Opinion ID: 1427690
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Gale's Motions to Obtain Psychiatric Records, D-PASS Records, School Records, and Juvenile Court Transcripts or Records

Text: The trial court denied Gale's various discovery motions for disclosure of statutorily privileged information based on the holding in Ritchie. There, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's vacating of Ritchie's convictions for rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, incest, and corruption of a minor, all charges that were brought on behalf of Ritchie's thirteen year-old daughter. Id., 480 U.S. at 43, 107 S.Ct. at 994, 94 L.Ed.2d at 48. Before his trial, Ritchie served a Pennsylvania social service agency (CYS) with a subpoena seeking access to records concerning his daughter. CYS apparently acknowledged that the records existed but refused to produce them. There was no indication that the prosecution had access to or knowledge of the contents of the records at any time. Id., 480 U.S. at 44, 107 S.Ct. at 995, 94 L.Ed.2d at 49 n. 4. Ritchie scheduled a sanctions hearing at which the trial court heard Ritchie's arguments that the records might contain the names of persons who might be favorable witnesses for him at trial. Ritchie also made a specific request for a medical report he believed to have been compiled by CYS in 1978. The trial court acknowledged not having reviewed the entire CYS file and accepted CYS' assertion that no 1978 medical report existed. It then denied Ritchie's motion for sanctions. Id., 480 U.S. at 44, 107 S.Ct. at 995, 94 L.Ed.2d at 49 n. 3. At trial, the prosecution's main witness was Ritchie's daughter and Ritchie was allowed to conduct an extensive cross-examination. The jury then convicted Ritchie on all counts, and he received a three to ten year prison sentence. Id., 480 U.S. at 45, 107 S.Ct. at 995, 94 L.Ed.2d at 49. In his appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court, an intermediate appellate court, Ritchie argued that his sixth amendment rights under the confrontation clause were violated when the trial court denied his motion for sanctions on CYS' refusal to honor the subpoena. That appellate court vacated Ritchie's conviction, holding that although Ritchie did not have an unlimited right to full disclosure of any statutorily privileged information in the CYS file, he did have a right to have the trial court conduct an in camera examination of any privileged records so that the victim's statements could be released. The full record was then to be released to Ritchie's lawyer so that he could use it to argue relevancy of those statements. Counsel for both the prosecution and the defense could then argue harmless error and relevancy, respectively, and the trial court could determine whether denying the information to Ritchie was prejudicial or not. Id. On appeal to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, that court agreed to vacate Ritchie's conviction and remand, concluding that Ritchie's lawyer was entitled to search the entire record for useful evidence. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court relied on Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974) (criminal defendant had sixth amendment confrontation clause right to question witness concerning juvenile criminal record notwithstanding state statute making such records inadmissible) to hold that denying Ritchie's lawyer access to the file denied him his sixth amendment right to confront his accusers because his counsel was not allowed to look at the entire file in an effort to locate evidence for the defense and because the trial court's review would not fulfill that end. Ritchie, 480 U.S. at 46, 107 S.Ct. at 995-96, 94 L.Ed.2d at 50. On certiorari, the United States Supreme Court discussed the balance between the need to safeguard the privacy of privileged information and a criminal defendant's rights under the confrontation clause. It also reviewed that subject in the context of its holding in Davis and concluded that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's interpretation of the holding in Davis was too broad. The Court explained that while its decision in Davis did protect a defendant's trial-right to substantive cross-examination of prosecution witnesses, it did not transform the confrontation clause into a constitutionally-compelled rule of pre-trial discovery. Ritchie, 480 U.S. at 52, 107 S.Ct. at 999, 94 L.Ed.2d at 54. On that basis, a plurality of the Court held that Ritchie's confrontation clause right to cross-examine the prosecutrix had been preserved by the trial court's actions. Id., 480 U.S. at 53, 107 S.Ct. at 1000, 94 L.Ed.2d at 54. Next, the Court discussed the implications which the trial court's actions might have in terms of the sixth amendment compulsory process clause and eventually opted to address Ritchie's claim within the context of more carefully defined due process precedents concerning fundamental fairness in criminal trials. [2] The