Opinion ID: 1889713
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: failure of the state to disclose the identity of a witness prior to trial

Text: About nine months prior to the killings, two officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety, operating undercover, talked with the petitioner at a night club in Houston, Texas, in connection with an investigation of illegal drug trafficking. During the conversation Tomlin allegedly stated that he intended to go to Alabama to kill someone. Tomlin was subsequently prosecuted in Texas on a drug charge but was not convicted. His case was nol-prossed after a mistrial. The trial court in the instant case ordered the State to submit to the defendant list of the witnesses it intended to call at trial. The list included one of the two Texas police officers. At trial the State called both officers, who testified to their conversation with Tomlin. Petitioner objected to the testimony of the unlisted witness, Officer Hebison. On appeal he argued that, had he known Hebison was going to testify, he would have acquired a transcript of the Texas proceedings in order to facilitate his cross-examination of Hebison. We fail to see how inclusion of both officers' names would have provided any better notice of the need to obtain the Texas transcript than was afforded by the inclusion of one of their names. Both testified to substantially the same facts. If, indeed, there was any error, it was harmless. A.R.A.P. 45.