Opinion ID: 1968592
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Asserted Perjury

Text: Gerald also asserts before us that Gilbert's testimony given at his jury trial was perjurious. He claims that Gilbert, in his answers to the questions posed to him, deceptively did not elaborate on all the nuances of the terms of his confinement. Our review of the trial record convinces us that although Gilbert did not go out of his way to explain all the minute details of his custodial confinement while at the Providence police station, he did in fact answer directly the questions as posed to him by defense counsel. On neither direct nor cross-examination was Gilbert ever asked about any hotel stays, vacations to Florida, or other recreational trips as noted earlier. When asked to explain the circumstances of his confinement, he discussed the three-room apartment he stayed in at the Providence police station. He was not specifically asked about any of the times he stayed away from that apartment or what he did or where he went when not there. Thus, even though his testimony might have been somewhat misleading, it did not amount to perjury. See Bronston v. United States, 409 U.S. 352, 93 S.Ct. 595, 34 L.Ed.2d 568 (1973); State v. Ouimette, 415 A.2d 1052, 1054 (R.I.1980) (In Bronston v. United States, 409 U.S. 352, 93 S.Ct. 595, 34 L.Ed.2d 568 (1973), the Court makes clear that a defendant's responses to questions, if literally true even though perhaps shrewdly misleading are not perjurious). Furthermore, there is no evidence that the unrequested and later-discovered facts were deliberately withheld by the prosecution. The trial justice specifically found that the prosecution did not deliberately withhold any of the so-called newly discovered evidence facts from defense counsel and we agree with that finding. Thus, this is not as Gerald asserts the easy case wherein automatic reversal is warranted. Lerner, 542 A.2d at 1092. Even if we were to conclude that Gilbert's trial testimony had in fact been perjurious, we would still need to perform a Kyles type of analysis, as discussed in part V above, in order to determine the materiality of the evidence not completely revealed through Gilbert's testimony at Gerald's trial for murder. Id. Because we have previously determined that the later-discovered evidence was not material and was merely cumulative and impeaching, none of Gilbert's testimony, perjurious or not, would warrant the trial justice's grant of a new trial on Gerald's application for postconviction relief.