opinion first emphasized that under the sixth amendment due process clause the government has the obligation to turn over [to the defense] evidence in its possession that is both favorable to the accused and material to guilt or punishment. Id., 480 U.S. at 57, 107 S.Ct. at 1001, 94 L.Ed.2d at 57. (emphasis added) (citing Brady, 373 U.S. at 87, 83 S.Ct. at 1196, 10 L.Ed.2d at 218). The Court also acknowledged the qualified statutory policy of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in keeping this type of information confidential unless its release was compelled by court order. Ritchie, 408 U.S. at 57, 107 S.Ct. at 1002, 94 L.Ed.2d at 56. [3] Next, the Court recognized that under the applicable Pennsylvania statute, and in certain circumstances, such records might contain constitutionally material information vital to the defense. The Court then drew upon the standard for constitutional materiality it had previously articulated in United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 682, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 3383, 87 L.Ed.2d 481, 494 (1985) [4] , and stated: It is well settled that the government has the obligation to turn over evidence in its possession that is both favorable to the accused and material to guilt or punishment. United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976); Brady v. Maryland, supra, [373 U.S.] at 87, 83 S.Ct. at 1194. Although courts have used different terminologies to define materiality, a majority of this Court has agreed, [e]vidence is material only if there is a reasonable probability that, had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A `reasonable probability' is a probability sufficient to undermine the confidence in the outcome. United States v. Bagley, supra, 473 U.S. at 682, 105 S.Ct. at 3375 (opinion of BLACKMUN, J.); see id., at 685, 105 S.Ct. at 3375, 87 L.Ed.2d at 481 (opinion of WHITE, J.). Ritchie, 480 U.S. at 57, 107 S.Ct. at 1001-02, 94 L.Ed.2d at 57. Cf. Aguilar v. State, 764 P.2d 684, 688-89 (Wyo. 1988); W.R. Cr.P. 49(a); W.R.A.P. 7.04 (harmless error standard in Wyoming). Using this standard, the Court affirmed the decision of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to remand the case for further proceedings and held that: Ritchie is entitled to have the CYS file reviewed by the trial court to determine whether it contains information that probably would have changed the outcome of his trial. If it does, he must be given a new trial. If the records maintained by CYS contain no such information or if nondisclosure was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, the lower court will be free to reinstate the prior conviction. Ritchie, 480 U.S. at 58, 107 S.Ct. at 1002, 94 L.Ed.2d at 58. The remaining task facing the Court was to apply the constitutional materiality standard it had just adopted in a way that guaranteed a defendant's rights to a fair trial without radically altering traditional constitutional limits on criminal discovery. The Court began this discussion by noting that a defendant has never had a general constitutional right to conduct his own unsupervised search in the state's files to argue relevancy. Id., 480 U.S. at 59, 107 S.Ct. at 1003, 94 L.Ed.2d at 58 (citing Bagley, 473 U.S. at 682, 105 S.Ct. at 3383, 87 L.Ed.2d at 494; and Weatherford, 429 U.S. at 559, 97 S.Ct. at 846, 51 L.Ed.2d at 42. Cf. Hubbard, 618 P.2d at 554-55. The Court also described that in a typical case settled practice was for the defendant to make a general request to the prosecution for exculpatory evidence and then the state would decide what information must be disclosed. Ritchie, 480 U.S. at 59, 107 S.Ct. at 1003, 94 L.Ed.2d at 58-59 (citing Brady ). Considering these things in conjunction with the requirements of due process, the Court struck the necessary compromise by holding that a defendant would not be allowed to have his attorney look through the privileged records, but defense counsel would be allowed to have the trial court conduct an in camera review for information constitutionally material to the defense. The Court characterized this as a balance between the competing interests and reiterated that a trial court's duty to disclose such information was ongoing, requiring the trial court to release privileged information whenever it becomes constitutionally material to the proceedings. Id. This in camera review for constitutionally material evidence was the standard under which the trial court addressed Gale's subpoenas for various records in which the state asserted a privilege. The trial court conducted this review focusing on privileged materials at issue, on the defendant's ability to gather such evidence from other sources, and on how the privileged evidence may relate to the defendant's theory of the case. This approach is consistent with Ritchie; we adopt it for Wyoming and will employ it to review the trial court's actions in this case. See State v. Cusik, 219 N.J. Super. 452, 530 A.2d 806, 813 (1987).
