Court Opinion

ID: 9847188
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:55:25.711402+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:02.828823
License: Public Domain

Deen, Presiding Judge,
dissenting.
I must respectfully dissent. Under the Constitution of Georgia and the Sixth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, appellant is entitled to compulsory process in a criminal prosecution. Also see OCGA § 24-10-20 and Uniform Superior Court Rule 39.7. “We have elected to employ an adversary system of criminal justice in which the parties contest all issues before a court of law. The need to develop all relevant facts in the adversary system is both fundamental and comprehensive. The ends of criminal justice would be defeated if judgments were to be founded on a partial or speculative presentation of the facts. The very integrity of the judicial system and public confidence in the system depend on full disclosure of all the facts, within the framework of the rules of evidence. To ensure that justice is done, it is imperative to the function of courts that compulsory process be available for the production of evidence needed either by the prosecution or by the defense.” United States v. Nixon, 418 U. S. 683, 709 (94 SC 3090, 41 LE2d 1039) (1974).
“In other words, it is settled that a defendant in a criminal case who relies upon the benefit of a witness’s opinion upon an issue of fact involved in his case will not be heard to withhold from the jury the facts upon which the opinion is founded.” Wyatt v. State, 206 Ga. 613, 616-617 (57 SE2d 914) (1950). A fortiori where a prosecutor in a criminal case relies upon the benefit of a witness’s opinion upon an issue of fact, he also will not be heard to withhold from the jury facts upon which the opinion is founded. The jury can evaluate the weight of the facts, showing the basis of the expert opinion. See Jordan v. Dept. of Transp., 178 Ga. App. 133 (342 SE2d 482) (1986). If in doubt, the evidence should be admitted. Gibbons v. Md. Cas. Co., 114 Ga. App. 788, 796 (152 SE2d 815) (1966).
In Dye v. State, 177 Ga. App. 813 (341 SE2d 469) (1986), it was correctly pointed out that appellant had an option under Patterson v. State, 238 Ga. 204 (232 SE2d 233) (1977), to have an independent examination and testing of the cocaine, but this was irrelevant to the information sought by appellant. It was further pointed out in Dye that seeking discovery under OCGA § 17-7-211 would not have provided appellant the desired data; therefore, he could not secure it by use of a subpoena. Pretermitting the question of accessibility of the data by use of discovery, I believe that appellant is entitled to the graphs, factual data, and other documents which constituted the basis *682of the expert’s opinion, and the use of a subpoena was an appropriate vehicle to gain this information. As to cross-examination, Wigmore said that beyond doubt it is the greatest engine ever invented for the discovery of truth. Without access to the data and documents sought in this case, cross-examination of the State’s expert would be overly restricted.
Decided February 7, 1990
Rehearing denied March 5, 1990
Larsen & Larsen, William W. Larsen, Jr., Celia Larsen, for appellant.
James L. Wiggins, District Attorney, Timothy G. Vaughn, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.
This court should reconsider the holding in Dye v. State, supra. I would go further and overrule the latter cited case. See also Johnson v. State, 259 Ga. 403 (383 SE2d 118) (1989).