Opinion ID: 2069959
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 20

Heading: Alleged Failure to Investigate Aggravating Factor and Request a Continuance

Text: Johnson asserts that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to adequately investigate a police report that detailed Robles' knowledge of the drug activities of Johnson that supported the (d)(14) drug involvement aggravating circumstance and for failing to request an adequate continuance to prepare a cross-examination of Robles. Johnson raised much of this contention on direct appeal of his conviction and death sentence. We addressed the claim at that time as follows: Two days before the penalty phase of [Johnson's] trial was to begin, the Commonwealth disclosed to [Johnson's] counsel the existence of a police report that described statements Robles made regarding [Johnson's] participation in Shawn Bridges' drug activities. The Commonwealth produced a copy of this report to [Johnson's] counsel the day before the penalty phase was to begin. At the commencement of the penalty phase, [Johnson] sought to preclude the Commonwealth from introducing any evidence concerning the aggravating circumstance found at 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(d)(14)that the murder occurred in connection with illegal drug traffickingas a sanction for the Commonwealth's late production of the report. The trial court denied [Johnson's] request, noting that the Commonwealth had produced the report and that [Johnson] had been on notice that the Commonwealth was seeking the death penalty on the basis of this aggravating circumstance. [Johnson] now claims that the Commonwealth engaged in misconduct by failing to produce this police report when [Johnson] made his general discovery requests nine months before trial. We find no violation of Brady here, and there was no error made by the trial court denying [Johnson's] request to preclude the Commonwealth from presenting evidence of the relationship between the murders and [Johnson's] drug dealing activities. The Commonwealth produced the police report before the penalty phase of [Johnson's] trial. The basis for [Johnson's] complaint, therefore, is that the Commonwealth failed to comply in a timely fashion with his discovery request for statements of all witnesses that the Commonwealth intended to call at the sentencing phase, and that he was prejudiced by this late production of the report. In evaluating this claim, we must look at: (1) whether the discovery rules were violated; and (2) whether the trial court abused its discretion in not excluding evidence pursuant to Rule 305(E) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure. The trial court has broad discretion in choosing the appropriate remedy for a discovery violation. Moreover, a defendant seeking relief from a discovery violation must demonstrate prejudice. The production of statements made by the witnesses of the Commonwealth is within the discretion of the trial court. In refusing to grant [Johnson's] request that the Commonwealth be precluded from introducing any evidence regarding the aggravating circumstance of Section 9711(d)(14), the trial court found that the Commonwealth had disclosedseveral months before the trialthat it planned on calling Robles during the penalty phase. Further, the trial court noted that [Johnson's] investigator had interviewed Robles on previous occasions and had the opportunity to question Robles about his knowledge of [Johnson's] involvement in Bridges' drug activities, if he chose to do so. The trial court granted [Johnson] some relief by granting him a half-hour continuance to prepare for cross examination of Robles on the basis of this police report, and found this adequate in light of the advanced notice that [Johnson] had of the subject matter of Robles' testimony at the penalty phase. According to these circumstances, we find no abuse of the discretion of the trial court in refusing [Johnson's] request for further relief. Johnson, 727 A.2d at 1096-1097 (internal footnote and citations omitted). To the extent that this claim is not previously litigated, it still does not entitle Johnson to any relief as Johnson has failed to articulate what additional investigation or a longer continuance might have uncovered. Thus, Johnson has not met his burden of proving prejudice and, accordingly, his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel fails. Commonwealth v. Pierce, 567 Pa. 186, 786 A.2d 203, 221 (2001) (citing Commonwealth v. Fletcher, 561 Pa. 266, 750 A.2d 261 (2000), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1035, 121 S.Ct. 623, 148 L.Ed.2d 533 (2000)).