Opinion ID: 1331578
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: duty on remand and standard of review

Text: This case is once again before this Court, as a result of the United States Supreme Court granting certiorari, vacating the judgment of the majority, and remanding the case. [11] The mandate issued by the United States Supreme Court stated that the case is remanded to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia for further proceedings not inconsistent with the opinion of this Court. The essence of the opinion issued by the United States Supreme Court is as follows: The trial court denied Youngblood a new trial, saying that the note provided only impeachment, but not exculpatory, evidence. The trial court did not discuss Brady or its scope, but expressed the view that the investigating trooper had attached no importance to the note, and because he had failed to give it to the prosecutor the State could not now be faulted for failing to share it with Youngblood's counsel. A bare majority of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed, finding no abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court, but without examining the specific constitutional claims associated with the alleged suppression of favorable evidence. Justice Davis, dissenting in an opinion that Justice Starcher joined, unambiguously characterized the trooper's instruction to discard the new evidence as a Brady violation. The dissenters concluded that the note indicating that Youngblood engaged in consensual sex with Katara had been suppressed and was material, both because it was at odds with the testimony provided by the State's three chief witnesses (Katara, Kimberly, and Wendy) and also because it was entirely consistent with Youngblood's defense at trial that his sexual encounters with Katara were consensual. . . . . Youngblood clearly presented a federal constitutional Brady claim to the State Supreme Court, as he had to the trial court. And, as noted, the dissenting justices discerned the significance of the issue raised. If this Court is to reach the merits of this case, it would be better to have the benefit of the views of the full Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia on the Brady issue. We, therefore, grant the petition for certiorari, vacate the judgment of the State Supreme Court, and remand the case for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. Youngblood, 126 S.Ct. at 2189-2190 (internal citations omitted). In view of the opinion issued by the United States Supreme Court, we believe that three issues must be resolved: (1) whether the prosecution's disclosure duty under Brady includes evidence that is known only to police investigators, (2) whether the disclosure requirement under Brady includes disclosure of favorable impeachment evidence, and (3) whether the suppressed evidence violated the disclosure requirement of Brady. In resolving these three issues we do not believe that this Court is precluded from also considering the issues on independent State constitutional grounds under our decision in State v. Hatfield, 169 W.Va. 191, 286 S.E.2d 402 (1982). This is particularly so because in Mr. Youngblood's original brief and supplemental brief he argued both State and federal constitutional grounds for a new trial. See State v. Hershberger, 462 N.W.2d 393, 396-397 (Minn.1990) (It is unnecessary to rest our decision on the [federal case that the United States Supreme Court asked us to consider on remand,] when the Minnesota Constitution alone provides an independent and adequate state constitutional basis on which to decide.); Pelliccioni v. Schuyler Packing Co., 140 N.J.Super. 190, 356 A.2d 4, 6 (1976) ([S]tate courts, after a United States Supreme Court remand, are free to alter  subject only to the state's jurisprudence  prior decisions in the case on state law so long as the altered decision is consistent with the federal Supreme Court's ruling on the federal question presented and remanded.); Immuno AG. v. Moor-Jankowski, 77 N.Y.2d 235, 251-252, 566 N.Y.S.2d 906, 567 N.E.2d 1270 (1991) (The [United States] Supreme Court has specifically directed us to consider the case in light of Milkovich, [v. Lorain Journal Co., 497 U.S. 1, 110 S.Ct. 2695, 111 L.Ed.2d 1 (1990)], and we comply with that direction, as courts throughout the Nation have done in similar circumstances. But that does not compel us to ignore our prior decision or the arguments fully presented on remand that provide an alternative basis for resolving the case.). Our review of the three issues will be in the context of the trial court's ruling denying Mr. Youngblood's post-trial motion for a new trial based upon a violation of Brady and Hatfield. As a general matter we have held that [a] trial court's order denying a defendant's motion for a new trial is entitled to substantial deference on appeal. State v. Cooper, 217 W.Va. 613, 616, 619 S.E.2d 126, 129 (2005). A claim of a violation of Brady and Hatfield presents mixed questions of law and fact. Consequently, the circuit court's factual findings should be reviewed under a clearly erroneous standard and . . . questions of law are subject to de novo review. State v. Kearns, 210 W.Va. 167, 168-169, 556 S.E.2d 812, 813-814 (2001). Accord United States v. Risha, 445 F.3d 298, 303 (3rd Cir. 2006); United States v. Jernigan, 451 F.3d 1027, 1030 (9th Cir.2006); United States v. Martin, 431 F.3d 846, 850 (5th Cir.2005); United States v. Schlei, 122 F.3d 944, 989 (11th Cir.1997); United States v. Hughes, 33 F.3d 1248, 1251 (10th Cir.1994); United States v. Rivalta, 925 F.2d 596, 598 (2nd Cir.1991).