Opinion ID: 2161601
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 23

Heading: Denial of Request to Interview Potential Witness

Text: Grandison also challenges the propriety of the trial court's refusal to allow him to personally interview a potential defense witness, Rodney Kelly. Like Grandison, Kelly was considered a substantial security risk. He had already entered an Alford [18] plea to the crime of conspiracy to murder Scott Piechowicz and Susan Kennedy. As a result of his plea, Kelly had received a state sentence of fifty years. He also had received a federal life sentence for the same acts. At the time of the Grandison trial, Kelly was incarcerated in federal prison in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. While in confinement he had allegedly committed another murder, and those charges were pending. At the onset it must be noted that the court did not unequivocally deny the defense access to the potential witness. The trial judge offered to make Kelly available if the defense wanted to interview him through standby counsel. Grandison, however, declined to avail himself of this opportunity. The propriety of the trial court's ruling denying Grandison personal contact with the prospective defense witness raises a question not heretofore dispositively addressed by this Court. However, dicta in Kardy v. Shook, 237 Md. 524, 541, 207 A.2d 83, 92 (1965), indicates that a defendant and his counsel are at perfect liberty to interview and interrogate prospective witnesses, subject to the witnesses' acquiescence in such interrogations. The Court of Special Appeals has twice discussed this issue. In Barnett v. State, 8 Md. App. 35, 42, 257 A.2d 466, 470 (1969), the intermediate appellate court noted that there are no property rights in witnesses; each party may interview the other's witnesses to ascertain facts within that witness' knowledge. Subsequently, that court suggested that under certain circumstances the denial of a defense request to interview a prospective witness would not entitle the defendant to a mistrial. Johnson v. State, 18 Md. App. 571, 576, 308 A.2d 426, 429 (1973). It is our opinion that the circumstances under which a defendant can conduct a pretrial interview of a prospective witness are a matter best left to the trial court's discretion. Here, we find no abuse of that discretion. In the instant case we are not confronted with a complete denial of an opportunity to ascertain facts within the potential witness' knowledge. To the contrary, Grandison was at perfect liberty to do so through standby counsel. Further, he was not compelled to prepare his defense without prior knowledge of the potential significance and thrust of Kelly's testimony. The two men had had substantial contact throughout the earlier federal proceedings. In effect, the trial court placed a condition on the interview  a condition with which Grandison was not willing to comply. Other jurisdictions vary on the propriety of such conditions. See Annot., 14 A.L.R.3d 652 (1967). The better view is to permit the trial judge to place certain limitations and restrictions on a party's access to potential witnesses if in the court's discretion such restrictions are reasonably necessary for the protection of the witness or for security purposes. See State v. Gress, 210 Kan. 850, 504 P.2d 256 (1972); Commonwealth v. Balliro, 349 Mass. 505, 209 N.E.2d 308 (1965); State v. Balsavich, 113 N.H. 53, 300 A.2d 521 (1973); Holladay v. State, 130 Tex.Cr. 591, 95 S.W.2d 119 (1936). Under the circumstances of this case, we find Judge Simpkins' ruling was reasonable. Clearly, the trial court's apprehension over allowing these co-conspirators to confer in private was well-founded. Both men were in custody and considered extremely dangerous. To maintain security, the trial judge requested the interview be conducted through standby counsel. It was the decision of Mr. Grandison not to do so. Hence, no interview of Kelly was ever conducted. In fact Kelly was never called as a witness for reasons discussed at section XVII, infra, which have nothing to do with this alleged denial of a pretrial interview. Furthermore, Grandison was not prejudiced by the trial court's refusal to allow him direct contact with Kelly. By Grandison's own admission, Kelly had been in his presence throughout the federal trial. Consequently, he had ample opportunity to ascertain the tenor of Kelly's potential testimony. Moreover, Grandison never proffered the contents of the testimony to be elicited from Kelly. In light of these factors, no showing of prejudice has been made. Thus this Court cannot now say that the trial judge's refusal to grant Grandison the requested interview amounted to an abuse of discretion. Accordingly, we find no reversible error here.