Opinion ID: 2272524
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: The PCRA Court Abused Its Discretion in Refusing to Provide the Defense with Certain Evidence Including the Negatives of the Crime Scene Photographs.

Text: Appellant submits that the PCRA court committed an abuse of discretion when it refused to order the Commonwealth to provide the defense with a computer disc containing high-resolution digitized scans of the negatives of the crime scene photographs. Appellant asserts that he requested the negatives be digitally scanned onto a disc because the negatives contain detail that may not appear in a photograph and the scanned negatives can be more closely examined. Appellant's Brief, 95-96. According to Appellant, by denying this request, the PCRA court hindered him in his attempt to prove that the victim was not raped, when rape served as the basis for the sole aggravating circumstance found by the trial court. The PCRA court denied Appellant's request because the Commonwealth provided the defense with copies of the crime scene photographs, first generation prints of the photographs, and a contact sheet containing copies of the negatives. PCRA Court Opinion, 11/2/07, 7. The PCRA court also relied on the fact that the Pennsylvania State Police, the governmental agency having possession of the negatives, did not have equipment to scan the negatives onto a disc and the contact sheet containing the negatives were of a quality on a par with digital scans. Id. We find no error in the rationale employed by the PCRA court to deny this claim and therefore hold that the trial court did not commit an abuse of discretion. Rule 902(E)(2) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure provides: (E) Requests for Discovery (2) On the first counseled petition in a death penalty case, no discovery shall be permitted at any stage of the proceedings, except upon leave of court after a showing of good cause. Pa.R.Crim.P. 902(E)(2). The denial of a defense request seeking discovery materials is reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard. Sattazahn, 952 A.2d at 662; Commonwealth v. Carson, 590 Pa. 501, 913 A.2d 220, 261 (2006). In Commonwealth v. Baumhammers, 599 Pa. 1, 960 A.2d 59, 86 (2008), this Court recently discussed abuse of discretion, stating: In Commonwealth v. Widmer, 560 Pa. 308, 744 A.2d 745 (2000), we reiterated the well-known definition of abuse of discretion as follows: The term `discretion' imports the exercise of judgment, wisdom and skill so as to reach a dispassionate conclusion, within the framework of the law, and is not exercised for the purpose of giving effect to the will of the judge. Discretion must be exercised on the foundation of reason, as opposed to prejudice, personal motivations, caprice or arbitrary actions. Discretion is abused when the course pursued represents not merely an error of judgment, but where the judgment is manifestly unreasonable or where the law is not applied or where the record shows that the action is a result of partiality, prejudice, bias or ill will. 960 A.2d at 86 (citation omitted). The application of this definition to the instant matter leads us to conclude that the PCRA court did not commit an abuse of discretion in refusing to provide the digitized negatives to the Appellant. According to the trial court, the defense was provided with whatever photographic evidence the Commonwealth had in its possession. Moreover, the Commonwealth did not have the equipment needed to comply with Appellant's request. Under the circumstances, Appellant's claim is meritless.