Court Opinion

ID: 9526650
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:21:44.111234+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:20:59.687298
License: Public Domain

BUCHANAN, Chief Judge,
dissenting.
Unlike the majority, I conclude that any harm resulting from the State’s failure to comply precisely with the trial court’s discovery order was cured when the court granted Long’s motion for a continuance. Consequently, the trial court did not commit error in refusing to exclude either Officer West’s testimony concerning Long’s voluntary signed statement or the statement itself. Nor did the court err in refusing to declare a mistrial.
Sanctions for failure to comply with a discovery order are discretionary-not mandatory. Cameron v. State, (1980) Ind., 412 N.E.2d 1194; Rowley v. State, (1979) Ind., 394 N.E.2d 928. In Chandler v. State, (1981) Ind., 419 N.E.2d 142, 145, our supreme court expressed the logic underlying this sound principle:
Obviously, the trial judge is usually in the best position to determine what harm, if any, evolved from a violation, whether or not such harm can be eliminated or satisfactorily alleviated and the dictates of fundamental fairness. Absent clear error in his decision it should not be overturned.
Accord, Cameron, supra; O’Conner v. State, (1980) Ind., 399 N.E.2d 364.
When the State has violated an order for discovery, a continuance is the normal remedy. Thorne v. State, (1981) Ind., 429 N.E.2d 644; Chandler, supra; Cameron, supra; O’Conner, supra. Exclusion of evidence is appropriate only when the State’s violation evinces bad faith or is grossly misleading. Chandler, supra; Cameron, supra; O’Conner, supra. And the granting of a mistrial is not required unless “under all the circumstances, the defendant has been placed in a position of grave peril to which he should not have been subjected.” Chandler, supra at 419 N.E.2d at 145. Accord, Tinnin v. State, (1981) Ind., 416 N.E.2d 116.
Here, the State promptly furnished an extensive witness list in response to the trial court’s order for discovery; the names of Michael Stafford (Stafford) and Monty Beanblossom (Beanblossom), Long’s code-fendants, appeared on the list. The State *879received a copy of Long’s voluntary signed statement only one day before trial. When the prosecuting attorney cross-examined Long as to the contents of his statement, Long moved for a continuance. The motion was granted; during the ensuing recess Long had an opportunity to interview Officer West, who recorded the statement, and, presumably, to examine the statement itself. Long also had ample opportunity to cross-examine West once the trial resumed.
Under these circumstances, any assumption that the State acted in bad faith is without justification. There is no evidence whatsoever that the prosecuting attorney, who was advised of Long’s statement only one day before trial, deliberately withheld it from him. Nor can it be concluded that Long was “grossly misled” or “placed in a position of grave peril” by the State’s failure to furnish him with a copy of the statement. Long could hardly have been unaware of the existence of his voluntary signed statement. Furthermore, the statement was basically cumulative of undisputed testimony by co-defendants Beanblossom and Stafford, whose names appeared on the State’s list of witnesses. Thus, Long was not prejudiced by the admission of the statement or by Officer West’s testimony. See Jackson v. State, (1980) Ind., 402 N.E.2d 947; Eldridge v. State, (1977) 266 Ind. 134, 361 N.E.2d 155.
Under these circumstances, to reverse Long’s conviction is to elevate form over substance. The judgment should be affirmed.