Gale begins his argument for disclosure of psychiatric records by asserting he has a right to examine any records of psychological counseling or treatment experienced by the R children. The state responds that before we can address the propriety of Gale's argument we must determine if the record contains any evidence of these documents such that this issue is properly preserved for appeal. This requires us to review the record concerning Gale's requests for such information. Two of Gale's requests for pretrial discovery concerned speculation by his counsel that some records of psychological counseling or treatment of the R children existed which might lead to the discovery of exculpatory evidence or witnesses for the defense. Gale's counsel filed a motion to compel the state to produce psychological records on April 6, 1987, and similarly had a subpoena duces tecum issued to Dr. Heinecke of Northern Wyoming Mental Health Center on April 24, 1987. The trial court held a motions hearing on the same day during which Gale's attorney admitted his request for psychological records was speculative. Gale's counsel was also given an opportunity to cross-examine Heinecke at this motions hearing but did not question him about the existence of any psychiatric records concerning the R children. There was minimal evidence that Heinecke took some notes during his treatment of the R children, but Gale's counsel did not pursue that point in the motions hearing or in subsequent pleadings. At the motions hearing, the trial court addressed the subpoena duces tecum issued to Heinecke and concluded that because any examinations or treatment Heinecke might have conducted with the R children were pursuant to the earlier juvenile court proceedings, their availability to the defense would be decided under Gale's motion for release of the juvenile court records. The issue is discussed in this appeal below. In its decision letter on the issues raised in Gale's motions hearing, the trial court stated: In discussing the disclosure of psychiatric records sought by the defendant's motion, there has not been shown to exist any such psychiatric examinations or records to this Court up to this time [May 15, 1987]. I will simply repeat what I have said earlier, that under the due process clause this court recognizes that the State has the obligation to turn over evidence in its possession that is both favorable to the accused and material to guilt or punishment, but there is no general constitutional right to discovery in a criminal case and the Brady case did not create one. Pennsylvania v. Ritchie, supra . In any event, should it be brought to the Court's attention that there are psychiatric records of the minor complainants in this case, the court will consider them in camera as it has the other confidential information sought by defendant to determine their materiality. (emphasis added.) Gale has never put forth any additional evidence showing that such records exist, let alone establish some basis for a claim that such records might contain information constitutionally material to his defense. See Ritchie, 480 U.S. at 58, 107 S.Ct. at 1002, 94 L.Ed.2d at 58 n. 15. Further, Gale has the burden to provide us with a record supporting further review of this issue. Edwards v. Edwards, 732 P.2d 1068, 1070 (Wyo. 1987) (citing Nicholls v. Nicholls, 721 P.2d 1103, 1105 (Wyo. 1986); and State v. Dieringer, 708 P.2d 1, 12 (Wyo. 1985)). The district court did all that it could do. It gave Gale an open invitation to present evidence establishing the existence of psychological records not a part of the juvenile court file and information within such records that might be constitutionally material to his defense. Gale never took advantage of the district court's offer; consequently, he has not fulfilled his burden to present this court with a record that would afford him appellate review on this issue.
