Court Opinion

ID: 9938411
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-09 19:03:11.446316+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:37:00.460748
License: Public Domain

" 'A criminal trial, like its civil counterpart, is a quest for truth. That quest will more often be successful if both sides have an equal opportunity to interview the persons *Page 1328 
who have the information from which the truth may be determined.' "
This quote from Nichols v. State, 581 So.2d 1245, 1248
(Ala.Cr.App. 1991), quoting Gregory v. United States,369 F.2d 185, 188 (D.C. Cir. 1966), to me, expresses the most important point in the resolution of this important case.
If I felt that the letter from the prosecutor to the potential witnesses for the state in any way impeded the "quest for truth" in this trial, I would dissent. However, from the record before us, I cannot find that the letter in any way impeded the "quest for truth," unless I assume that the presence of the prosecutor at defense counsel's interview with the witness would cause the witness to lie or to withhold pertinent information. I refuse to assume that; therefore, I concur.