Court Opinion

ID: 9684159
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 13:48:28.957214+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:53.488192
License: Public Domain

SEILER, Judge
(dissenting).
While I agree wholeheartedly with the principal opinion that the state should have made the stolen property available to defense counsel and that it strains credulity to believe the prosecution could not have obtained the items from the police department for defense counsel’s inspection prior to trial, I am unable to agree that the failure on the part of the state to comply with the discovery rules should be excused so readily. I fear the end result is that the prosecution is rewarded for its disregard of the discovery rules and a dangerous precedent is established whereby future prosecutors can with impunity avoid compliance with the discovery rules.
We are signalling prosecutors that even though defense counsel has made the necessary written request, the state need not comply unless the defendant makes additional requests for that for which he has already asked once and to which he is entitled without further request. We are also telling prosecutors that if defendant cannot show that the prosecutor’s recalcitrance resulted in “fundamental unfairness or prejudice” to the defendant, the prosecutor escapes scot free. When we consider that defendant is entitled to discovery without first having to show that there would be fundamental unfairness or prejudice unless the requested discovery is made, it seems inconsistent to require that kind of a showing when defendant is complaining about the state’s failure to comply with the discovery rules. The state ought to be the one to do the explaining. Additionally, it is most difficult, after verdict, to prove that the state’s failure to produce resulted in fundamental unfairness or prejudice. By this time, the jury has already spoken and who can say for sure what would have happened had discovery been made on *49schedule as called for and defendant been able to have used the information or material or what could have been developed therefrom before the jury?
If discovery in criminal cases is desirable and this court, after lengthy and painstaking consideration, has by the adoption of the criminal discovery rules decided that it is desirable, then we should vigorously insist upon discovery at the proper time, which is prior to trial, while the defendant is still presumed to be innocent, and when he is entitled to a decent opportunity to prepare. If we permit the prosecution to maneuver the case to the point where discovery is judged in the light of hindsight, after defendant has been convicted without the required discovery having been made, we will destroy pre-trial discovery and turn it into a game of how much discovery can the prosecutor safely evade, secure in the knowledge that if he can nevertheless obtain a conviction, his omissions will probably be overlooked.
The majority opinion says: “While it seems the state’s action (or inaction) is viola-tive of rule 25.32, exclusion of the evidence not produced for inspection was a matter for the trial court’s discretion and defendant has shown no error in the exercise of that discretion, State v. Moten, 542 S.W.2d 317 (Mo.App.1976); State v. Johnson, 524 S.W.2d 97, 101 (Mo.banc 1975) . .
I do not find Johnson or Moten to be supportive of the contention for which they are cited.
In Johnson, we reversed and remanded a conviction wherein the prosecution had introduced, “in the guise of impeachment testimony”, 524 S.W.2d at 101, a statement it had not disclosed during discovery. We specifically noted that the action of the trial court in permitting the introduction of this evidence “does not evidence a proper exercise of discretion” and hence was not subject to review only for abuse of discretion. We went on to decide the case on the application of “fundamental fairness”. Id. at 103. That same distinction applies here. It was fundamentally unfair to defendant to keep from him the items of merchandise in question until a point in the trial when it was too late for him to dispute the values placed thereon by the state.
In Moten, the court of appeals determined that “the appellant has not shown that the action on the part of the trial court was an abuse of discretion.” 542 S.W.2d at 321. The facts there were as follows: “[Djefense counsel objected on the grounds that the photographs had not been produced in response to his discovery request. The prosecutor was not certain that the photographs had been in his file when he exhibited them to appellant’s counsel, but he further stated that it was not his original intention to use the photographs and that he decided to do so as a result of the cross-examination of Mrs. Pennington on the lineup. The trial court overruled the objection, stating that the photographs were in the nature of rebuttal and their use produced no unfairness rising to constitutional proportions.” Id. at 320.
We are not dealing here with a case in which the proffered undisclosed evidence was used in rebuttal or impeachment only, or where it was the subject of facts which were “proved independently” of the disclosed evidence. State v. Dayton, 535 S.W.2d 469, 478 (Mo.App.1976). The value of the allegedly stolen merchandise was a principal element of the criminal charge. Whether prejudice results in such a case “depends upon the nature of the charge, the evidence presented by the State, and the role the undisclosed testimony would likely have played,” Id.
While exclusion of the evidence produced may have been a matter for the trial court’s discretion, I believe that a violation of rule 25.32 by the introduction of such evidence in the presentment of the state's case, where it “strains credulity to believe the prosecutor could not have obtained the items from the police department prior to trial and yet with apparent ease produce them for presentation in evidence,” should be deemed fundamentally unfair. We would then avoid what I fear is the unintended invitation to prosecutorial abuse which the majority opinion presents.
*50Nor do I believe we should take the position that because the state has a strong case, failure to disclose thereby becomes harmless. If that is to become the rule, then the state can safely ignore the discovery requests of the defendant any time it has a strong case. In such instances, the prosecutor should scrupulously abide by the rules. Otherwise, we will drift into the rationalization that since the defendant is obviously guilty, why bother with the niceties of compliance with rules and safeguards? Furthermore, how can we be certain the state has such a strong case? It is for the jury to decide which witness will be believed. The fact that to us the testimony of the Macy buyer seems unimpeachable and conclusive does not mean that the jury would not have believed some other qualified witness who, had he been given an opportunity to inspect the stolen merchandise, might have been convinced it was overpriced and testified that it was worth much less, perhaps under $50.00. Defendant’s claim of prejudice should not be defeated by our high opinion of the credibility of the state’s witness. This is for the jury. McQueen v. Swenson, 560 F.2d 959 (8th Cir.1977).
State v. Degraffenreid, 477 S.W.2d 57 (Mo.banc 1972), relied upon by the principal opinion, did not involve discovery matters and the statement quoted therefrom was dicta, as the case was a close one on the issue of guilt or innocence and the conviction was reversed and the cause remanded.
For these reasons, in addition to the reasons given in my dissent in State v. Duren, No. 59914, 556 S.W.2d 11 (Mo.1977), on certain Other points which also apply to this case, I respectfully dissent.