Opinion ID: 1233313
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: right to use of grand jury transcript.

Text: William F. Devin, one of the special deputy prosecuting attorneys before the grand jury, testified concerning certain statements made by the appellant in his testimony before the grand jury. Mr. Devin was testifying not from any document or transcript, but from his recollection of answers given by appellant. The appellant urges that he was entitled to a transcript of his entire testimony before the grand jury to facilitate his cross-examination of Mr. Devin. He cites no authorities in support of such a proposition. He passes but lightly on the fact that the trial court did make available to appellant's attorneys that portion of appellant's testimony before the grand jury which varied from Mr. Devin's recollection thereof. A defendant is not entitled, as a matter of right, to a copy of the transcript of his testimony before a grand jury; and the extent to which such a transcript will be made available to him is within the sound discretion of the trial court. State v. Ingels (1940), 4 Wn. (2d) 676, 104 P. (2d) 944; State v. Morrison (1933), 175 Wash. 656, 27 P. (2d) 1065. This is likewise the rule in the federal courts. Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. v. United States (1959), 360 U.S. 395, 3 L.Ed. (2d) 1323, 79 S.Ct. 1237. The appellant has cited cases such as Jencks v. United States (1957), 353 U.S. 657, 1 L.Ed. (2d) 1103, 77 S.Ct. 1007, and Powell v. Superior Court (1957), 48 Cal. (2d) 704, 312 P. (2d) 698, which have to do with the making available to a defendant the written statements by witnesses or confessions of the defendant in the possession of the prosecution. The United States Supreme Court has recently (June 22, 1959) ruled that the Jencks decision does not encompass grand jury minutes. In Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. v. United States, supra , the trial judge refused the defense the right to inspect grand jury testimony of a key government witness. The supreme court held that the determination of such an issue was committed to the sound discretion of the trial judge; and that the defendant was entitled to such a disclosure only where the ends of justice required setting aside the public policy of maintaining the secrecy of the grand jury proceedings. The burden is on the defendant to show a particularized need for it. United States v. Proctor & Gamble Co. (1958), 356 U.S. 677, 2 L.Ed. (2d) 1077, 78 S.Ct. 983. We have recently explored the whole area covered by the Jencks case in State v. Thompson (1959), 54 Wn. (2d) 100, 338 P. (2d) 319, and concluded that it was a matter in the discretion of the trial court whose action will not be disturbed on appeal unless there is a manifest abuse of that discretion. We are convinced that the trial court properly exercised its discretion in allowing the defendant only limited access to the transcript of his testimony before the grand jury.