Gale moved for disclosure of all D-PASS files involving the R family. His motivation for that disclosure was that D-PASS caseworker notes of interviews with R family members might contain references to the allegations against him that could be useful in constructing his defense. Pursuant to the analysis set out in Ritchie the trial court reviewed the D-PASS records in camera. After this review it sealed the D-PASS records and made them a part of the record now before us on appeal. Based on its review of these records the trial court found no material or relevant evidence concerning the charges against Gale and denied his request that they be disclosed to him. D-PASS records are statutorily privileged materials under W.S. 14-3-214 (July 1986 Repl.), which provides in pertinent part: (a) All records concerning reports and investigations of child abuse or neglect are confidential except as provided by W.S. 14-3-201 through 14-3-215. (b) Applications for access to records concerning child abuse or neglect contained in the state agency or local child protective agency shall be made in the manner and form prescribed by the state agency. Upon appropriate application, the state agency shall give access to any of the following persons or agencies for purposes directly related with the administration of W.S. 14-3-201 through XX-XX-XXX: (i) A local child protective agency; (ii) A law enforcement agency, guardian ad litem, child protection team or the attorney representing the subject of the report; (iii) A physician or surgeon who is treating an abused or neglected child, the child's family or a child he reasonably suspects may have been abused or neglected; (iv) A person legally authorized to place a child in protective temporary custody when information in the report or record is required to determine whether to place the child in protective custody; (v) A person responsible for the welfare of the child; (vi) A court or grand jury upon a showing that access to the records is necessary for the determination of an issue, in which case access shall be limited to in camera inspection unless the court finds public disclosure is necessary; and (vii) Court personnel who are investigating reported incidents of child abuse or neglect. (emphasis added). The D-PASS records in question are only those files created after sometime in 1984. A predecessor Campbell County attorney had earlier provided Gale's counsel with pre-1984 D-PASS files. The record does not explain why those privileged files were prematurely released. Gale challenges the trial court's actions under this issue in essentially two ways: (1) he argues that nondisclosure of the post-1984 D-PASS records denied him his constitutional rights to a fair trial under the due process guarantee, as well as effective assistance of counsel, right to confrontation, and compulsory process; [5] and (2) he argues that the trial court erred when it applied the constitutional materiality standard for reviewing the privileged records set out in Ritchie. We have already decided Gale's general constitutional challenges by adopting the United States Supreme Court's reasoning in Ritchie. His right to confrontation was satisfied when he was allowed to conduct extensive cross-examination of the prosecution witnesses against him. Ritchie, 480 U.S. at 52-53, 107 S.Ct. at 999-1000, 94 L.Ed.2d at 54-55 (explaining Davis, 415 U.S. at 318-20, 94 S.Ct. at 1110-12, 39 L.Ed.2d at 354-56). See also Story v. State, 721 P.2d 1020, 1034 (Wyo. 1986) (this court's recognition and explanation of the holding in Davis ). Like the United States Supreme Court, we will address his challenge concerning the compulsory process clause under our overall analysis of the fairness of this trial as a matter of due process. Ritchie, 480 U.S. at 56, 107 S.Ct. at 1001, 94 L.Ed.2d at 57. Gale's assertion that the trial court somehow denied him effective assistance of counsel by refusing to disclose all of the D-PASS records is make-weight. Gale's counsel did all that he could do when he moved for disclosure of the records and argued for their disclosure at the motions hearing. The trial court denied those disclosure requests based on controlling United States Supreme Court precedent. The only general constitutional issue presented is whether, in doing so, the trial court compromised Gale's due process right to a fair trial when it applied the holding from Ritchie. Hence, our discussion of the trial court's application of Ritchie is dispositive for both of Gale's challenges under this issue. Gale argues that the in camera procedure mandated by the holding in Ritchie should not have been applied to his request for D-PASS files because the language of W.S. 14-3-214(b)(iii), set out above, provides for release of such files to law enforcement agencies under certain specific circumstances. Gale also claims the record shows that D-PASS employees actively aided law enforcement personnel in investigating the case against him. He then combines these points, concluding that because information in the D-PASS files was directly available to the state it should have been deemed to be in its possession. That presumption, he urges, should be the basis for releasing the D-PASS files to Gale's counsel to insure fundamental fairness and due process. We agree with the state that Gale's novel reasoning rests precariously upon several of his own assumptions, which do not find support in this record. He first assumes that the state must have had the post-1984 D-PASS records in its files because D-PASS was obligated by statute to investigate the charges at issue. See W.S. 14-3-204. Whether those interviews were reported or not, the record does not indicate that the state obtained copies of them for use in constructing a case against Gale. Gale has pointed to no record evidence indicating that the state actually had those reports. Further, the statute specifically provides that a law enforcement agency wishing to obtain D-PASS records in this situation must apply for them and obtain them pursuant to agency disclosure rules. The record does not contain any evidence of such an application by the prosecution in this case. Gale's argument also seems to be premised on an assumption that, because he did not receive any post-1984 D-PASS files from the county