Opinion ID: 1360772
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: the sanction was restitutionary rather than punitive

Text: Wood argues that the sanction imposed by the trial court was designed to punish him rather than to reimburse the prosecution for the cost associated with Wood's failure to disclose. He contends that this is a punitive sanction, rather than restitutionary, and that he should therefore be afforded the due process protections which apply to contempt proceedings. In State v. Thompson, 119 Idaho 67, 803 P.2d 973 (1990), we upheld a monetary sanction assessed against the prosecution for a discovery violation similar to the one involved here. The defense attorney had made a request for discovery and when the prosecution failed to comply, the trial court ordered them to produce the requested information. Id. at 68, 803 P.2d at 974. The prosecution still refused to comply and the trial court ultimately assessed monetary sanctions in the amount of the additional attorney fees incurred. Id. at 69, 803 P.2d at 975. The trial court specifically declined to impose the sanction of excluding the undisclosed information because this would not further the goals of discovery. Id. at 70, 803 P.2d at 976. Aside from the reversal of roles between the defense and prosecution, the case before us is very similar to Thompson. As in Thompson, Wood failed to disclose information after the prosecution requested it and the trial court ordered its production. Likewise, in this case as in Thompson, the court below declined to impose the harshest sanction, electing instead to impose a sanction which was directed at the responsible party and which attempted to reimburse the complaining party. Wood argues that Thompson is distinguishable because it dealt with a case in which the complaining party was actually out of pocket for fees wasted because of the discovery violation and fees necessitated in obtaining an order for discovery; thus the defense had been prejudiced by the failure to disclose. As to his case, Wood argues that the sanction was not a reimbursement to the prosecution because they were never prejudiced by the failure to disclose. We find there is evidence in the transcripts of the sanction hearing and the trial, that the prosecution was prejudiced by the late disclosure. The prosecution testified at the sanction hearing that it took them many additional hours on Wednesday night to evaluate the new information. The prosecution was in touch with their expert, Dr. Beaver, the entire evening. The prosecution also testified that Dr. Beaver was required to work more than they had originally planned due to the new evidence. The transcript demonstrates that the prosecution tried to get up to speed without delaying the trial and did so by relying more heavily on their expert. The prosecution was prejudiced by the late disclosures because the test contained information the prosecution was not aware of and was unprepared to rebut without the extra efforts of Dr. Beaver. The focus of the case had to change due to the undisclosed test and the prosecution testified they never fully prepared due to the lateness of the disclosure. Wood's argument that the prosecution would have had to spend the time evaluating the test anyway, no matter when it was turned over, is without merit. It is true that the prosecution would have looked at the test regardless of when it was disclosed, however had disclosure been timely, it is clear that the prosecution would not have had to put in the same number of hours, or the expert's hours. Additionally, the prosecution testified they had to use Wednesday night scrambling to prepare for the next day in light of the newly disclosed test. This is time that could have been spent preparing for other issues at trial. The fact that the trial judge did not order the sanction paid directly to the prosecution is troubling, as it could be an indication that he was treating it as a fine rather than restitution to the prosecution. However, the record indicates that the sanction was paid into the district court fund, rather than to the county general fund. It is not unusual for at least some of the prosecution and defense witnesses to be paid from the district court fund and, therefore, the district court could have intended this as the best place from which to reimburse the prosecution for its additional witness costs. While we agree it is difficult to say that imposing monetary sanctions against an attorney is not punitive in nature, I.C.R. 16, similar to I.R.C.P. 11, permits a judge under appropriate circumstances to sanction a party; these sanctions include reimbursement to the other party for costs incurred as a result of the first party's dilatory tactics. Particularly in a serious felony case such as this, the trial court is called upon to fashion a sanction which will impress counsel with the importance of responding to discovery requests, and yet will not prejudice the defense of the case. Based on the record below, we hold that the monetary sanction imposed by the trial judge was not punitive but was restitutionary in nature. Therefore, we conclude that Wood was afforded all due process applicable to the imposition of the sanction.