Court Opinion

ID: 9642096
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 17:48:10.184354+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:42.974085
License: Public Domain

SEILER, Judge,
dissenting.
We should be grateful, in my opinion, to our brother Donnelly for bringing to our attention what has been taking place in the area of criminal discovery. I refer to his compilation of the many cases of noncompliance with the discovery rules. These cases portray a disturbing trend which I think should be halted.
Instead of our having a system of discovery which operates smoothly and routinely as a matter of course upon a request made in compliance with the rules (Rule 25.03, for example states that the state shall, upon written request of defendant’s counsel, disclose certain material and information) we are developing a system of discovery where the parties, particularly the state, can neglect to provide discovery, and unless defendant can prove he is prejudiced to the point of reversible error by the state’s failure to comply, the failure to comply is excused.
This approach defeats discovery. It is as though the rule were to provide that upon a request for discovery being made, the state need not comply unless the defendant can prove prejudice. This puts us back, as a practical matter, to the days when there was no discovery in criminal cases. This is not sound, in my opinion, as a matter of policy and furthermore, it encourages violation of our discovery rules, which are simple and direct. They should be honored by their observance, not by their breach.
The battle over whether there should or should not be discovery in criminal cases in Missouri was fought over a long period of time. Simeone, The New Rules of Criminal Discovery in Missouri, 31 J. of Mo. Bar 16 (1975). The decision to provide for discovery in Missouri was not arrived at hastily. It was done only after prolonged and careful consideration by the court of the views of prosecutors, defense lawyers, trial judges, criminal law scholars, a subcommittee of the Missouri Bar Criminal Law Committee, and the Missouri Bar itself.
Discovery in criminal cases, just as in civil cases, is highly beneficial to the courts, the litigants, and the public. By getting the facts out in the open it encourages the disposition of cases. It brings about settle*139ments in criminal cases just as in civil cases. It produces disposition by guilty pleas in some cases and by dismissals in others, where without discovery, a trial would otherwise be necessary.
But as long as such a gross failure to abide by the discovery rules as took place in this case is not held to be reversible error, we are, in effect, permitting those who violate the rules to rewrite the discovery rules. Soon, just as was predicted in the civil area when we went to pattern instructions, if we permit the litigants to “improve” the discovery rules to their benefit, by not complying and imposing no penalty unless the opposite party can shoulder the heavy burden of showing direct, outright, reversible prejudice (something almost impossible, because no one knows how the trial would have gone had the discoverable information been made available on time as required by the rules), we will reach the point, if we have not already done so, where it can be said about our discovery rules that “after a while the court will not be able to find the original with a divining rod.”
Another disturbing aspect of this matter is that in the cases cited where the defendant fails to comply with discovery rules, he has been made to pay the price at the trial level, generally by exclusion of evidence or a witness or declaration of a mistrial. But when it works the other way, and the state is the one violating the rules, the state, in the cited cases, pays no penalty at the trial level and then, on appeal, the failure to comply is excused in almost every case on the ground the defendant has failed to show prejudice. This is not an evenhanded treatment of those who violate the discovery rules.
I would be willing to try Judge Donnelly’s suggestion as to how to make the discovery process work in the future, or I would be willing to reverse and remand this case because the trial judge clearly misjudged his discretion in refusing to declare a mistrial and also because of the dampening effect which I believe an affirmance in this case would have on future compliance with our discovery rules. Above all, we should make it clear that failure to abide by the discovery rules such as occurred in this case will not be permitted.
Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.