Opinion ID: 853762
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Crowbar

Text: The day after the killings a crowbar was discovered in the alley running behind Myrna's apartment. The crowbar's existence was promptly disclosed to the defense, as was a report that it had been tested for the presence of human blood and tested positive. On March 13, 1997, detectives, at the direction of the prosecutor's office, again interviewed Myrna and Theresa. Myrna confirmed that Dye had owned a crowbar similar or identical to the one found. The detective promptly advised a deputy prosecutor of what he had learned, and the deputy instructed him to write an interdepartmental memo memorializing the conversation. The detective wrote the memo and gave it to a paralegal in the prosecutor's office. The paralegal apparently misfiled the memo and failed to route it to the prosecutors or defense attorneys who would try the case. [3] As a result, Myrna's statements that the crowbar belonged to Dye were not disclosed to the defense until August 13, 1997, three weeks before Dye's trial was to begin. Upon receipt of the memo, defense counsel filed a motion to exclude any evidence relating to the crowbar, contending that the State's belated disclosure of the interdepartmental memo is in total and complete violation of the Rules of Discovery of the Marion Superior Court, is contemptuous, and is deserving of the most severe sanctions. The trial court conducted a hearing on the motion and denied the motion to exclude the evidence, observing that [t]here are other remedies available to the defendant. Dye points to Rule 7 of the Rules of Organization and Procedure of the Marion Superior Court, Criminal Division. Section 1(a) of that rule provides that [t]he court at initial hearing will automatically order the State to disclose and furnish all relevant items and information under this Rule to the defendant(s) within twenty (20) days from the date of the initial hearing.... The information here, however, was not known to exist within twenty days of the initial hearing, but rather was uncovered by the State months later during the course of its preparation for trial. Under these circumstances, the State nevertheless had the obligation to make timely disclosure of the evidence to the defense. The five month delay here can hardly be viewed as timely. Nevertheless, accepting the State's explanation at face value, the belated disclosure was not flagrant or deliberate, and disclosure nevertheless occurred three weeks before trial. This was sufficient time to allow defense counsel to re-depose the necessary witnesses before trial, which was done. Under these circumstances, the trial court's denial of Dye's request to exclude the evidence and motion for continuance was not clear error, and in any event he has not demonstrated any resulting prejudice. [4] Kindred, 524 N.E.2d at 287. Dye also asserts error based on the State's belated disclosure of Theresa Jones' March 13 statement to detectives. Theresa told police that she had owned a crowbar similar to the one described by Myrna, but after being shown the crowbar found near the crime scene told police that it was not hers. She also told police that she could not recall whether her crowbar was in the trunk of her car when it was repossessed. This conversation was also memorialized in the same misfiled memo described above and not disclosed to the defense until the memo surfaced three weeks before trial. Dye argues that, because of the belated disclosure, he had an inadequate opportunity to effectively use this information. Had time allowed, the defense could have explored the repossession of Theresa's car and if the crowbar was, indeed, in the trunk. He contends that the State's belated disclosure of this evidence constitutes a violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). We disagree. As a threshold matter, there was no Brady violation because the evidence was disclosed to the defense three weeks before trial, see Williams v. State, 714 N.E.2d 644, 648-49 (Ind.1999), and the defense had ample opportunity to pursue any avenues raised by its disclosure and to adjust its strategy accordingly. Moreover, Brady and its progeny apply to evidence that is material to guilt or punishment, i.e., evidence that creates a reasonable probability of a different result of a proceeding. See, e.g., United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 682, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985). Theresa's statement to the police is hardly exculpatory or material to Dye's guilt. She told police that her crowbar was different from the one found near the crime scene, and questioning those individuals who repossessed her car would, in the best case scenario to the defense, have disclosed that no crowbar was found in her trunk. This would not exculpate Dye nor would it materially add to his defense in light of the overwhelming physical evidence connecting him to the crime.