attorney, the prosecution in this case must have decided not to comply with its Brady obligation to disclose to the defense any exculpatory material it actually possessed. Ritchie, 480 U.S. at 57, 107 S.Ct. at 1001, 94 L.Ed.2d at 57. See also Wilde v. State, 706 P.2d 251, 255 (Wyo. 1985). We decline to make that assumption, lacking some evidence in the record to the contrary. The determination of whether evidentiary items are subject to disclosure under Brady belongs to the prosecution. Weatherford, 429 U.S. at 560, 97 S.Ct. at 845, 51 L.Ed.2d at 42; Hubbard, 618 P.2d at 554-55. If the defense has a basis for requesting evidence it believes the prosecution has, but is not divulging, then application for disclosure of that evidence can be made to the prosecution and, if necessary, to the trial court. United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 106-07, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 2398-99, 49 L.Ed.2d 342, 351 (1976); Jones v. State, 568 P.2d 837, 848 (Wyo. 1977). This record shows that the prosecution had a thorough understanding of its obligations under Brady and repeatedly acknowledged them in open court and in its pleadings. Gale's argument that the Ritchie standard for constitutional materiality should not be applied under this issue also lacks merit. He claims applying that standard is unfair because it is an appellate standard that is necessarily backward looking and therefore is framed in terms of whether the evidence would change the result. This argument ignores the parallel that exists between the prosecution's obligation to turn over evidence in its possession that is both favorable to the accused and material to guilt or punishment and the trial court's obligation to review privileged information for evidence that might be constitutionally material to the defendant's case. Ritchie, 480 U.S. at 56, 107 S.Ct. at 1001, 94 L.Ed.2d at 56-57 (citing Bagley, 473 U.S. at 672, 105 S.Ct. at 3378, 87 L.Ed.2d at 487; Agurs, 427 U.S. at 111, 96 S.Ct. at 2401, 49 L.Ed.2d at 354; and Brady, 373 U.S. at 87, 83 S.Ct. at 1196, 10 L.Ed.2d at 218); see also Wilde, 706 P.2d at 255. Gale cites no authority supporting his criticism of the constitutional materiality standard as being devised to be used only in hindsight. Cf. Bagley, 473 U.S. at 683, 105 S.Ct. at 3384, 87 L.Ed.2d at 494-95. Rather, like the standard applied to the prosecution in Brady, it appears to have been intended to focus the trial court's attention on an in camera search for privileged information that could change the outcome of a defendant's trial. Gale seems eager to apply this type of standard to the prosecution once he assumes they have not met their obligations under Brady, but he does not want the trial court to apply it to him when it reviews privileged information he speculates might be pivotal in his defense. He cannot have it both ways. The Ritchie materiality standard provides a workable balance between the state's interest in the confidentiality of certain information and a defendant's potential need for such information in some situations, and it controls in this situation. Ritchie, 480 U.S. at 60-61, 107 S.Ct. at 1003-04, 94 L.Ed.2d at 59-60, cited in Cusik, 219 N.J. Super. 452, 530 A.2d 806, 813 (1987). See also People v. Reber, 177 Cal. App.3d 523, 223 Cal. Rptr. 139, 147 (1986). We also note that Gale had in his possession copies of a fairly extensive set of pre-1984 D-PASS reports along with Gillette police department reports on the R family for 1986 and 1987 and had ample opportunity at trial to focus the jury's attention on the social problems that were a day-to-day reality in the R family home from at least 1980 forward. Applying the Ritchie standard, and after our own review of the D-PASS records and considering the evidence that was available to Gale before trial, we agree with the trial court that the D-PASS records contain no evidence that is or was constitutionally material to the outcome of this case. That conclusion requires us to affirm on this issue.
Our review of the trial court's decision not to disclose the school records parallels the analysis we used to review its decision on the D-PASS records. The school records of the R children are statutorily privileged under W.S. 16-4-203(d)(viii) (Cum.Supp. 1987): [6] (d) The custodian shall deny the right of inspection of the following records, unless otherwise provided by law: (viii) School district records containing information relating to the biography, family, physiology, religion, academic achievement and physical or mental ability of the person except to the person in interest or to the officials duly elected and appointed to supervise him. See also 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(b) (1982) (school records in schools receiving federal funding are confidential but may be released pursuant to court order). Gale requested disclosure of the school records based on the theory that grade fluctuations and attendance records might be relevant to the relationship between the R children and their father. The school records were produced at the motions hearing pursuant to Gale's subpoenas duces tecum to the various schools the R children had attended. The trial court reviewed them in camera, the same way it reviewed the D-PASS records, and concluded that there was no information in the school records that was constitutionally material to Gale's defense. Gale makes the same legal arguments for disclosure of the school records that he made above concerning the D-PASS files. As before, he has made no showing that the prosecution ever actually possessed these records. On the other hand, Gale has made no complaint that he was hindered in his ability to learn more about the R family by having his investigator interview people in the community who knew the R children and their parents. Considering all of these circumstances, we again apply the constitutionally material standard from Ritchie in review of the trial court's ruling against disclosure of the school records. That review reveals no evidence that is or was constitutionally material to Gale's defense. See Reber, 223 Cal. Rptr. at 147; and Cusik, 530 A.2d at 813. Therefore, we affirm the trial court's conclusion that they did not contain evidence material to Gale's defense.
