Opinion ID: 1621727
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: whether the trial court erred in permitting two discovery violations pertaining to the prosecution's dna pcr evidence

Text: ¶ 33. Watts further alleges that the State committed two discovery violations in not providing the defense with the requested copies of GenTest's proficiency test results and in introducing testimony by Dr. Tracey which employed product frequency calculations without notice to the defense when he previously had issued a report on the evidence using the ceiling principle, as discussed in Issue III, supra. ¶ 34. On June 28, 1995, the circuit court entered an order directing GenTest Labs to turn over to the defense any and all data relating to any proficiency tests in which the lab had participated, specifically relating to Ampliphite PM testing, DQ Alpha testing, D1S80 testing and STR Triplex testing. Watts apparently did not pursue the matter despite Rule 9.04(I) of the Uniform Circuit and County Court Rules, which provides that when a party has failed to comply with an applicable discovery rule or an order of the court entered pursuant to a discovery rule, the court may then order the party to provide the requested material or grant a continuance or other appropriate relief. Further, since Watts' entire defense is predicated upon his sole witness' attack upon the credibility of the State's DNA evidence, the absence of proficiency test results and/or GenTest's unwillingness to provide the requested information would appear to enure to his benefit. Indeed, rather than raising an objection at trial or seeking a continuance to procure the evidence sought, Watts' expert witness used the absence of proficiency data to his benefit to discredit the reliability of GenTest's testing procedures as well as Dr. Sinha's analysis of the evidence. Watts also has used the evidence, or absence thereof, to attempt to discredit the admissibility of PCR testing. He cannot have it both ways. While the better practice would have been for the State and GenTest to have been forthcoming with the proficiency test data, as recommended by the 1996 NRC II Report, [3] Watts was not prejudiced by its absence. This evidence, or lack thereof, goes to the credibility of the witnesses and the evidence they presented; if anything, it served to weaken the State's case. ¶ 35. Watts also asserts that the prosecution failed to advise him that Dr. Tracey would present statistical evidence based on product rule frequency calculations rather than the ceiling principle used in a report he generated on August 16, 1995. He did not object at trial pursuant to URCCC 9.04(I), and to the contrary, cross-examined Dr. Tracey extensively about the results obtained by using the two different statistical approaches. The issue is procedurally barred by Watts' failure to object at trial. Wells v. State, 604 So.2d 271, 276 (Miss.1992); Dodson v. State, 494 So.2d 575 (Miss.1986). As distinguished from Harrison v. State, 635 So.2d 894 (Miss.1994), upon which Watts relies, where the circuit court erred in overruling the defendant's objections and in refusing to follow his request to comply with former Uniform Criminal Rule of Circuit Court Practice Rule 4.06 and Box v. State, 437 So.2d 19, 22-26 (Miss.1983), the matter was not put before the court and thus, the circuit court cannot be held in error. Chase, 645 So.2d at 846; Jones v. State, 606 So.2d 1051, 1058 (Miss.1992).