Opinion ID: 1465675
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Failure to Obtain Access to Victim's Counseling Records

Text: Mr. Johnson argued in his first supplemental Rule 37 petition that counsel was ineffective in failing to obtain the victim's counseling and psychological records or to call her counselor as a witness. He contended that such would have resulted in discovery of any persons the victim was afraid of or who had threatened her. Any such person could then have been an alternate suspect against whom one could test forensic evidence. In the alternative, Mr. Johnson argued that counsel should have preserved the issue for appellate review. The circuit court denied relief, concluding that Mr. Johnson's argument was speculative, that counsel did not see fit to pursue such theoretical evidence, and that the consideration of new evidence was beyond the scope of Rule 37. On appeal, Mr. Johnson notes that the circuit court seemed to treat this claim as a freestanding one. Mr. Johnson has abandoned his ineffectiveness claim on appeal, because the two brief paragraphs devoted in his brief to this issue are merely a recitation of his arguments below, followed by an assertion that the trial court erred in denying Mr. Johnson access to the records and refusing to make an in camera inspection of the records requested. Johnson submits that the circuit court should have examined the records in camera to determine if any alternative suspects are contained therein, and cites Pennsylvania v. Ritchie, 480 U.S. 39, 107 S.Ct. 989, 94 L.Ed.2d 40 (1987), in support of his argument. However, we rejected such a freestanding claim in Weaver v. State, 339 Ark. 97, 3 S.W.3d 323 (1999): As to Weaver's claim bearing on the trial court's refusal to direct the State to provide exculpatory evidence comprised of a list of persons undercover agent Tucker had arrested and prosecuted, he simply is in no position to raise this matter in a Rule 37 proceeding. Weaver sought these persons' names and addresses in a belated attempt to substantiate his theory that Tucker engaged in sexual relations with Weaver and other men in an attempt to induce them to commit crimes involving illegal drugs. For authority, Weaver relies on Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), which requires the State to disclose all favorable evidence material to the guilt or punishment of an individual. The list of persons, if any, now sought by Weaver, was available at his original trial, but he never sought the information, nor did he claim a right to such information on direct appeal. Weaver does not use this postconviction proceeding to claim his counsel at trial and on appeal were ineffective for failing to obtain the list of names, but instead, he seeks to obtain that information in this postconviction proceeding, saying he is entitled to it as exculpatory evidence. Rule 37 does not provide for such discovery, and Weaver fails to cite any authority for the proposition. Neither does the Rule provide a remedy when an issue could have been raised in the trial or argued on appeal. Malone v. State, 294 Ark. 127, 741 S.W.2d 246 (1987). Our court has specifically held in Neal v. State, 270 Ark. 442, 605 S.W.2d 421 (1980), that Rule 37 does not allow a petitioner to raise questions which might have been raised at trial or on the record on appeal, unless they are so fundamental as to render the judgment void and open to collateral attack. If Weaver wanted to challenge the propriety of discovery, he should have done so before now by preserving the issue during his trial and raising it on direct appeal. Weaver v. State, 339 Ark. 97, 103, 3 S.W.3d 323 (1999). Thus, Mr. Johnson cannot raise this issue now as a direct attack on his conviction via Rule 37. Although Mr. Johnson, unlike Mr. Weaver, did allege ineffective assistance for counsel's failure to obtain the records, he has abandoned that argument on appeal. The circuit court is thus affirmed on this point.