Opinion ID: 2599107
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Hindering Defense Discovery

Text: Kleypas argues the State's actions in persistently hindering defense discovery must be considered in addressing the pattern of misconduct and bad faith on the part of the State. He incorporates his arguments on the State's failure to correct KBI Agent Williams' testimony regarding the Are we going to have to get out and walk? statement and the failure to inform the FBI of the trial court's order to not consume all DNA material needlessly. He adds to this another alleged failure on the part of the State to timely disclose evidence relating to the officer at the elbow question. During the car ride from Springfield to Girard, Kleypas was asked if he would have committed the crime if a police officer had been present. Kleypas replied he thought it would not have mattered when he gets like that. Kleypas appears to suggest there was some sort of purposeful omission of this statement in Agent Williams' and Detective Hite's reports. The events surrounding this question, Agent Williams' and Detective Hite's failures to report the comment, and how the information came to light occurred as follows: On April 5, 1996, 3 days after the car ride in which the comment was made, defense counsel filed a motion to preserve police communications and request for discovery. The trial court granted the motion to preserve communications. Approximately 1 year later, on March 5, 1997, defense counsel filed a motion to call prosecutor Barry Disney as a witness to ask him about a comment that he made in a taped telephone conversation to a member of the attorney general's office. During the conversation, Disney had relayed Kleypas' answer to the officer at the elbow question and stated that neither Agent Williams nor Detective Hite had provided this information in his report or acknowledged such a statement in his testimony. In its response to this motion, the State noted that the tape of the telephone conversation had been listened to by a defense investigator on April 29, 1996, but defense counsel had never questioned Hite as to the statement. At a hearing on the motion, the defense counsel examined Hite and asked if Hite recalled asking Kleypas if he would have committed the crime had an officer been standing next to him. Hite stated that Kleypas didn't really give me a yes or no answer. Hite also indicated that Disney requested that he ask the question. In response to a question, Hite agreed that he had not included this question and answer in his report. Agent Williams also agreed, in response to a defense question, that he had not written down this particular question and answer. Kleypas admits this evidence became available to the defense well before trial but claims the State's failure to disclose this exculpatory statement under both K.S.A. 22-3212(a)(4) and Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 10 L. Ed.2d 215, 83 S. Ct. 1194 (1963), demonstrates a bad-faith attempt to obstruct the defense. According to Kleypas, as the State does not contest that the statement was exculpatory in nature, the State's duty to disclose was triggered. Furthermore, Kleypas claims Hite's failure to include Kleypas' response to this question could not have been inadvertent given the fact that the matter was deemed so important that he was specifically directed by Disney to ask Kleypas the question. Kleypas' contention that nondisclosure of the statement was purposeful is wholly without support. The fact that Disney may have asked Detective Hite to ask Kleypas this question does not suggest that Hite gave it any significance nor should he have. There is no evidence the State purposefully hindered discovery by failing to notify the defense that Agent Williams realized he had made the, Are we going to have to get out and walk? statement, by failing to inform the FBI to conserve DNA material if at all possible, or by failing to report Kleypas' response to the question of whether he would have committed the crime had an officer been present at the scene. While it is clear that the State should have notified the defense counsel of these statements and should have informed the FBI of the court's ruling regarding DNA testing, the misconduct here was not so gross and flagrant as to deny Kleypas a fair trial.