Opinion ID: 1768458
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: did the trial court err when it permitted reverend barclay brown to testify at the retrial?

Text: The appellant argues that it was error for the trial court to allow the Commonwealth to call Rev. Brown to the stand. Rev. Brown testified on the second trial that the appellant admitted to him that Ms. Heilman was alive and screaming when he raped her. This testimony was central to the appellant's conviction for rape, since the defense insisted that Mrs. Heilman was already dead when Sanborn sexually abused her body. On appeal, appellant argues that Rev. Brown should not have been allowed to testify at retrial because he was involved with the defense team in the first trial. It is argued that Brown's testimony should not have been permitted due to either an attorney-client or a priest-penitent privilege flowing from his connection to the first trial. We fail to find either privilege. For information to be shielded from discovery by the attorney-client privilege, it must have been made in confidence to a lawyer for the purpose of obtaining legal advice. Federal Trade Commission v. TRW., Inc., 628 F.2d 207 at 212 (D.C.Cir. 1980), and von Bulow by Auersperg v. von Bulow, 811 F.2d 136, 146 (2nd Cir.1987). Although Rev. Brown may have been considered a representative of a lawyer, the statements made to him are not privileged because they were not made with the clear understanding that they were confidential. Among other things, confidentiality implies that the information will not be used to form the basis of expert testimony at trial; this is because expert testimony must be cross-examinable. KRE 705, and Foster v. Commonwealth, Ky., 827 S.W.2d 670 at 678-679 (1992). As is stated in Weinstein's and Berger's treatise on evidence: 1. A distinction must be drawn between an expert hired to testify at trial and an expert consulted as an adviser who will not testify. The first is a witness who, as the Advisory Committee's Notes to Standard 503(a)(3) indicate, does not fall in the definition of representative of lawyer. In this situation disclosure is contemplated and the privilege is eliminated. A contrary finding would permit a party to exclude relevant evidence. A party ought not to be permitted to thwart effective cross-examination of a material witness whom he will call at trial merely by invoking the attorney-client privilege to prohibit pretrial discovery. [Footnotes and internal quotation marks omitted.] Weinstein and Berger, 2 Weinstein's Evidence (1982), Paragraph 503(a)(3)[01] subparagraph 3, p. 503-36. Bette Niemi, defense counsel at the first trial, testified that at the time Rev. Brown talked to appellant she believed she might have Brown testify offering a theological perspective on the death penalty. He agreed to do so if called. At a later date, Niemi decided not to call Rev. Brown and at that time told him his services would no longer be required. It is clear from the record on this appeal that at the first trial it was not made clear that Rev. Brown was only meant to be a consultant for the appellant's defense. It was in fact contemplated that he would be an expert witness called to discuss the death penalty and any remorse shown by the appellant. Because such was the case, the appellant cannot now invoke an attorney-client privilege to disallow Rev. Brown's testimony. The appellant also contends that the testimony in question should be considered confidential and thus disallowed under the priest-penitent privilege. The testimony in question is not privileged on this ground either. For a communication to be covered under this privilege it must be communicated to a member of the clergy when that person is acting as a spiritual advisor and the information is not meant to be transferred to anyone else. KRE 505(b). This Court has already recognized that communications to a member of the clergy will not be privileged if they are to be relayed to a third party not covered by the privilege. Wainscott v. Commonwealth, Ky., 562 S.W.2d 628 at 632-633 (1978). In this situation it is clear that Rev. Brown came in contact with the appellant in contemplation of testifying at trial; such a fact alone mitigates against a situation invoking the priest-penitent privilege. Additionally, there is no testimony at all that the appellant used his contacts with the minister to obtain spiritual advice or to discuss his spiritual well-being. Incidentally, Rev. Brown testified that his involvement with the appellant was for the purpose of preparation by him of a case study in connection with a seminary class which he was then taking at Asbury College. He further stated that he used his notes to prepare a paper, which he had submitted before the second trial. Rev. Brown further testified that he was not employed by the Department of Public Advocacy or by defense counsel and was never offered any compensation whatsoever. When asked whether he was told that all his conversations with the appellant and defense counsel were confidential, he responded, Not that I can remember. Due to these facts there was no violation of the priest-penitent privilege in allowing Rev. Brown to testify.