Opinion ID: 2760889
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Medical Examination Report

Text: In connection with the rape investigation, Cook examined Helen and prepared a report that was subject to the trial court's pre-trial discovery order. Despite earlier claims of the Commonwealth that no medical report existed, one week before the trial, defense counsel was given a copy of Cook's three-page report. 6 The late disclosure prompted Appellant to move to suppress the report and to prohibit Cook from testifying. To resolve the pending motion, and apparently to ascertain the tenor of Cook's anticipated testimony, on the second day of trial the court allowed the parties to examine Cook outside the presence of the jury. It was at that point that Cook revealed a fact she had omitted from the written report: the victim's hymen was intact and undamaged, although other indications of vaginal trauma were present. Cook agreed that her observations were consistent with 6 The Commonwealth asserts that it was unaware of the report's existence until a week before the trial at which time it promptly supplied the report to defense counsel. 10 Helen's claim of being raped once. Cook further admitted that the intact hymen made it possible that Helen was a virgin and unlikely that she had been raped on multiple occasions as she claimed at trial. After Cook's in camera testimony, the Commonwealth elected not to call her as a witness. Appellant promptly withdrew his objection to Cook's testimony and instead elected to call her as a witness for the defense. He now argues that these late disclosures prevented him: 1) from getting his own expert on the possibility of rape despite the intact hymen; 2) from examining the jury on the subject during the voir dire stage; and 3) discussing those facts in his opening statement. Instead, defense counsel was left between a rock and hard place: he could ask for a mistrial and a continuance to better prepare a defense based upon the recent disclosure, which would further prolong Appellant's pretrial incarceration; or, he could make the best of the evidentiary turn by using the newly discovered information to his best advantage. Appellant chose the latter. We appreciate the difficult and stressful challenges that trial attorneys face in even the best of circumstances, and we recognize the difficulties presented when sudden disclosures change the evidentiary landscape. When late disclosures are caused by an opposing party, whether from excusable neglect or deliberate deception, we must be attentive to remedy any injustice that results. But, by parsing out the particulars of Appellant's argument, we come to the conclusion that no violation occurred here. 11 The central point of Appellant's claim is that he was prejudiced because he was not told prior to trial that the physical examination of the victim disclosed an intact hymen. There is, however, no indication that the Commonwealth was aware of the fact any sooner than Appellant. The Commonwealth claims that it, too, was caught off-guard when, on the second day of the trial, Cook first mentioned it. The Commonwealth's sudden decision not to call Cook as its witness tends to support that claim of ignorance. The rules for discovery in criminal cases do not require the Commonwealth to disclose information it does not have. RCr 7.24. To establish a due process violation based upon a failure to disclose exculpatory information, it must be shown that the prosecutor, in good faith or bad, knew of the evidence and failed to disclose it. Nunley v. Commonwealth, 393 S.W.3d 9, 13 (Ky. 2013). The prosecution was under no obligation or affirmative duty to acquire that information. Appellant's claim that he was prejudiced by a late disclosure of the medical report is unavailing because the exculpatory evidence he complains about was not in the written report. Having the report sooner would not have prevented the dilemma he faced at trial. In summary, we find no grounds upon which Cook's testimony or the late disclosure of her medical report would warrant reversal. Under the circumstances before us, we are simply unable to discern any error in the trial court's rulings relating to the medical report or to Cook's testimony. 12