Opinion ID: 2062499
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Discovery Abuse by State

Text: Within three days of Carter's arraignment, defense counsel requested that the prosecutor provide any information in his file pertaining to the case. He was given the probable cause affidavit and a statement by Logan. On January 9, 1984, Carter filed a detailed motion for discovery which was granted by the court the next day. The court eventually ordered that the State file its response by February 8. Carter complained during a hearing on January 23 that he had not received any of the discovery ordered by the court. The court ordered the parties to exchange what information they had at the time. The prosecutor said that he did not have any of the requested documents at that time but would comply with the February 8 deadline. The State, as promised, filed its response on February 8 and a motion to amend that response the following day. Carter filed a supplemental motion for discovery on February 15. Two days later he requested a continuance of the March 7 trial date, alleging, among other grounds, that discovery was incomplete. On February 21, Carter filed a motion to dismiss, alleging that the State's intentional and/or negligent late tender of discovery had violated his right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. He specifically alleged that the State had certain statements in its possession at the time of Carter's arraignment which it did not provide to the defense until February 8. In addition to claiming general prejudice in the form of trial preparation delays, Carter argued that his deposition of Logan on January 28 was impaired because at the time he did not have all of Logan's prior statements to police. The trial court denied the motion to dismiss. The trial court is accorded deference in determining what constitutes substantial compliance with its discovery order and will not be reversed absent clear error. If a trial court finds that a discovery order has been violated, its choice of remedy for the violation is discretionary and will not be overturned absent a showing of abuse of that discretion. In selecting the proper remedy, the primary elements for the court's consideration are whether the breach was intentional or in bad faith and whether substantial prejudice resulted. Dudley v. State (1985), Ind., 480 N.E.2d 881. The exclusion of evidence as a sanction for discovery abuse is not proper unless there is a showing that the prosecution engaged in deliberate or other reprehensible conduct which thwarted the defendant's right to a fair trial. Beavers v. State (1984), Ind., 465 N.E.2d 1388. A defendant bears an even heavier burden when he seeks the extreme sanction of dismissal of the charges against him, although that is one response available to the trial court. See, Robinson v. State (1983), Ind., 450 N.E.2d 51. Carter did not meet this burden. He did not even show that the State's conduct rose to the level of bad faith, much less deliberate misconduct. Indeed, much of the delay was attributable to the vast amounts of discovery sought by Carter. The record shows that the prosecutor conscientiously attempted to respond on a timely basis, but much of the information was in the custody of other police and state agencies outside the county in which the case was tried. While these other agencies responded slowly, much of the problem was caused by the fact that Carter had filed civil suits against them and their attorneys had to oversee the provision of any information to Carter. Carter's claim of prejudice is also unpersuasive. If he felt that his deposition of Logan was inadequate, Carter could have scheduled another. He received all of the information mentioned in the motion to dismiss more than two months before trial.