Opinion ID: 1668296
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Exculpatory Evidence Suppressed by State

Text: Initially, it appears clear that the first two prongs of the Brady analysis have been demonstrated on the record without dispute. That is, there is little dispute that the State possessed exculpatory evidence that it failed to provide to Floyd. First, the record reflects without dispute that the defense was never informed that immediately after the murder, police interviewed Tina Glenn, a neighbor of the victim at the time of the murder. [3] The exculpatory nature of the interviews with witness Glenn is apparent. The interviews reflect that Glenn told police that during the daylight hours on the afternoon of January 16, 1984, within the range of time the state medical examiner determined the murder occurred, she observed two white males park an automobile in the victim's driveway and then enter and later exit the victim's home. In the interviews, Glenn gave detailed descriptions of the men and the vehicle they drove, as well as detailed descriptions of their actions. Glenn told police that while the men were in the house she heard scrambling noises, as if the house was being searched. She stated that the suspects hurriedly emerged from the home, slammed the door, looked around suspiciously, and sped off in their vehicle. According to one of the police reports, Glenn was shown a photographic lineup of suspects, from which she indicated that one picture looked similar to one of the suspects. We conclude that the exculpatory nature of this evidence is apparent, since the interviews present direct evidence of two other persons who may have committed the crime for which Floyd was charged. In addition, the record reflects that other evidence, although not of the magnitude of the neighbor's evidence, was also withheld. This evidence included letters written by the jailhouse informant seeking a deal with the State for his assistance, as well as other information contained in police reports that was inconsistent with evidence presented by the State at trial. [4] The second requirement of Brady is that the defendant must demonstrate that the State failed to disclose the exculpatory evidence. Paraphrasing federal law on the subject, this Court has stated: [W]ithheld information, even if not itself admissible, can be material under Brady if its disclosure would lead to admissible substantive or impeachment evidence. Rogers v. State, 782 So.2d 373, 383 n. 11 (2001). In Rogers we held that the contents of certain police reports, some of which were not even from the agency investigating the crime, should have been disclosed. See Rogers v. State, 782 So.2d 373, 381-85 (Fla.2001) (new trial ordered because bedrock Brady material was withheld: a confession of the State's star witness, a cassette tape of the witness's preparation conference with a prosecutor, and a police report about a related robbery). Here, of course, the interviews were conducted by the police agency having primary responsibility to investigate this crime. Further, it is undisputed in this case that the State did not disclose to the defense any of witness Glenn's observations, or even that she was a witness in this case. Under Brady, Rogers, and our other decisions applying Brady, there can be no question that the State was obligated to disclose this information. The trial court found that Floyd failed to show that the State was obligated to turn over the Tina Glenn interviews and other information, erroneously relying on case law on the confidentiality of police reports and the general proposition that the State is not obligated to provide all investigatory information possessed by the police to the defense. [5] However, it is apparent that the substantive information contained within the police reports identifying a neighbor of the victim as being an eyewitness to the presence of other suspects at the victim's home at the time of the murder qualified as Brady material. See Rogers. Thus, the trial court erred when it found that the State was not obligated under Brady to turn over the substance of the witness interviews and other information contained within the police reports but not disclosed to Floyd.