Opinion ID: 502329
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Introduction of Videotape Evidence.

Text: 17 Donald Brown and Donald Roberson join to challenge the district court's admission into evidence of a segment of a videotape recording of the January 2, 1986 delivery of stolen truck parts. Audiotape and videotape recordings were made of the January 2, 1986 delivery. The government copied those recordings involving a particular defendant, and turned the copies over to the respective party. In addition, the government's investigative report, with its transcription of both audio and video tapes, was made available to all of the defendants. 18 After viewing copies of the videotape, counsel for Donald Brown and counsel for Roberson told the jury in their opening statements that neither defendant would be seen in the January 2, 1986 videotape. During the course of the trial, defense counsel learned that a segment of the videotape, which showed both men present in the office of the repair shop for the payoff for the stolen truck parts had not been copied and turned over to them. Counsel objected to the playing of this missing segment, based on the government's failure to disclose material evidence, as required by Fed.R.Crim.P. 16. After finding that the government's failure to copy the missing segment of the videotape resulted from inadvertence, the district court overruled defense counsels' objections. The missing segment of the videotape was played to the jury. 19 Donald Brown and Donald Roberson now emphatically argue that the district court's failure to exclude this missing segment of the videotape constitutes reversible error, in light of counsels' opening statements to the jury. They contend that introduction of the missing segment of the videotape both scuppered the defense and undermined their theory of innocent participation in the January 2, 1986 delivery. 20 We cannot accept that introduction of the missing segment of the videotape prejudiced the defendants to such an extent that it denied them a fair trial. The determination of prejudice in this case turns upon the impact that the undisclosed evidence had upon the defendants' cases. As defense counsel argued in support of their objection to the admission of the undisclosed segment of the videotape, the videotape was generally duplicative of other audio recordings and the transcripts previously disclosed to the defense counsel. The undisclosed segment of the tape was not new evidence, but merely old, familiar evidence in a different form. We agree with the district court that the audio tape and accompanying transcripts should have alerted defense counsel both to the presence of the defendants on the videotape and the failure of the FBI to fully copy the videotape. We also note that defense counsel must have been aware that FBI Agent Coff would testify that both Donald Brown and Donald Roberson were present at the payoff for the January 2, 1986 delivery. 21 Defendants' claim of prejudice thus boils down to speculation that counsels' credibility was called into question by their opening statements. While the effect on counsels' credibility is entitled to some weight in an assessment of prejudice resulting from a Rule 16 violation, we do not find that the possible impact of defense counsels' representations to the jury was of sufficient moment to justify reversal. 22