Opinion ID: 1211537
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sufficiency of Continuance Request

Text: Additionally to be deplored is the implication that the result can be affirmed based on the insufficiency of the motion and affidavit. [10] Some time that Friday morning, the attorney received notice of the unexpected witness, whereupon he immediately prepared the motion and affidavit, and spent the afternoon waiting for an opportunity to appear before the trial court for oral presentation. Whether or not more time might have provided defense counsel a greater capability to defend the totally unexpected, his motion and affidavit were certainly adequate under the circumstances. The defendant deserved a sufficient continuance to allow him an opportunity to defend. The suggestion is made both by the trial court and now by this decision that the witness replaced otherwise available documents which could have been utilized under hearsay exceptions. It is obvious from the record itself that these documents did not exist, and consequently the odd argument of substitute admissibility is without merit and is factually strange. I would also question whether DeRohwer was in fact available for questioning by counsel between 4:55 p.m. on Friday, when the hearing ended, and 9:00 a.m. on Monday, when the trial commenced. Absolutely no evidence of either availability or interview is contained in the record. Even if DeRohwer could have been interviewed, counsel would not have had an opportunity to subpoena witnesses who might have been helpful to add support to his defense after DeRohwer was presented as the first witness on Monday morning in a trial that lasted only one day.