Opinion ID: 628036
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Frank's Responsibilities and Her Concerns

Text: 4 As victim-witness coordinator, Frank was a liaison between the DA's office and the victims of and witnesses to crimes. Her responsibilities included locating and contacting victims and witnesses, counseling them, participating in their interviews, and generally shepherding them through the trial process. Until the events in question, Frank by all accounts performed her job well. She consistently received exceptional ratings in annual reviews and was described as a very hard working and dedicated employee. 5 If, in the course of a conversation, a witness mentioned something to Frank that was not known to the ADA assigned to the case, Frank was to relay that information to the ADA. In early 1985, Frank was assisting one Sam Tibone, a victim and witness in a criminal case being handled by an ADA to whom we refer as B. A police officer stopped Frank in the hallway outside the district attorney's office and asked her why she was with Tibone. When Frank explained that Tibone was the victim in a case, the officer advised her to tell ADA B immediately that Tibone  'has a criminal record as long as your arm.'  (Hearing Transcript dated August 11, 1988 (Aug. 11 Tr.), at 10 (testimony of Frank).) Frank promptly attempted to relay the information to B. B, however, stated that he did not want to hear about Tibone's criminal record until  'after the trial is over.'  (Id. at 11.) Frank did not tell anyone about B 's reaction at that time. 6 In the summer of 1985, Frank was working on the prosecution of one David Larson, who was accused of murdering a fourteen-year old girl while she was babysitting. Apparently the police had found Larson's fingerprint at the crime scene, and A, who was assigned to the case, viewed the fingerprint as a particularly strong piece of evidence. However, when, as requested by A, Frank contacted two witnesses to determine whether they were still available for trial, the witnesses told Frank they had seen Larson at the crime scene prior to the date of the murder. The witnesses were willing to come to the DA's office to be interviewed; but according to Frank, A told her 7 not to bother bringing them in for an interview, that he felt this would be very harmful to our case, that if we proved the defendant had been in the house prior to the night of the homicide, that this fingerprint would be thrown out. 8 (Id. at 15-16.) 9 The next morning, Frank approached Pilato and told him she was concerned about some information she had about a criminal case and was wondering what information the ADAs wanted withheld before trial. Pilato asked Frank what she meant, and she told him about her conversations with B concerning the Tibone matter and with A concerning the Larson matter. Pilato told Frank:  'I think that's Brady [Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963) ] material.'  (Aug. 11 Tr. at 19 (testimony of Frank).) He explained to Frank, who did not know what Brady material was, that that meant the information should be turned over to the defense. Pilato was clearly concerned, saying, 10 I'm going to have to do something about this. I don't know what it's going to be, but ... if this should ever come out, ... I could be disbarred. 11 (Id. at 20.) Frank asked Pilato to let her know what he intended to do before he took any action. 12 Some time later, A asked Frank to contact another potential witness in the Larson case. Frank spoke to the witness by telephone and learned that the witness knew Larson and had seen him at about 9:30 on the night of the murder. According to Frank, the witness 13 said--her conversation with Larson was, David, what are you on? And his response to her was, I'm on Black Velvet and acid. 14 (Id. at 22.) 15 Frank told A about her telephone conversation with this witness and asked him if he wanted her to bring the witness in for an interview. A told Frank,  'No, don't bring her in. That will only help the defendant's case.'  (Id. at 23.) Frank was concerned by this because normally A followed up on every bit of information in order to avoid any surprises in the courtroom. (Id.) She therefore wanted to discuss the matter with someone. However, A had rushed off to attend to other matters; Relin was out of the office, as was the ADA who ranked just behind A; and Sofia, Frank's supervisor, had an office full of people. Frank therefore turned again to Pilato. 16 Frank told Pilato that A had told her not to bring in a potential witness who had indicated a defendant had been drinking and was on drugs. Frank asked whether Pilato would normally interview such a witness in his own cases; he stated he would and that he was  'going to have to do something about this.'  (Id. at 25.) Frank asked him what he intended to do, to which he responded he did not know. Frank again asked Pilato to let her know what he intended to do before he did anything. 17 Immediately after that conversation, Pilato spoke to Justice Robert Kennedy, the supervisory judge of the Monroe County criminal courts, and reported on Frank's statements about A 's handling of the Larson case. Later that day, Pilato told Frank he had discussed the matter with Justice Kennedy, and Frank became upset because Pilato had acted without first telling her. That evening, Frank called A and told him what Pilato had done.