Opinion ID: 2590797
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the state complied with its duty to disclose exculpatory evidence

Text: ¶ 22 Pinder claims that the State violated its duty, as set forth in Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), and its progeny, to disclose exculpatory information that would have aided in his defense. We disagree. ¶ 23 In Brady, the United States Supreme Court held that the suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution. Id. at 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194. The Supreme Court later expanded this principle by placing a duty on the prosecution to disclose material evidence favorable to a defendant even in the absence of a request by the accused. United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 107, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976). The duty to disclose applies to substantive as well as impeachment evidence. United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 676, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985). ¶ 24 When claiming that the prosecution's failure to disclose evidence requires a new trial, the Supreme Court has stated that a defendant must show the following: The evidence at issue must be favorable to the accused, either because it is exculpatory, or because it is impeaching; that evidence must have been suppressed by the State, either willfully or inadvertently; and prejudice must have ensued. Strickler v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263, 281-82, 119 S.Ct. 1936, 144 L.Ed.2d 286 (1999). Consistent with this standard, we have declared that a Brady violation occurs only where the state suppresses information that (1) remains unknown to the defense both before and throughout trial and (2) is material and exculpatory, meaning its disclosure would have created a `reasonable probability' that `the result of the proceeding would have been different.' State v. Bisner, 2001 UT 99, ¶ 33, 37 P.3d 1073 (quoting Bagley, 473 U.S. at 682, 105 S.Ct. 3375). ¶ 25 Explaining the Brady inquiry announced in Bisner, we noted that courts universally refuse to overturn convictions where the evidence at issue is known to the defense prior to or during trial, where the defendant reasonably should have known of the evidence, or where the defense had the opportunity to use the evidence to its advantage during trial but failed to do so. Id.; see also United States v. Aichele, 941 F.2d 761, 764 (9th Cir.1991) (When ... a defendant has enough information to be able to ascertain the supposed [ Brady ] material on his own, there is no suppression by the government.); United States v. Pandozzi, 878 F.2d 1526, 1529 (1st Cir.1989) (concluding that Brady is not violated when the defense could have obtained the information with any reasonable diligence (internal quotation omitted)); United States v. Davis, 787 F.2d 1501, 1505 (11th Cir.1986) (the Brady rule does not apply if the evidence in question is available to the defendant from other sources). ¶ 26 Further, as the second component of the Bisner test makes clear, the evidence in question must be material, such that a different result on retrial is reasonably probable. 2001 UT 99 at ¶ 33, 37 P.3d 1073. It is important to note, however, that the Brady materiality standard is not identical to a sufficiency of evidence review. See Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 434, 115 S.Ct. 1555, 131 L.Ed.2d 490 (1995) (explaining that the Brady materiality analysis is not a sufficiency of evidence test). Rather, a reviewing court must look at the suppressed evidence and determine whether, taken cumulatively, the absence of the suppressed evidence at trial undermines confidence in the fairness of the proceeding. See id. at 434-35, 115 S.Ct. 1555. As a result, [t]he question is not whether the defendant would more likely than not have received a different verdict with the evidence, but whether in its absence he received a fair trial, understood as a trial resulting in a verdict worthy of confidence. Id. at 434, 115 S.Ct. 1555. ¶ 27 Pinder claims that the State violated its Brady obligation by failing to disclose information relating to three separate topics: (1) Ruiz's connection to the kidnapping and murder of one of his former rivals in the drug trade, Todd Skidmore; (2) allegations of police corruption in the Uintah Basin; and (3) Ruiz's plea negotiations with the State. We address each topic below.
¶ 28 Pinder alleges that the State failed to disclose information contained in FBI reports about Ruiz's connection to the kidnapping and murder of Todd Skidmore and that this failure rises to the level of a Brady violation because it deprived the defense of valuable impeachment evidence. Pinder's allegation fails, however, to meet the first Brady requirement identified in Bisner. Specifically, we conclude that Pinder, prior to the end of his trial, knew or should have known of the information he now alleges was suppressed. See Bisner, 2001 UT 99 at ¶ 33, 37 P.3d 1073. ¶ 29 Prior to trial, the State provided Pinder's counsel with a summary of a police interview with Mike Sweat, a former drug dealer who had previously sold drugs on Ruiz's behalf. In the interview, Sweat made express reference to the Skidmore incident and implied that Ruiz may have been involved in ordering the murder. The summation concluded with the following paragraph: According to the Uintah County Sheriff[']s Office[,] Ruiz couldn't be linked to the murder of Skidmore. Ruiz did know and associated with the people responsible for the murder of Skidmore. And they also believe that he is involved with the Mexican Mafia. For further information on Ruiz's involvement and the investigation of Skidmore contact the Colorado Attorney General[']s Office.