Opinion ID: 2103902
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: suppression of scientific demonstration.

Text: Jack Sammons, a chemist, testified for Appellant that the rinse vac used by Appellant on March 1, 1997 could not have removed all traces of blood from the carpet in Appellant's recreation room. He had proved this by an out-of-court experiment which he proposed to repeat in the presence of the jury. The trial court sustained the Commonwealth's objection on grounds that since the Commonwealth had no notice of the proposed demonstration, it would be unfair to permit it. No reciprocal discovery order was entered in this case, RCr 7.24(3)(A), and we are unaware of any other rule requiring a defendant in a criminal case to disclose his trial strategy to the prosecutor prior to trial. Obviously, if Sammons could demonstrate to the satisfaction of the jury that it would have been impossible to remove all traces of blood with the rinse vac, the fact that the investigative officers found no trace of blood in Appellant's recreation room would take on added significance. Regardless, since this case is being reversed for a new trial, the prosecutor now has ample notice of Sammons's proposed demonstration and unfairness will not preclude the jury from seeing this evidence.