Opinion ID: 1651956
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Financial Arrangements Between a Witness and Documentary Filmmakers

Text: Echols next argues that the trial court erred in refusing to permit him to inquire into the financial arrangements between John Mark Byers and HBO. This claim is tied to the preceding claims. Specifically, Echols contends that Byers had received money from HBO and that, accordingly, he had a financial stake in the outcome of the trial and was therefore a biased witness. The record does not support this contention. During the Rule 37 proceedings, counsel for the filmmakers and HBO repeatedly objected to Echols's attempts to determine the terms of the contract between Byers and his wife and HBO. Nonetheless, one of the filmmakers, Bruce Sinofsky, testified that the money paid to the victims' families was more of a humanitarian act, and was not payment for interviews. Sinofsky testified unequivocally that the victims' families were not obliged by contract to participate in any filming at any given time. We did not buy their interviews. The record reflects further that Echols's postconviction attorney, Mr. Mallett, asked the trial court to examine these contracts in camera to make a determination as to whether there is any language in the contracts relating to the giving of interviews[.] The trial court agreed to review the contracts and, afterwards, made the following finding: The language contained in it basically says, I'm a willing participant in the documentary and they received the considerationor as it's called, an honorarium-to give up the rights to have their likeness and voice portrayed. There's nothing in it about any interview or certainly nothing about any testimony. It's just simply a waiver of any claim for having their likeness and voice exhibited. Thereafter, upon Echols's motion and without objection, the circuit court agreed to make the contracts part of a sealed record for appellate review. Echols now contends that the trial court erred in refusing to allow him to inquire into the financial arrangements between HBO and Byers to the extent that he wished. He claims that this limitation prevented him from developing his claim that trial counsel was burdened by a conflict of interests between his representation of Echols and his desire not to expose Byers as an incredible witness. He asks us to remand for development of a full and fair record on this issue. The State contends, on the other hand, that this argument is procedurally barred because Echols failed to abstract the contracts. The State asserts that even though the contracts have been sealed, Echols could have sought permission from this court to abstract the documents under seal. See Johnson v. State, 335 Ark. 333, 982 S.W.2d 669 (1998) ( per curiam ). Alternatively, the State argues that Echols's argument is barred because he received all the relief he requested, in that the trial court reviewed the contracts in camera and determined that there was no support for his claim that Byers was biased. See Marshall v. State, 342 Ark. 172, 27 S.W.3d 392 (2000) (holding that it is a basic principle of law that where the appellant received the only relief he requested, he has no basis upon which to raise the issue on appeal). Echols offers no convincing argument or authority in support of his argument on this point. We have reviewed the contract between Byers and his wife and the filmmakers, and we conclude, just as the trial court did, that there is nothing in the contract to indicate that Byers was being paid to give interviews or to give testimony favorable to the State. Thus, we agree with the trial court that the contracts and their contents were irrelevant to Echols's contention regarding trial counsels' alleged conflict of interests.