Opinion ID: 1975795
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Material to the Defense

Text: Arguably, the materiality of the withheld plea bargains in this case should be analyzed under the Napue/Agurs strict standard of materiality for perjured testimonynamely, that a reversal of Petitioner's conviction is warranted if there is any reasonable likelihood that the false testimony could have affected the judgment of the jury. Agurs, 427 U.S. at 103, 96 S.Ct. at 2397, 49 L.Ed.2d 342. For example, in Jimenez, 918 P.2d at 687, the State's jailhouse informant denied having received any benefits from the State in exchange for his testimony on the stand, when, in fact, the witness was an active police informant, and the police had arranged for criminal charges against him to be dismissed. In that case, the Supreme Court of Nevada applied the strict standard of materiality, characterizing the informant's trial testimony as at best inaccurate and at worst perjury. Id. at 694. In addition, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently held that any time that, `through misfeasance or nonfeasance by the prosecutor, false testimony is introduced concerning an arrangement between the witness and the prosecutor, a strict standard of materiality is applied. A conviction will be set aside if there is any reasonable likelihood that the false testimony could have affected the judgment of the jury.' Commonwealth v. Hill, 432 Mass. 704, 739 N.E.2d 670, 679 (2000) (quoting Commonwealth v. Gilday, 382 Mass. 166, 415 N.E.2d 797, 803 (1980)). Nonetheless, we do not need to decide whether the testimony of Harkum and Cable in this case constituted testimony that the State knew or should have known was perjured, since the undisclosed plea agreements are material to the outcome of Petitioner's case even under the Brady/Bagley materiality standard, because we are confident that, had the evidence been disclosed, there is a substantial possibility that the verdict in Petitioner's case would have been different. We discern several factors to which courts have looked to assess materiality for the purposes of suppressed impeachment evidence: the specificity of the defendant's request for disclosure of materials, see People v. Cwikla, 46 N.Y.2d 434, 414 N.Y.S.2d 102, 386 N.E.2d 1070, 1074 (1979); the closeness of the case against the defendant and the cumulative weight of the other independent evidence of guilt, see United States v. Noriega, 117 F.3d 1206, 1219 (11th Cir.1997); United States v. Amiel, 95 F.3d 135, 145-46 (2nd Cir. 1996); United States v. Payne, 63 F.3d 1200, 1210-11 (2nd Cir.1995); In re Pratt, 69 Cal.App.4th 1294, 82 Cal.Rptr.2d 260, 276 (1999); Jimenez, 918 P.2d at 693; the centrality of the particular witness to the State's case, see Noriega, 117 F.3d at 1219-20; Payne, 63 F.3d at 1210; Reutter, 888 F.2d at 581; Ware, 348 Md. at 51-52, 702 A.2d at 714-15; Collins, 434 N.E.2d at 969 n. 10; Jimenez, 918 P.2d at 695; the significance of the inducement to testify, see Ware, 348 Md. at 51-52, 702 A.2d at 714; whether and to what extent the witness's credibility is already in question, see Noriega, 117 F.3d at 1219; Payne, 63 F.3d at 1210; and the prosecutorial emphasis on the witness's credibility in closing arguments, see Reutter, 888 F.2d at 582; Pratt, 82 Cal.Rptr.2d at 277; Ware, 348 Md. at 53-54, 702 A.2d at 715-16; Cwikla, 414 N.Y.S.2d 102, 386 N.E.2d at 1074. Applying these factors, we conclude that, had the plea agreements between the State and Harkum and Cable been disclosed to Petitioner prior to his trial, there is a substantial possibility that the outcome in his case would have been different such that we cannot have confidence in the verdict. Therefore, the suppressed plea agreements were material under Brady. First, as we indicated above, Petitioner made a specific request for the withheld materials. Second, the case against Petitioner was a close one, and the testimony of Harkum and Cable was central to the case. Cable's testimony provided the only direct link between Petitioner and the crime, and Harkum's testimony corroborated Cable. As admitted coconspirators in the robbery, Petitioner's conviction depended upon the jury believing that they were offering truthful testimony about his involvement. Petitioner was able to offer an explanation for all of the other circumstantial evidence in the case (the ballistics evidence and the motel registration) and had an alibi. The jury's assessment of the credibility of Harkum and Cable was most likely a determining factor in the guilty verdict against Petitioner. As the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit explained: In general, impeachment evidence has been found to be material where the witness at issue `supplied the only evidence linking the defendant(s) to the crime,' ... or where the likely impact on the witness's credibility would have undermined a critical element of the prosecution's case.... Payne, 63 F.3d at 1210 (internal citations omitted). See Noriega, 117 F.3d at 1219; Jimenez, 918 P.2d at 695. Third, the suppressed plea agreements provided Harkum and Cable with a significant inducement to testify falsely. Cable, an admitted principal in the robbery, served one year in jail. Harkum was never incarcerated for his involvement. In contrast, Petitioner was sentenced to fifty years of incarceration. Had the jury known the true extent of the leniency being given to Harkum and Cable in exchange for their testimony, it might have assessed their credibility differently. Fourth, as we indicated above, while Petitioner's trial counsel attempted to cross-examine Harkum and Cable on the issue of their credibility, that attempt was far less