Opinion ID: 1699916
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Brady Question

Text: The state further contends that the court of appeal erred in finding that because the state had improperly withheld exculpatory, material information crucial to Rosiere's defense, the motion for a new trial should have been granted. [5] It argues that the statements which it withheld from the defense were neither exculpatory nor material. In his pretrial motion for discovery, defendant requested [a]ny and all evidence, of whatever nature, that may be deemed exculpatory as to the defendant, no matter how tenuous the exculpation. In response, the state provided defendant with the names and addresses of four individuals, Herman Netzhammer, Clifton Cotton, Delores Carter and William Helfand, along with a copy of Netzhammer's report on his test drive of Brook's motorcycle. However, the state did not disclose the names of two other witnesses, Donna Oakleaf and Michael Glasser, or statements given to NOPD homicide detectives by Helfand, Oakleaf and Glasser. In his statement Helfand, a Tulane University student who worked part-time as an emergency medical technician for the NOPD, recounted that on the night of the shooting he was driving on Palmetto Street with his girlfriend, Donna Oakleaf, when a motorcycle pursued by a police car sped by in the opposite direction. Helfand made a U-turn and began following the police car. When he was half way up the Palmetto overpass, the police car, which was at the top, quickly pulled over to the right. Upon reaching the crest of the incline, Helfand saw a body in the middle of the road. He parked his car and began to get out. At that moment, one of the police officers yelled that the man on the ground had a gun. Helfand ducked back into his car. After the officers had searched the suspect for a weapon, Helfand grabbed his medical bag, approached the wounded man and began administering first aid. Defendant told him that one of the men on the motorcycle had popped a cap at us. [6] McFarland had returned to the patrol car and continued the chase. According to Helfand, McFarland left the overpass at a high rate of speed and at no time prior to McFarland's departure did he observe the two officers conversing. [7] In her statement, Oakleaf did not mention the warning or explanation given Helfand by the police officers; however, her account corroborates much of what her boyfriend said. In his statement, Glasser, a narcotics officer with the NOPD, told the homicide detectives that he was waiting at a red light when the motorcycle and police car passed in front of him. [8] He turned right and joined the chase. When he was a quarter of a mile from the overpass, he heard the 108. Fifteen seconds later he arrived at the scene. He saw a white male getting out of a small car (presumably Helfand) and a police officer standing over a body. The patrol car had resumed the chase of the motorcycle. Realizing that he could do nothing for the victim, Glasser went to assist McFarland. Upon learning of the undisclosed information, defendant filed a motion for a new trial. [9] During the hearing on this motion, the trial judge found that it is exculpatory material. It would have been critical to the defense's case.... And it could have made a whale of a difference.... I'm of the firm belief that you [defendant] should have been provided with a copy of that statment [sic]. After reviewing the grand jury testimony of Helfand, Oakleaf and defendant, the judge, without assigning reasons, denied defendant's motion. [10] The court of appeal agreed with the trial judge's findings: The suppressed statements were crucial to Rosiere's defense. However, it disagreed with his ruling. Accordingly, it held that: The state acted improperly and the new trial motion (now moot) should have been granted. We agree. In Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), the United States Supreme Court held that the suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material to either guilt or punishment. The Brady rule is based on the requirement of due process. Its purpose is not to displace the adversary system as the primary means by which truth is uncovered, but to ensure that a miscarriage of justice does not occur. Thus, the prosecutor is not required to deliver his entire file to defense counsel, but only to disclose evidence favorable to the accused that, if suppressed, would deprive the defendant of a fair trial, that is, evidence favorable to defendant which is material to guilt or punishment. [11] The test for determining materiality was firmly established in United States v. Bagley, ___ U.S. ___, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985). The evidence is material only if there is a reasonable probability that, had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome. United States v. Bagley, supra . [12] In the instant case, defendant claimed justification. Thus, a primary issue was whether defendant reasonably believed that he was in imminent danger of losing his life or receiving great bodily harm. La. R.S. 14:20. Helfand's statement, which was corroborated by Oakleaf and Glasser, contained facts from which a rational trier could infer that defendant had believed he was being shot at by the motorcyclists. Prior to Helfand's arrival, there was little time for the officers to concoct a coverup, and he told the detectives that after he arrived McFarland and defendant did not converse at all. Yet, only moments after the shooting, as Helfand was getting out of his car, one of the officers yelled the warning that the man on the ground had a gun, and not long afterward defendant explained to him that the suspects had popped a cap at us. Additionally, Helfand stated that when McFarland resumed the chase of the motorcycle, he drove away at a high rate of speed which indicates that the officer's pursuit of Brooks was in earnest, perhaps because he then thought that shots had been fired at the patrol car. Furthermore, the statements of Helfand and Oakleaf cast doubt on McFarland's credibility. McFarland testified that when he left defendant on the overpass with the victim, no one had yet arrived. This testimony is directly contradicted by the statements of Helfand and Oakleaf in which they told detectives that they arrived on the scene prior to McFarland's leaving to continue his pursuit of Brooks. In addition to its corroborative value, Glasser's statement contains independent facts which are relevant to the justification issue. Glasser told the homicide detectives that he heard the 108 fifteen seconds before he arrived on the scene. This information would assist the factfinder in determining when defendant called in the 108. A determination that the 108 was given before defendant shot at Glover would support a finding that defendant returned fire because he thought the motorcyclists were shooting at him. Under these circumstances, our confidence in the outcome of the trial is undermined. Thus, there is a reasonable probability that, had the statements of Helfand, Oakleaf and Glasser been disclosed to defendant, the result of the proceeding would have been different, that is, the statements are material. In addition, since the suppressed evidence supports defendant's claim that the homicide was justifiable and contradicts portions of McFarland's testimony, it is clearly favorable to defendant. Because the statements are both favorable to defendant and material, the prosecutor had a duty to disclose them. He improperly failed to do so. The trial judge erred in denying the motion for a new trial. The court of appeal correctly found that the new trial should have been granted. Accordingly, the case must be remanded for a new trial.