine the effect the new materials would have had. United States v. Petrillo, 821 F.2d 85, 88 (2d Cir.1987). 32 Defendants' Jencks Act claim applies only to Sapienza's testimony, which was not turned over to the defense prior to Sapienza's testimony at trial. See 18 U.S.C. § 3500(b). The government concedes that its failure to provide defendants with Sapienza's hearing testimony was a Jencks Act violation, but argues that its error was harmless. We agree. 33 At the outset, we reject defendants' suggestion that the government's omission was deliberate, evidenced by its failure on direct examination to question Sapienza about his hearing testimony--presumably because any such questioning would reveal that the government had access to the secret Sapienza tape. The government's conduct was entirely consistent with its own explanation that, like defendants, the prosecutor (who had only recently been assigned to the case) was unaware of the tape's existence. Defendants' deliberate concealment theory is further undercut by the fact that the government turned over to the defense Sapienza's daily logbook that indicated his presence at the hearing. 34 Where, as here, the government's Jencks Act violation is inadvertent, the defendant must establish that there is a significant chance that the added item would instill a reasonable doubt in a reasonable juror. Put another way, the failure to disclose may be disregarded if there is no reasonable probability that had the evidence been disclosed, the result would have been different. See United States v. Nicolapolous, 30 F.3d 381, 383-384 (2d Cir.1994). If the Sapienza hearing testimony had been disclosed in a timely fashion, we do not believe that the result would likely have been different. There was no material inconsistency between Sapienza's testimony at the hearing and the trial testimony of Sapienza or Crowe. Other than broadly asserting that Sapienza's hearing testimony was material, defendants point to no particular piece of that testimony that would have helped them either by way of exculpation or impeachment. Defendants do devote considerable energy to pointing to differences between Crowe's testimony at the hearing and his testimony at trial; however, the record is clear that the defendants had Crowe's hearing testimony when he testified at trial and indeed were able to put it to good use in bringing out inconsistencies on cross-examination. 35 We also reject the defendants' Brady claim. A new trial is warranted for a Brady violation only where the defendant can establish that the government failed to disclose favorable evidence, including favorable impeachment evidence, see Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 154-55, 92 S.Ct. 763, 766, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972), and that the evidence was material. See Amiel, 95 F.3d at 144. Evidence is material only if there is a reasonable probability that had the evidence been disclosed, the result would have been different. See United States v. Payne, 63 F.3d 1200, 1209 (2d Cir.1995). 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, ----, 115 S.Ct. 1555, 1566, 131 L.Ed.2d 490 (1995) (quoting United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 678, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 3381-82, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985)). 36 As an initial matter, we note that it is questionable whether Sapienza's hearing testimony was suppressed as Brady and its progeny define that term. [E]vidence is not considered to have been suppressed within the meaning of the Brady doctrine if the defendant or his attorney either knew, or should have known, of the essential facts permitting him to take advantage of [that] evidence. Payne, 63 F.3d at 1208 (internal quotation marks omitted). Prior to Sapienza's testimony at trial, the government provided defendants with a copy of Sapienza's notebook that revealed his attendance at the hearing. Defendants were thus on notice that Sapienza was present at the hearing--from which the fact that he was called there to testify would have been a logical inference. See, e.g., United States v. LeRoy, 687 F.2d 610, 618-19 (2d Cir.1982) (finding defendant was on notice that certain of defendant's employees may have provided possible exculpatory testimony to grand jury where defendant was aware that similarly situated employee had in fact testified before grand jury). 37 We need not decide whether or not the evidence was suppressed, however, because we believe, in any event, that the evidence was not material. See Gambino, 59 F.3d at 366 (where evidence not material, court need not address whether or not evidence was suppressed). The testimony of Sapienza and Parks at the hearing was fully consistent with the testimony of Crowe and Sapienza at trial and thus was devoid of exculpation or impeachment value. 38 Defendants make much of the fact that Parks testified at the hearing that she did not hear any gunshots as she drove up to the crime scene. This testimony would not have taken defendants very far. The fact that Parks did not hear gunshots is hardly dispositive as to whether they occurred. Moreover, defendants' theory was that only Crowe fired a weapon on that night; evidence suggesting that no shots were fired plainly would have undermined, rather than supported, that theory. Finally, the charge against defendants was not that they fired their weapons, but that they possessed them. Hence, Parks' testimony would not have made conviction less probable, and thus, it was not material. See Bagley, 473 U.S. at 682, 105 S.Ct. at 3383-84. Because our confidence in the trial's outcome is not undermined, see Kyles, 514 U.S. at ----, 115 S.Ct. at 1566, we reject defendants' Brady claim.