Opinion ID: 772156
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Comparative time of death

Text: 52 The State argues that the district court clearly erred when it interpreted the phrase no time of death either in Notes I to refer to comparative times of death, rather than to specific times of death of each victim. Haws testified at the evidentiary hearing that he remembered that the discussion at that point in the June 24 meeting was not about which victim died first, but about the specific date on which the victims died. The State argues that if that is what the note means, then it could not have been used to impeach Dr. Brady, because Dr. Brady testified only regarding comparative times of death. 53 The argument lacks merit, for several reasons. First, Elliott testified that at the autopsy Dr. Brady said that he could not determine which victim had died first. Because Elliott was the only person who attended both the autopsy and the June 24 meeting, his testimony provides evidentiary support for the court's apparent finding that that phrase in Notes I referred to comparative times of death. The court was under no obligation to believe Haws' testimony. In light of Elliott's testimony, the record does not support the State's contention that the court clearly erred. 54 Second, even if the court did clearly err, the error is of no consequence. If, as the State argues, no time of death eitheractually reflects the fact that Dr. Brady could not determine the date on which Palmer died, then it is still exculpatory evidence--it indicates that Dr. Brady could not determine whether Palmer died on June 21, which is the only date on which there was any established connection between Paradis and the Mellick Road site. Moreover, had the notes been disclosed, they would have led Paradis to depose, or at least to interview, Elliott, because he was the only source of information from the autopsy at the June 24 meeting. And the evidentiary hearing shows what Elliott's resulting testimony would have been--according to Elliott, Dr. Brady was unable to determine even comparative time of death, which impeaches Dr. Brady's testimony at trial. 55 For all of these reasons, the State's argument fails. The district court did not clearly err in interpreting the notes as it did, but even if it did clearly err, the notes would still be exculpatory and would still have been useful for impeachment.