Opinion ID: 5797
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Availability of Adequate Alternatives

Text: The second requirement of Britt is whether adequate alternatives to the transcript existed. We hold that Fisher had adequate alternatives. 9 In Pulido, we stated that it is infrequently determined that available alternatives are adequate. Pulido, 879 F.2d at 1257. However, it must be remembered that in Pulido we were referring to a transcript of a prior mistrial of the same offense. In the present case, the adequacy of alternatives requirement is easy to satisfy. In Britt, the Supreme Court's emphasis upon the availability of adequate alternatives before a free transcript could be withheld, 404 U.S. at 228-29, does not appear to require an equally valuable substitute. All that is constitutionally required is an adequate alternative. And a bare minimum appears to fulfill this requirement. In Britt, the Court held a court reporter's notes, which the court reporter would have read back to the defendant if requested, satisfied the requirement of adequacy. We interpret this holding to mean that an adequate alternative need not be a virtual substitute for a transcript's role in preparing a defense. In determining what constitutes an adequate alternative, the availability of discovery, or the lack thereof, is an important factor. In the present case, the State voluntarily made discovery available to Fisher. And it was the preliminary hearing record, not the requested transcript, which was the virtual dry run of the entire prosecution's [rape] case. Britt 404 U.S. at 232. Accordingly, in the present case, an adequate alternative to a transcript existed when full discovery was made available to the defendant, and the defendant had a copy of the transcript of the preliminary hearing. 10 Therefore, we agree with the state court that there were adequate alternatives to the requested transcript. The state court found that the following alternatives available to Fisher were adequate and sufficient for an effective defense: (i) the transcript of the first capital murder trial, and (ii) the ability of Fisher's new attorney to consult with his prior attorneys and other persons present at the second capital murder trial. There was a strong basis for the state court's finding. Fisher's counsel conceded that the transcript of the first murder trial contained essentially identical testimony as that contained in the requested transcript. Additionally, Fisher's counsel admitted that he had discussed the second murder trial with other persons present at that trial. Another source of information was the previously discussed discovery which the State made available to Fisher under court order. Finally, at no stage of the post-conviction proceedings has Fisher offered proof of telling discrepancies between the trial testimony here and the testimony in the second murder trial. Fisher could have offered the evidence of his prior counsel, or a court reporter or a bystander at the second murder trial to prove his point. Nor did Fisher request, as he could have, that the district court exercise its discretion and order that the prior trial transcripts of the three witnesses be provided under the terms of the Criminal Justice Act. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 3006A(e)(1) and 3006A(a)(2)(B). Fisher's case might be stronger if he had attempted to make it less theoretical. 11 In summary, it appears that the requested transcript would not have substantially aided Fisher in connection with his trial on the rape charge, and that there were sufficiently available alternatives, which Fisher utilized, that fulfilled the same function as the requested transcript. Accordingly, we hold that the state court did not err in refusing to require the State to furnish Fisher with a free full transcript of the second murder trial.