Opinion ID: 1325116
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Motion to Exclude Late-Disclosed Evidence.

Text: Under the court's discovery order, the Commonwealth was directed to make available to the defense any relevant statements which the Commonwealth's attorney knew had been made by Frye to any law enforcement officers or others. On June 5, 1985, before the trial began, the Commonwealth provided a supplemental discovery response which disclosed several such statements. In this response the Commonwealth stated that Frye had telephoned Covington newspaper reporter Natalie Austin, given his name and said, I'm the one that shot the trooper. The Commonwealth also disclosed evidence of a plan by Frye to attempt to escape from the Alleghany County jail. Frye objected to the Commonwealth's late disclosure of this evidence and moved that it be excluded. The trial court ruled that the evidence could not be used in the Commonwealth's case-in-chief, but deferred ruling whether the evidence could be admitted on rebuttal or in the sentencing phase. Testifying in his own behalf in the guilt phase, Frye admitted he telephoned the local newspaper requesting that copies of the paper be sent to his cell, but he denied making any incriminating admission. Austin was then permitted to testify in rebuttal, over Frye's objection, that Frye had told her in the telephone call, This is Greg Frye, the one who shot the state trooper. Frye's counsel acknowledged that he had been informed of the nature of Frye's admission on May 1, and had been given the reporter's name on May 30, five days before trial began. Upon Frye's conviction in the guilt phase of the trial, the Commonwealth introduced in the sentencing phase evidence of his purported escape plan. Jefferson G. Armentrout, an inmate of the jail, testified that, while he was in the cell next to Frye's, Frye asked him for help in attempting an escape. Frye asked Armentrout to smuggle into the jail a hacksaw handle and blades in return for a share in $27,000 that Frye said he had previously stolen. According to Armentrout, Frye gave him a handwritten map showing the site where the money was buried. Armentrout gave the map to Investigator Cale. Cale testified that he attempted to locate the area in Chesterfield County depicted on the map. Although he found the map to be very accurate, Cale said he did not find the money because certain trees marking the exact location of the hiding place had been removed during recent construction at the site. The map and a note Frye had written Armentrout about obtaining the hacksaw were admitted as exhibits. Frye contends admission of Austin's testimony and the evidence of an escape plan denied him due process by denying him an adequate opportunity to evaluate the evidence against him and prepare for trial. There is no constitutional right to discovery in a criminal case. Lowe v. Commonwealth, 218 Va. 670, 679, 239 S.E.2d 112, 118 (1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 930, 98 S.Ct. 1502, 55 L.Ed.2d 526 (1978). Rule 3A:11 governing discovery in criminal cases establishes that, upon timely written motion, the accused is entitled to discover written or recorded statements or confessions made by the accused, or copies thereof, or the substance of any oral statements or confessions made by the accused to any law enforcement officer, the existence of which is known to the attorney for the Commonwealth. The trial court ordered the Commonwealth to furnish these statements and, in addition, any such statements made to persons other than law enforcement officials. The Commonwealth's late disclosure of the alleged statement to Austin and the purported escape plan, while violating the trial court's order, did not violate Rule 3A:11. The court, in its discretion, fashioned a remedy to redress the Commonwealth's violation of its order, excluding use of the late-disclosed evidence in the Commonwealth's case-in-chief. We cannot say this action was an abuse of the court's discretion. Furthermore, even assuming the evidence was within the scope of Rule 3A:11, we find no error in the court's action. The relief to be granted upon a violation of Rule 3A:11 is within the discretion of the trial court, giving due regard to the right of the accused to call for evidence in his favor and to investigate and evaluate the evidence in preparation for trial. See Va. Const. art. I, § 8; Lomax v. Commonwealth, 228 Va. 168, 172, 319 S.E.2d 763, 765 (1984); Gilchrist v. Commonwealth, 227 Va. 540, 546-47, 317 S.E.2d 784, 787 (1984). In certain cases, a court may insure this right only by granting a continuance to allow the accused an opportunity to assess and develop the evidence for trial. See, e.g., Lomax, 228 Va. at 172-73, 319 S.E.2d at 765-66. In the present case, however, Frye failed to move for a continuance or even for a recess in order to consider the material. He will not now be heard to complain that he had insufficient time to prepare for trial.