Opinion ID: 865375
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: whether the state failed to produce

Text: EXCULPATORY AND OTHER FAVORABLE EVIDENCE. ¶35. In Carr v. State, 873 So. 2d 991, 999 (Miss. 2004), we stated: In Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S. Ct. 1194, 1196-97, 10 L. Ed. 2d 215 (1963), the United States Supreme Court established the principle that suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution. In determining whether a Brady violation has occurred, and thus a new trial is mandated, this Court applies the four-part Brady test adopted in King v. State, 656 So. 2d 1168, 1174 (Miss. 1995), under which the defendant must prove: a. that the State possessed evidence favorable to the defendant (including impeachment evidence); b. that the defendant does not possess the evidence nor could he obtain it himself with any reasonable diligence; c. that the prosecution suppressed the favorable evidence; and d. that had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, a reasonable probability exists that the outcome of the proceedings would have been different. Id. at 1174. Id. at 999. ¶36. Thorson presents this Court with a list of items which he asserts may not have been provided by the State to the defense in violation of Brady. Brady, 373 U.S. at 83. Thorson, however, admits that uncovering Brady violations has been hampered because all of the files on his case that were retained by Donald Smith, lead defense counsel, were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Kellie Koenig Lawler, Thorson’s other trial counsel, stated in her affidavit that she provided Thorson’s post-conviction counsel with two boxes of files on 21 Thorson, but she knows there were more that have either been lost or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. ¶37. DNA information from Reliagene – Thorson asserts that the State did not provide important exculpatory data from ReliaGene. To support this contention, Thorson provided an affidavit from a Randell T. Libby, Ph.D, who holds a doctoral degree in molecular genetics. At the request of Thorson’s post-conviction counsel, Dr. Libby was requested to offer an opinion as to the test results/data provided to him. In his affidavit, Dr. Libby identifies several forms of data that were not supplied to him, which he claims may contain exculpatory information. ¶38. The possibility that more data, which has not been received by Dr. Libby from ReliaGene for post-conviction purposes, may lead to exculpatory information does not show that the State, at the time of trial, had evidence in its possession that was favorable to Thorson and that went undisclosed to the defense. Thorson has not met the four-part Brady test adopted in King. King, 656 So. 2d at 1174. This issue is without merit. ¶39. Rap Sheets and NCIC information on Patricia Cook – Thorson next asserts that the State has violated Brady by not providing background information on Patricia Cook, a person whom the defense believed was involved in the crime. The record reflects that Thorson prevailed on a pretrial motion seeking the rap sheets and NCIC information on Cook. At trial, Thorson’s counsel called Cook as a witness and questioned her at great length. We can reasonably deduce from this occurrence that Thorson’s counsel did receive the information requested by the motion. The record does not indicate any objection by Thorson claiming 22 that the information was not received before trial. If the information was, in fact, not received, the issue is waived because it was capable of being raised at trial. Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-21(1) (Rev. 2000). ¶40. Remaining claims of Brady violations – Thorson’s remaining assertions under the claim of Brady violations include that the State did not provide background on other witnesses called by the prosecution and the defense. Thorson does not identify those witnesses. He also asserts that the State did not disclose information omitted from police reports, including interviews of other witnesses and knowledge of the location of physical evidence, such as the wallet that Thorson claimed to have thrown in the woods. Thorson asserts that the State did not disclose evidence of lengthy interrogations, which Thorson claims would have shown his confession to have been neither voluntary nor accurate. As the State properly points out, these remaining claims are offered without specificity and cannot be shown to meet any of the four-part Brady test. Brady, 373 U.S. at 83. ¶41. Ineffective assistance of counsel claim – Lastly, Thorson pleads ineffective assistance of counsel in the alternative with respect to any of his Brady violation claims that we find to be without merit. Thorson does not pursue these alternatively-pled ineffective assistance of counsel claims with authority or any argument whatsoever. Therefore, the issues are deemed abandoned. Drennan v. State, 695 So. 2d 581, 585-86 (Miss. 1997); Hoops v. State, 681 So. 2d 521, 526 (Miss. 1996); Kelly v. State, 553 So. 2d 517, 521 (Miss. 1989); Smith v. State, 430 So. 2d 406, 407 (Miss. 1983); Ramseur v. State, 368 So. 2d 842, 844 (Miss. 1979). 23