Court Opinion

ID: 9517161
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 00:06:43.285268+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:43:42.890471
License: Public Domain

COOPER, Justice.
Appellant Dwayne Earl Bishop was indicted by a Floyd County grand jury for the murder of his estranged wife, Carolyn Bishop. The issue now before us pertains to the post-indictment issuance of grand jury subpoenas to two prospective defense trial witnesses requiring them to testify before the grand jury about their knowl*2edge of facts pertaining to this case. Appellant believes the sole or dominant purpose of the subpoenas was to allow the prosecutor to improperly discover evidence relevant to Appellant’s defense in order to facilitate the prosecutor’s preparation for trial. The trial judge denied Appellant’s motion to quash the subpoenas and overruled Appellant’s request for permission to question the prosecutor under oath as to the purpose of the proposed grand jury investigation. Appellant then petitioned the Court of Appeals for a writ prohibiting the trial judge from allowing the Commonwealth to use the grand jury process for the purpose of discovery and trial preparation. The Court of Appeals denied the petition, holding that (1) Appellant does not have “standing to prevent testimony by these witnesses before the grand jury,” and (2) Appellant “has an adequate remedy through motions to exclude or suppress the results of the improper use of the grand jury.” Appellant appeals to this Court as a matter of right. Ky. Const. § 115.
Carolyn Bishop was murdered on or about August 31, 2000. Her body was discovered on September 2, 2000. In late September or early October 2000, Kentucky State Police Detective Glenn Thompson interviewed Samantha Kidd, the nine-year-old daughter of Appellant’s girlfriend, Pamela Kidd. According to Thompson’s report, Samantha identified several items of clothing connected to the murder as being similar to clothing owned by Appellant. Detective Thompson subsequently testified before a Floyd County grand jury, but did not include in his testimony the information he had obtained from Samantha Kidd. On October 26, 2000, the grand jury returned indictment number 00-CR-00061 charging Appellant with murder. Following arraignment, trial was scheduled for June 18, 2001. Meanwhile, Pamela Kidd filed an internal affairs complaint against Detective Thompson regarding his interview of Samantha.
Sometime prior to April 16, 2001, the prosecutor had a conversation with Pamela Kidd at which time Kidd advised that she knew Appellant did not commit the murder, that she had spoken with Appellant numerous times by telephone on the day of the murder, that he could not have done it, and that she had information regarding a house located near the area where the victim’s body was discovered that was the real location of the murder. According to an affidavit filed by the prosecutor, Kidd also “implied” that individuals other than Appellant actually committed the murder; and when the prosecutor suggested that she furnish this information to the grand jury, Kidd stated that neither she nor her daughter, Samantha, would testify before the grand jury or at trial. On April 16, 2001, subpoenas were issued under the caption of indictment number 00-CR-00061 commanding Pamela and Samantha Kidd to appear before the grand jury for the purpose of testifying on behalf of the Commonwealth.
In its written response to the motion to quash the subpoenas, the Commonwealth gave the following explanation for their issuance:
In this case, there is a minor child who has made very important statements regarding the murder case to the lead Detective. The statements were made while the girl was in the custody of her father. Subsequently, when custody was returned to the mother (the adult witness subpoenaed herein), the Commonwealth learned the mother had made threats that she would not permit the minor witness to testify in any way, shape or form. This is blatant witness intimidation and the Grand Jury is entitled to subpoena both the adult witness *3and the minor witness in order to discover information on this matter. Of course, there is also all the information-contained in the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Affidavit whereby the adult witness has admitted that she has relevant and exculpatory information with regard to the murder case. After receiving such information, it is the Commonwealth’s absolute duty to present same to the Grand Jury.
A grand jury is charged “to inquire into every offense for which any person has been held to answer and for which an indictment or information has not been filed, or other offenses which come to their attention or of which any of them has knowledge.” RCr 5.02 (emphasis added); Bowling v. Sinnette, Ky., 666 S.W.2d 743, 745 (1984). It follows that, after an indictment or information has been filed, the grand jury’s function with respect to that particular indictment is concluded. On the basis of additional inculpatory evidence, the grand jury can issue a new, superseding indictment charging the defendant with additional offenses or naming additional defendants; however, there is no authority permitting a grand jury to recall or quash a rendered indictment on the basis of newly discovered exculpatory evidence, or to amend a rendered indictment to add new charges or additional parties. The proper procedure upon discovery of other culpable parties is for the grand jury to render either a superseding indictment or separate indictments against the new parties and for the Commonwealth to move, in the case of a superseding indictment, for dismissal of the original indictment, or, in the case of new indictments against additional parties, for a joinder of indictments for purposes of trial. RCr 9.12. Since the Floyd County grand jury has no present, authority to hear additional evidence with respect to indictment number 00-CR-00061, it is reasonable for Appellant to suspect that the purpose of the grand jury subpoena issued to Pamela Kidd is to discover the nature of her claimed exculpatory evidence so as to facilitate the prosecutor’s preparation for trial.
