Opinion ID: 2382224
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: pre-trial discovery obligations

Text: Appellant next contends that the Commonwealth failed to fulfill its discovery obligations by not disclosing exculpatory evidence. In Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), the United States Supreme Court held that a prosecutor's suppression of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or punishment, regardless of the good or bad faith of the prosecution. See also Pa. R.Crim.P. 305 (providing for mandatory discovery of evidence favorable to accused upon request). [10] The omission, once established, must be evaluated in the context of the entire record. Commonwealth v. Green, 536 Pa. 599, 604, 640 A.2d 1242, 1245 (1994). A defendant seeking relief from a discovery violation must demonstrate prejudice. Commonwealth v. Johnson, 556 Pa. 216, 232, 727 A.2d 1089, 1097 (1999). There is no constitutional requirement that a prosecutor make a complete and detailed accounting to the defense of all police investigatory work on a particular matter. See Commonwealth v. Appel, 547 Pa. 171, 203, 689 A.2d 891, 907 (1997) (The Brady rule is not an all-encompassing directive to the prosecution to disclose all evidence in its possession to a criminal defendant. The prosecution is not required under Brady to `make a complete and detailed accounting to the defense of all police investigatory work on a case.') (citing Moore v. Illinois, 408 U.S. 786, 795, 92 S.Ct. 2562, 33 L.Ed.2d 706 (1972)). Appellant's claim fails for a number of reasons. First, and most significantly, appellant fails to establish that any specific material was not disclosed. Second, he fails to show that the alleged evidence was either material or exculpatory. Finally, appellant fails to establish that even if the alleged material was disclosed, a different verdict would have likely occurred and, therefore, there was no prejudice. Hence, this claim affords appellant no relief. Appellant also claims that the Commonwealth failed to fulfill its discovery obligations since potential, yet unidentified, impeachment information may have been lost or destroyed because of police officers' inability to recall in detail substantial portions of interviews with various witnesses. Specifically, appellant argues that the Commonwealth was required to produce evidence of events which possibly took place prior to tape-recorded witness interviews, i.e., what was said during the preliminary conversations before the official statement was recorded, and that providing tape-recorded interviews between the police and its witnesses was not enough to satisfy the prosecution's duty. Again, appellant's contention fails for a number of reasons. First, there was no indication that such evidence appellant complains about ever existed. A vague assertion of lost or forgotten material is not sufficient to give rise to a Brady violation. Next, appellant has failed to establish that police had reason to expect that the alleged evidence would play a significant role in appellant's defense. See California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479, 488, 104 S.Ct. 2528, 81 L.Ed.2d 413 (1984).(Whatever duty the Constitution imposes on the States to preserve evidence, that duty must be limited to evidence that might be expected to play a significant role in the suspect's defense.) Moreover, appellant has failed to establish that the exculpatory value of the alleged evidence was apparent before the alleged evidence was lost or destroyed. See Id., 467 U.S. at 489, 104 S.Ct. 2528 (To meet this standard of constitutional materiality ... evidence must... possess an exculpatory value that was apparent before the evidence was destroyed). Finally, even if the evidence existed and was material, appellant has also failed to establish that the police acted in bad faith. Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51, 109 S.Ct. 333, 102 L.Ed.2d 281 (1988). In Youngblood, the United State Supreme Court stated that, unlike Brady, which dealt with the disclosure of material evidence, due process requires a different standard when the State fails to preserve evidentiary material. Under these circumstances, the United States Supreme Court held that unless a criminal defendant can show bad faith on the part the police, failure to preserve potentially useful evidence does not constitute a denial of due process of law. Id. at 58, 109 S.Ct. 333. [11] Appellant asked the trial court to direct the Commonwealth to reconstruct any oral conversations that were not recorded, essentially requiring that the Commonwealth create evidence. As a principal matter, it was impossible for the police to recreate conversations that took place over a fifteen-year period. Moreover, if appellant's argument was accepted, police would be required either to tape every conversation between police investigators and potential witnesses or to take detailed notes of all activity on every investigation. This is not a realistic or necessary requirement to impose on the police. We believe that the Commonwealth complied with its discovery obligations by producing the recorded conversations. It is impossible, impractical and unnecessary for the police to record every word said to or by a person during an investigation, as much of it may be irrelevant or may simply corroborate other recorded information. Further, since appellant was provided with the witnesses' names, appellant was free to investigate on his own by interviewing witnesses before the trial about any unrecorded conversations and by cross-examining the witnesses at trial about conversations they had with the police prior to their official statements. Finally, appellant fails to show how this evidence, even if produced, would have caused a different outcome. Com. v. Counterman, 553 Pa. 370, 395-397, 719 A.2d 284, 297 (1998). Therefore, these claims afford appellant no relief.