Court Opinion

ID: 9845436
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:21:54.414033+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:16:07.638062
License: Public Domain

ERICKSON, Justice,
specially concurring:
I concur with the result reached in part I of the majority opinion except as to the interpretation of Crim.P. 16, and concur with the remainder of the opinion. In my view, the defendant’s due process rights were not abridged by his lack of access to the victim’s statement relating to pregnancy. Since the prosecution did not suppress evidence favorable to the defense, but made the information known to the court, the constitutional mandates of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). and Giles v. Maryland, 386 U.S. 66, 87 S.Ct. 793, 17 L.Ed.2d 737 (1967) were met. The letter in its entirety should have been made available to defense counsel, but the error was, in my opinion, harmless.
The aim of compelling discovery of evidence in a criminal case is to avoid surprise and to guarantee that the accused has a fair trial. Reversal is mandated only where the undisclosed information might have affected the outcome of the trial. People v. Thatcher, Colo., 638 P.2d 760 (1981). See also United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976); Moore v. Illinois, 408 U.S. 786, 92 S.Ct. 2562, 33 L.Ed.2d 706 (1972). The failure to order discovery of the omitted portion of the letter in this case could not, in my opinion, have affected the outcome of the trial. Since no constitutional violation occurred, the trial court’s error was, in my view, harmless. Cf. Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967); People v. Myrick, Colo., 638 P.2d 34 (1981). The facts in this case do not require that the case be remanded to the district court for an evidentiary hearing.