Opinion ID: 1399654
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Box of Materials

Text: Epperson argues that the refusal of the trial judge to examine the contents of a box of material allegedly belonging to Bartley denied Epperson effective assistance of counsel. Defense trial counsel sought to have the trial judge examine the contents of the box, but he denied the motion as well as a motion to include it in the appellate record. At a pretrial hearing in 1998, counsel for Epperson informed the trial judge that a box had been found at the Department for Public Advocacy which contained papers that appeared to relate to Epperson's case. Counsel did acknowledge that the files might have originated from Bartley's attorneys. A retired investigator for the DPA testified that he found a letter evidencing a prosecution deal with Bartley for his testimony against Epperson and Hodge, but which would not be completed until after his testimony in both the Letcher and Jackson county cases. Murphy testified that Epperson and Hodge was written on the outside of the box and stated that he had seen the box sometime around 1993. He testified that the box was not sealed when he examined it. In October 1998, the trial judge conducted a pretrial hearing on the box question. The trial judge read a memo Murphy had produced regarding the contents of the box and the trial judge indicated that he did not find any exculpatory evidence and further found no legal justification to inspect the box. Defense counsel declined to pursue the invitation by the trial judge for an order which directed a DPA attorney to put the facts that he presented in court in the form of an affidavit. Defense counsel also did not pursue the invitation of the trial judge to present additional evidence to the court at a subsequent hearing. Defense counsel indicated that the Murphy memorandum by itself did not prove that a secret deal had been made. Finally, Bartley testified at the pretrial hearing and denied the existence of any tape recorded statements or letters between him and Sherry Hodge Hamilton. It has been recognized that the attorney-client privilege continues to remain valid not only after the case has been concluded, but even after the death of the client. Swidler & Berlin v. United States, 524 U.S. 399, 118 S.Ct. 2081, 141 L.Ed.2d 379 (1998). This Court has also recognized that the attorney-work product privilege protects information compiled by counsel in the course of preparation for trial, subject to certain limitations. Cf. Morrow v. Brown, Todd & Heyburn, 957 S.W.2d 722 (Ky.1997). Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 115 S.Ct. 1555, 131 L.Ed.2d 490 (1995), does not establish any principle for a criminal defendant to obtain information collected by counsel for a codefendant. In this situation, the trial judge acted within his discretion and properly deferred to the legal rights of other parties in overruling the motion by Epperson.