Opinion ID: 1481173
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: The Phone Conversations with the Informant

Text: Finally, defendant argues that the trial justice committed reversible error when he admitted Murray's testimony about a series of cellular-phone conversations with him between March 6 and March 9, because the testimony should have been stricken as a discovery violation pursuant to Rule 16 of the Superior Court Rules of Criminal Procedure. [12] The claimed discovery violation results from what he says was the state's insufficient disclosure about the mode of conversation between him and Murray, which is described in Murray's statement to the police on April 4, 2005. The state's response to defendant's discovery request indicates only that Murray and Willy conversed about Murray's expectations of more cocaine; the response, defendant maintains, did not indicate where or by what means those conversations took place. At trial, Murray testified that he and Willy conversed by cellular-phone, not face-to-face. Based upon this alleged violation, Willy argues that he was highly prejudiced and that the trial justice erred in admitting the testimony.