[ [3] ] ¶ 30 In addition to the Sweat interview, Pinder's trial counsel also had information provided by Gary Potter, a private investigator, concerning the Skidmore incident. Prior to the start of Pinder's trial, Pinder's current counsel, Brent Gold, hired Potter to investigate the Skidmore murder. While conducting his investigation, Potter specifically inquired into whether the Skidmore murder could be pinned on Ruiz. Potter provided Pinder's trial counsel with a report of his investigation before trial commenced. At trial, Pinder's counsel even made limited use of Ruiz's connection to the Skidmore incident, delving into Ruiz's role in helping secure the return from Mexico of one of the individuals charged in the Skidmore murder. As the trial court pointed out, if Pinder chose to highlight the Skidmore incident at trial, he ran the risk of giving credence to the State's theory that Pinder hired Ruiz as a thug. Therefore, Pinder had a tactical reason to minimize information about Skidmore's kidnapping and murder. ¶ 31 As shown above, the State disclosed information about Ruiz's connection to the Skidmore incident and even provided defense counsel a source to contact for further information. Moreover, during the evidentiary hearing on Pinder's motion for a new trial, Pinder stipulated that he ultimately obtained the Skidmore reports from Colorado authorities and that those reports were never in the possession of the prosecutorial team handling Pinder's case. The fact that Pinder was able to obtain the reports, presumably due to the information provided by the State, undermines Pinder's assertion that the information in question was unobtainable unless the prosecution team actually provided Pinder with the reports. ¶ 32 We conclude that all the information contained in the Skidmore reports, or the reports themselves, could have been discovered by Pinder through reasonable investigation. Pinder had the opportunity to fully investigate the Skidmore murder prior to trial and chose, perhaps for tactical reasons, not to pursue that line of defense. Consequently, we conclude that the State did not suppress Brady material relating to the kidnapping and murder of Skidmore. ¶ 33 Even if we were to conclude that Pinder could not have learned of the evidence in question absent an express disclosure by the State, we would still be hard pressed to find that the evidence was material, as that term is used in the Brady context. Ruiz's character was thoroughly vetted at trial. The jury, for example, heard testimony that Ruiz constantly carried a firearm and that Ruiz had told Sweat he would kill the chickens and dogs and [Sweat's] children and ... wife while Sweat watched if Sweat discussed Ruiz's drug dealing with law enforcement. Additionally, Ruiz admitted on cross-examination that he had sold and used drugs and that he had fired a pistol into a table while arguing with Pinder's stepson. In short, the jury was well aware of Ruiz's drug dealing and violent history. Given the breadth of the evidence exposing Ruiz's character, the absence of a more detailed examination of the Skidmore incident cannot fairly be said to have undermined confidence in the fairness of the proceedings against Pinder.
¶ 34 Pinder next claims that the State was obligated to disclose information about an FBI investigation into allegations of police corruption in the Uintah Basin. At trial, the defense advanced the theory that Ruiz killed Flood and Tanner. Pinder testified that he was not present when the murders occurred and that he only helped destroy evidence due to his fear of Ruiz and his belief that he could not go to the authorities because he didn't trust the Duchesne County Police. According to Pinder, if the State had disclosed evidence of an FBI investigation into allegations of police corruption, the defense would have been able to use that evidence to give credence to Pinder's testimony. ¶ 35 However, as with Pinder's first Brady claim, the defense was well aware of allegations of police corruption in the Uintah Basin and, in fact, investigated those allegations prior to trial. Pinder has identified no information in the supposedly suppressed reports that he could not have discovered through his own investigation. ¶ 36 Additionally, as with the documents underlying Pinder's first Brady claim, Pinder stipulated that documentation of the FBI investigation was never in the possession of the prosecution team from the Utah Attorney General's Office or the Duchesne County Attorney's Office [4] and that he obtained the documents from another source. Because Pinder reasonably could have known about the information he now alleges was suppressed, his Brady claim fails. ¶ 37 Even if the evidence in question had been suppressed, its disclosure prior to the conclusion of Pinder's trial would have had minimal impact, if any, on the proceedings. The jury heard testimony regarding the allegations of police corruption from U.S. Customs Special Agent Thomas D'Leon, and it is unlikely that information gleaned from the FBI reports concerning specific allegations, especially when no charges were ever filed in relation to those allegations, would have impacted the jury in any significant manner. As the trial court concluded, evidence of the federal investigation is tangential and of little relevance. Such evidence is not material for the purposes of Brady.
¶ 38 Pinder's final Brady claim relates to plea negotiations between Ruiz and the State. Specifically, Pinder claims that the State failed to disclose that Ruiz refused the State's initial plea offer and only agreed to testify after the State agreed to provide a more favorable plea bargain. ¶ 39 In denying Pinder's motion for a new trial, the trial court specifically found that Pinder was aware of the prior plea offer to Ruiz. This finding was based on comments made by the State during a pretrial conference addressing the potential impact a plea agreement with Ruiz would have on Pinder's trial. The State specifically stated that [w]e've made, actually over the course of the last couple months, two different offers. The one that's currently on the table we have represented to [Ruiz's] counsel to be our final offer. ¶ 40 On appeal, Pinder has made no effort to challenge the trial court's conclusion that he was aware of the State's prior plea offer, and we therefore assume that the trial court's conclusion is adequately supported by the record. See State v. Widdison, 2001 UT 60, ¶ 60, 28 P.3d 1278 (noting that a party who wishes to challenge a factual finding must first marshal the evidence in support of that finding and then show why the marshaled evidence is insufficient to support the finding). Regardless, such a challenge would be unavailing because, under the facts presented, we cannot conclude that the trial court's factual finding was clearly erroneous. Pinder's knowledge of the prior plea offer to Ruiz is fatal to his Brady claim. It cannot be said that the evidence in question was suppressed within the meaning of Brady. ¶ 41 Because we conclude that none of the evidence identified by Pinder was suppressed, there is no need to conduct an analysis into whether the absence of the evidence, taken cumulatively, is so significant as to undermine faith in the fairness of Pinder's prosecution. [5] Consequently, we next address his claims regarding alleged evidentiary errors at trial.