effective than it would have been had he possessed the written plea agreements. Because of the suppression of this important impeachment material, neither witness's credibility was effectively in question at Petitioner's trial. Fifth, as we also indicated above, the State specifically emphasized the credibility of Harkum and Cable in closing arguments, misleading the jury about the potential for their imminent incarceration and stressing the total lack of motive for either to testify falsely. This is perhaps the most compelling example of the materiality of the withheld plea bargains. In closing argument, the State characterized Harkum's motive for testifying as follows: Mr. Harkum, for reasons best known to himself, decided to tell about it. You had a chance to look at Mr. Harkum, you saw him on the stand, not only one time, but in the defendant's case for a very long time. And I think you probably know why Harkum came forward. I think you know he's a nervous kind of guy, he's the kind of guy that probably couldn't hold this information inside of him for a very long period of time.... Harkum came forward, and he told it all, all that he knew to tell, as he understood it. The prosecutor also argued: Now, let's be honest. Harkum is going to minimize, if he can, his involvement in this thing, and so is Marty Cable. They're both caught, they're both charged, they're both in the bag, so to speak, and they're both going to go to trial. The evidence, I submit, will be sufficient to convict both of them. With respect to Cable's credibility, the State argued: I submit to you that Marty Cable's statements have been corroborated, and you can't throw it out. He has admitted his guilt. He has told you that he is going to get a jail sentence. So you can't throw his testimony out all together. Finally, in its rebuttal closing argument, the State concluded as follows: Counsel has taken certain shots at the State, indicating that the State has worked out some magnificent deal for Marty Cable, that the State has paid Marty Cable off. Well, ladies and gentlemen, Marty Cable has not even been convicted yet. His arrangement was that if he were to testify and assist the State, then the State would agree to a five-year sentence. He has already served approximately a year of that. And if he's fortunate enough to be paroled, then that's his good fortune. He has come forward, as has Mr. Harkum. As we stated previously in Ware, the `likely damage' of the State's suppression of evidence in this case `is best understood by taking the word of the prosecutor ... during closing argument.' Ware, 348 Md. at 53, 702 A.2d at 715 (citations omitted). Given that the State went out of its way, in closing argument, to use the mischaracterization of the plea agreements as a specific argument in favor of the credibility of its key witnesses and to rebut Petitioner's attempts to impeach them, it seems disingenuous, at this point, for the State to assert that, had the jury known the truth about the plea agreements, it would not have decided Petitioner's case differently. This case is strikingly similar to Collins, 434 N.E.2d at 964. In that case, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts suppressed evidence of an arrangement that it had with the key witness against the defendant at trial, the witness denied that his testimony against the defendant was given in exchange for leniency although he admitted that he hoped to receive lighter treatment, and the prosecutor, in closing argument, stressed that the witness was going to receive ample punishment for his involvement in the crime just like the defendant. See id. at 966-67. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court concluded that the Commonwealth's failure to disclose the plea agreement and the prosecutor's misrepresentations in closing arguments each individually warranted a reversal of the defendant's conviction. See id. at 970-71. The court concluded: [T]he prosecutor must have been able to assess the impact on the jury of knowledge of [the witness's] chances after the defendant's trial. His closing remarks give the appearance of careful construction intended to impart a very definite meaning.... The image of [the witness] he chose to present to them was not that of a man who had made some arrangements with the authorities to ensure a lesser punishment. Rather, he presented a man who, solely out of principle, had chosen to testify to a series of events which would land him in prison for the rest of his life. In this light, [the witness's] testimony could be cloaked in an aura of credibility in the past attributed to dying declarations. Id. at 972 (internal citations omitted). The conclusion seems equally suited to this case. In failing to disclose the plea agreements that it had with Harkum and Cable, particularly in conjunction with the false testimony that they offered and the misleading closing arguments by the prosecutor, the State did not fulfill its constitutionally mandated obligations under Brady and its progeny to disclose to Petitioner any favorable evidence material to his defense. The constitutional error here was the State's failure to assist the defense by disclosing information that might have been helpful in conducting cross-examination, which deprived Petitioner of a fair trial. See Bagley, 473 U.S. at 678, 105 S.Ct. at 3381, 87 L.Ed.2d 481. [4] JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS REVERSED. CASE REMANDED TO THAT COURT WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO AFFIRM THE JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY. COSTS IN THIS COURT AND IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS TO BE PAID BY RESPONDENT.