Opinion ID: 2428851
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the taped statement of the complaining witness

Text: After the complaining witness, D.H., completed her testimony on direct examination, appellants' counsel attempted to approach the bench to request that the Commonwealth produce any statement taken from the witness, before undertaking cross-examination. The trial court denied counsel the right to make the motion. At the first reasonable opportunity to preserve the record (as the Commonwealth has conceded), defense counsel advised the court that he had been seeking to move to be provided with her ... prior statement. Although the Commonwealth Attorney then stated in chambers that he had no such statement at the time, nor was he aware of any statements at the time, Kentucky State Police Detective McKinney, the investigating officer who both testified at trial and sat through the trial as the Commonwealth's representative, refutes this claim. Detective McKinney had testified under oath during his cross-examination that he had a taped statement from D.H., and he repeated this during the exchange that took place in chambers at the close of the Commonwealth's case. Regardless of whether the Commonwealth's Attorney was personally aware of the statement, the Commonwealth was obliged to produce this statement under RCr 7.26(1). In Ballard v. Commonwealth, Ky., 743 S.W.2d 21 (1988), the record disclosed that evidence regarding a medical report based on a physical examination of the complaining witness was suppressed by the investigating officer for the Department of Human Resources. We reversed stating: Apparently, the Commonwealth's Attorney was unaware of the withheld medical report, but an investigating officer who was a witness for the Commonwealth and who sat beside the Commonwealth's Attorney during the entire trial had been furnished a copy of the report before trial. .... The Department for Human Resources, an agency of the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth's investigating officer suppressed evidence favorable to the accused. We shall not condone such reprehensible action. This conduct was in violation of an order of the court and denied appellant a fair trial. Reversal is required. RCr 7.26(1) states unequivocally that [s]uch statement shall be made available for examination and use by the defendant. Assuming it is true the Commonwealth Attorney was not personally aware of the statement, the error is no less palpable where the police detective who took the statement is sitting at his side. It is no answer to say the Commonwealth Attorney is unaware of a statement, if the statement was taken by the investigating officer in charge of the case. In such circumstances the knowledge of the detective is the knowledge of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth's Attorney should advise the police that such evidence must be produced, and he bears the same responsibility for producing the statement as would pertain if it were in his file. Nor are we impressed by the Attorney General's suggestion that the record is confusing as to whether the statement in hand was actually one taken from Wilma rather than D.H. Detective McKinney's statements leave little room for doubt. The testimony of the detective on this subject, given from the stand and repeated in chambers, sufficiently establishes that RCr 7.26 was violated, and violated in circumstances where prejudice must be presumed. If what was stated was incorrect, the Commonwealth should have established the error. While we recognize there are circumstances under which failure to comply with RCr 7.26 has been viewed as harmless error, this is not one of them. This case is similar to Mounce v. Commonwealth, Ky., 795 S.W.2d 375 (1990), wherein we concluded there was prejudicial error in failure to provide the defense counsel with an exculpatory report. We cannot presume that there is nothing in this statement from D.H., which would have been useful on cross-examination. We agree with the appellants that it was too late for their counsel to demand that the statement be produced when they conferred in chambers after the Commonwealth had closed its case. We further agree that the trial court compounded the error by denying defense counsel an opportunity to approach the bench and request the statement before cross-examination.