We do not question the grand jury’s authority to investigate Pamela Kidd’s alleged violations of KRS 524.040 and KRS 524.050 (though the prosecutor’s affidavit does not allege the commission of an offense but only a threat to commit an offense). However, it cannot do so within the context of indictment number 00-CR-00061, the murder indictment against Appellant. Thus, it is also reasonable for Appellant to suspect that the purpose of the grand jury subpoena issued to Samantha Kidd is not to obtain evidence against Pamela Kidd but to obtain Samantha’s sworn testimony to the information she had previously furnished to Detective Thompson, presumably for possible impeachment purposes. If the purpose of subpoenaing Pamela and Samantha Kidd before the grand jury is to use the grand jury proceedings as a guise for trial preparation, the subpoenas must be quashed. In re Grand Jury Proceedings (Fernandez Diamante), 814 F.2d 61, 70 (1st Cir.1987); cf. Howard v. Commonwealth, Ky., 395 S.W.2d 355, 358-59 (1965).
Inquiry into a claim of grand jury abuse is neither a pure question of fact nor a pure question of law. United States v. Flemmi, 245 F.3d 24, 27 (1st Cir.2001). Despite having made a prima facie showing that there was no valid purpose for the issuance of these subpoenas, Appellant has been denied the opportunity to conduct even an inquiry into the purpose of this grand jury investigation. The trial court’s order recites that “the appearance of witnesses before the Grand Jury does not constitute the taking of depositions,” and that “the Commonwealth indicates that *4[Samantha Kidd] is not being called to testify directly about the case against the Defendant, Dwayne Earl Bishop, [but] to testify as to possible witness intimidation by someone against her other than Dwayne Earl Bishop.” Of course, the issue is not whether the appearance of a witness before the grand jury is a deposition, but whether the grand jury process is being improperly used as a substitute for discovery depositions which, absent court order or agreement of the parties, are not permitted in a criminal case. RCr 7.10. And if the purpose of Samantha’s testimony is to elicit evidence of separate criminal activity by her mother, why was the subpoena issued under the caption of the murder indictment against Appellant?
The Court of Appeals’ holding that criminal defendants do not have standing to inquire into grand jury investigations is generally correct, but only “[s]o long as it is not the sole or dominant purpose of the grand jury to discover facts relating to [a defendant’s] pending indictment.” United States v. Breitkreutz, 977 F.2d 214, 217 (6th Cir.1992) (quoting United States v. George, 444 F.2d 310, 314 (6th Cir.1971)). See generally In re Grand Jury Proceedings (Fernandez Diamante), supra, at 65-68. The fact that the subpoenas were issued under the caption of indictment number 00-CR-00061 warranted an inquiry into the “sole or dominant purpose” of the grand jury’s investigation. The Court of Appeals’ conclusion that Appellant has an “adequate remedy through motions to exclude or suppress the results of the improper use of the grand jury” begs the question. Appellant has been precluded from determining whether the grand jury is being improperly used. And if the sole or dominant purpose of this grand jury investigation is to discover facts relating to Appellant’s defense so as to assist the Commonwealth in its trial preparation, a motion to “exclude or suppress” the results of that discovery would be an exercise in futility. As noted in the famous case of Bender v. Eaton, Ky., 343 S.W.2d 799 (1961), once information is improperly discovered, it cannot be recalled. Id. at 802. Said another way, that which has been discovered cannot be “undiscovered” by subsequent motions and appeals.
Accordingly, we reverse the Court of Appeals and remand with directions to issue the requested writ prohibiting the trial court from allowing the grand jury to subpoena defense trial witnesses for testimony until an evidentiary hearing has been held and a determination made as to whether the sole or dominant purpose of the issuance of those subpoenas is to facilitate discovery by the Commonwealth of facts pertaining to Appellant’s defense against that indictment and, if so, to quash the subpoenas.
LAMBERT, C.J.; GRAVES, JOHNSTONE, and STUMBO, JJ., concur.
KELLER, J., concurs in part and dissents in part by separate opinion.