Opinion ID: 390239
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Pre-trial Matters

Text: 29 Appellants request our review of certain pre-trial matters they contend constitute reversible error. These include motions for bill of particulars, requests for Brady material and the medical examination into Willie Noriega's competence to testify. 30 It is argued that because of the complexity of the case, the motions for bill of particulars should have been granted to prevent confusion which hindered the defendants from understanding the nature of the charges against them. Action on a motion for bill of particulars is committed to the sound discretion of the trial judge. We may reverse a ruling denying the motion only if a defendant demonstrates that he was actually surprised at trial and thus incurred prejudice to his substantial rights by the denial. Diecidue, 603 F.2d at 563. No such demonstration has been made to this court; there has been no abuse of discretion and no reversible error exists. 31 Appellants contend that the government failed to comply with the disclosure requirements of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), and its progeny. They specifically call our attention to inconsistent statements made prior to and during trial by a government witness and a letter sent to the U.S. Attorney by a psychiatric expert for the government. The alleged inconsistent statements were made by a witness with respect to a 1972 fire in which two arsonists died. 6 In her first statement to the police shortly after the fire, the witness said that Robert Bradwell (one of the arsonists who died) had told her that he had been robbed and set on fire by unknown persons. At trial, she testified that Bradwell had asked her to make that statement, but that he also told her what really happened: he had been burned while he, Lester Oates and Paul Guarino set fire to the Kakeland Bakery. 32 As impeaching evidence, the prior inconsistent statement would fall within disclosure requirements because Brady encompasses impeachment evidence as well as evidence favorable to the accused on the issue of guilt. United States v. Auten, 632 F.2d 478 (5th Cir. 1980). Failure of the government to disclose information useful only for impeachment, however, mandates reversal only if defendants demonstrate that the undisclosed evidence probably would have resulted in acquittal. United States v. Anderson, 574 F.2d 1347 (5th Cir. 1978). It cannot be seriously contended that this one statement made by one of the more than one hundred government witnesses would probably have resulted in acquittal. The claim is devoid of merit. 33 The remaining asserted Brady violation concerns a letter written to the U.S. Attorney by the psychiatrist who served as the government's witness on rebuttal. In the letter the psychiatrist opined that Willie Noriega was not psychotic in 1963 but that he had self-induced psychotic symptoms by using drugs in an attempt to avoid prosecution for arson. The letter was given to the defendants after the doctor testified, consistent with the requirements of the Jencks Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3500. This disclosure expunged any earlier error because when alleged Brady material is contained in Jencks Act material, disclosure is generally timely if the government complies with the Jencks Act. Anderson, 574 F.2d at 1352. This Brady claim is also without merit. 34 Pursuant to a defense request prior to trial, the trial court exercised its discretion and appointed an expert to conduct a competency examination of Noriega. See United States v. Roach, 590 F.2d 181 (5th Cir. 1979); United States v. Jackson, 576 F.2d 46 (5th Cir. 1978). The psychiatrist was instructed to examine Noriega and formulate an opinion about his present mental state and whether he was then able to differentiate reality from fantasy and accurately to remember and relate events that occurred during the prior five years. The expert determined Noriega was competent to testify at trial. Appellants insist the court erred in not requiring the psychiatrist also to determine Noriega's mental condition during the time period of the alleged offenses. 35 Whether a witness is competent to testify is a threshold question of law to be answered by the judge. Roach, supra; Wharton's Criminal Evidence, Vol. 11 § 377 (13th ed. C. Torcia 1972). It is left to the jury to assess a witness's credibility and the weight to be accorded his testimony. Because a witness's mental state during the period about which he proposes to testify is a matter which affects his credibility, it is a jury determination and thus not germane to competency to testify. We posted this trail in United States v. Partin, 493 F.2d 750, 762 (5th Cir. 1974), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 903, 98 S.Ct. 298, 54 L.Ed.2d 189 (1977): 36 The readily apparent principle is that the jury should, within reason, be informed of all the matters affecting a witness's credibility to aid in their determination of the truth It is just as reasonable that a jury be informed of a witness's mental incapacity at a time about which he proposes to testify as it would be for the jury to know that he then suffered an impairment of sight or hearing. It all goes to the ability to comprehend, know, and correctly relate the truth. 37 See also Greene v. Wainwright, 634 F.2d 272 (5th Cir. 1981). 38 In the case at bar the trial judge was not obligated to ask the court-appointed expert to determine Noriega's mental capacity at the time of the alleged offenses as well as his competence to testify. It would not have been error had the trial judge done so, for this would have been an additional item of evidence for the jury to consider in making its credibility assessment. Nevertheless, to decline to grant this defense request does not constitute reversible error. The defendants had ample opportunity to show Noriega's mental condition at the time about which he testified. Defense experts testified, as did acquaintances of Noriega who knew him during the arson spree. Furthermore, the jury was properly instructed to consider evidence of a witness's mental condition at the time of the incidents in judging the credibility of the witness and the weight to be given to that witness's testimony.