In this issue, Gale premises error upon his inability to obtain transcripts or recordings of any juvenile court hearings concerning GR's contact with the R children once he had been accused of abusing and sexually molesting them. Gale wanted to review this information, if it existed, to gather more evidence in support of his theory that GR intimidated or coerced LR and the R children into implicating Gale to shift blame from himself. Gale has never put forth evidence actually establishing the existence of such transcripts or recordings or showing that the prosecution used them in this case. Rather, his basis for believing that such records exist, and are material to his defense, centers around hearsay statements made by his original defense counsel, Terry Preuit, that former Campbell County Attorney, Robert Rose, had at least considered trying to hold GR in contempt of court for having unsupervised visits with the R children in violation of a juvenile court order allowing only supervised visits. Gale filed his motion for disclosure of any juvenile court transcripts or records on April 6, 1987. Attached to that motion were a number of exhibits including a copy of the November 18, 1986 juvenile petition filed on behalf of the R children, LR's January 16, 1987 juvenile court agreement, a number of police files which chronicled investigations of the R family and the R children from mid-1980 through December 1986, and statements of several of the R children and their friends. It is not clear how Gale obtained these records. At the April 24, 1987 motions hearing, Gale called Rose as a witness and examined him during a telephone conference call. Gale's counsel questioned Rose at length about the events leading up to GR and LR's juvenile court agreements. Curiously, he did not ask Rose about any attempt or consideration to seek a contempt citation against GR for violating the alleged juvenile court order prohibiting unsupervised visitation or for any violations of the juvenile court agreement GR is said to have signed. Gale did not call his former defense counsel, Preuit, or any other witnesses to bolster his suspicion that transcripts, recordings, or records of such a hearing actually existed. The trial court denied Gale's motion for disclosure of any Juvenile Court transcripts or records, noting that the holding in Davis did not provide Gale with carte blanche authority to examine privileged juvenile court records in a search for information helpful to his case. See also Ritchie, 480 U.S. at 59, 107 S.Ct. at 1003, 94 L.Ed.2d at 58-59 (citing Bagley, 473 U.S. at 675-76, 105 S.Ct. at 3379-80, 87 L.Ed.2d at 489-90; and Weatherford, 429 U.S. at 559, 97 S.Ct. at 846, 51 L.Ed.2d 30. Cf. Hubbard, 618 P.2d at 554-55). The trial court did not explain whether the prosecution was ever shown to have possessed the alleged juvenile court transcripts, recordings, or records and did not say whether it had reviewed any such information in camera. This issue is similar to the issue above dealing with independent psychological records in that even the sealed portion of the record before this court does not contain the information that Gale wanted disclosed. Consequently, we are left with a few scraps of testimony from Rose's deposition to try and determine whether these records did exist, whether the state ever possessed them for use in this trial, and if so, whether the trial court unfairly denied Gale access to them. When Gale filed his motion for disclosure, he had an obligation to the trial court to establish a basis for his claim that the privileged information he sought contained evidence constitutionally material to his defense. Ritchie, 480 U.S. at 58, 107 S.Ct. at 1002, 94 L.Ed.2d at 58 n. 15. We also reiterate that Gale, as appellant, has the obligation to provide this court with enough record evidence to allow review of this issue. Edwards, 732 P.2d at 1070 (citing Nicholls, 721 P.2d at 1105; and Dieringer, 708 P.2d at 12). Gale has not only failed to establish a basis that any juvenile court transcripts, recordings, or records contain evidence constitutionally material to his defense, he has not put forth minimal evidence establishing that such records exist. We hold that the appellate record is insufficient to support Gale's challenge concerning any alleged juvenile court transcripts, recordings, or records.