Commonwealth v. Waddler

65 Va. Cir. 418, 2004 Va. Cir. LEXIS 296
CourtPortsmouth County Circuit Court
DecidedAugust 30, 2004
DocketIndictment No. 03-2890
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 65 Va. Cir. 418 (Commonwealth v. Waddler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Portsmouth County Circuit Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Waddler, 65 Va. Cir. 418, 2004 Va. Cir. LEXIS 296 (Va. Super. Ct. 2004).

Opinion

BY JUDGE MARK S. DAVIS

This matter is before the Court on the defendant’s Motion for a Bill of Particulars and his Motion for Entry of an Order Regarding Analysis of Evidence. The parties appeared before the Court on Monday August 16,2004, for argument on these motions, and the Court requested additional briefing, which the Court has now received and reviewed. The factual and procedural background of these motions, discussion of the issues, and conclusion are set forth below.1

[419]*419I. Factual and Procedural Background

The defendant, Wallace D. Waddler, was indicted by a Grand Jury in the City of Portsmouth on December 4,2003, for one count of capital murder and one count of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. As to the capital murder count, the Commonwealth presented the Grand Jury with an indictment charging in count one that “Wallace Waddler ... [o]n or about Thursday, June 26,2003, did willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation, did [sic] kill two or more people, namely Late Clark and Keith Copeland, as part of the same act or transaction, in violation of §§ 18.2-31,18.2-10ofthe Code of Virginia (1950) as amended.” Count two of the indictment charges that “Wallace Waddler ... [o]n or about Thursday, June 26, 2003, did use, attempt to use, or display in a threatening manner, a firearm, while committing or attempting to commit murder, in violation of § 18.2-53.1 of the Code of Virginia (1950) as amended.” The murder statute under which defendant was indicted provides that “[t]he following offenses shall constitute capital murder, punishable as a Class 1 felony: The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of more than one person as a part of the same act or transaction.” Va. Code § 18.2-31(7); see, e.g., Morris v. Commonwealth, 228 Va. 206, 321 S.E.2d 633 (1984).

Because the Commonwealth is seeking the penalty of death for the capital murder charge, Va. Code § 19.2-264.4(C) is implicated. That statute provides that “[t]he penalty of death shall not be imposed unless the Commonwealth shall prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there is a probability based upon evidence of the prior histoiy of the defendant or of the circumstances surrounding the commission of the offense of which he is accused that he would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing serious threat to society, or that his conduct in committing the offense was outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible, or inhuman, in that it involved torture, depravity of mind, or aggravated battery to the victim.” Va. Code § 19.2-264.4(C); see also Va. Code § 19.2-264.2.

On April 5,2004, the Court entered an agreed “Order for Discovery, Bill of Particulars, and Provision of Exculpatory Evidence,” presented pursuant to Rule 3A:11 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Pursuant to this Order requested by both parties, the Commonwealth was ordered to provide, among other things, “[a]ll information of whatever form, source, or nature which tends to exculpate the Defendant or reduce the penalty which he or she might suffer should he or she be convicted of this cause, through an indication of his or her innocence or through potential impeachment of any prosecution witness, be it by inconsistent statements or otherwise.” Para. 6. The Order further requires the Commonwealth to provide the defense with an [420]*420“opportunity to inspect and/or copy or photograph all... tangible objects ... that have been seized ... as evidence against the defendant.” Para. 11. The Commonwealth is required to provide “reports of autopsies, ballistic tests, fingerprint analyses, handwriting analyses, blood, urine, and breath tests,” but there is no requirement for provision of any additional test results.

The parties have exchanged evidence and information with each other pursuant to the Court’s April 5, 2004, Order. However, the defendant claims entitlement to additional information. The defendant filed his motion for a bill of particulars contending that, if the Commonwealth intends to rely on “vileness” as a justification for seeking the death penalty, then he is entitled to know which of the three components of the statutory “vileness” justification, torture, depravity of mind, aggravated battery, the Commonwealth will rely upon. The defendant also filed a motion requesting that the Court order the Commonwealth to send certain items recovered at the crime scene to be tested for the presence of illegal substances. The Commonwealth opposes each of these motions.

II. Discussion

The Court will first address the defendant’s Motion for Bill of Particulars and then address the defendant’s Motion for Entry of an Order Regarding Analysis of Evidence. However, before doing so, the Court will review some history regarding the exchange of information between the prosecution and the defense in criminal cases since discussion of these issues requires an understanding of the right to such information and the distinctions between discovery, requests for a bill of particulars, and production of exculpatory evidence.

As Professor Ronald Bacigal notes in his text on Virginia criminal procedure, there was no common law right to discovery. Ronald Bacigal, Virginia Practice Series, Criminal Procedure, § 14:2(2004); Rex v. Holland, 4 T.R. 691, 100 Eng. Rep. 1248 (1792). Before the Virginia Supreme Court adopted a rule providing for discovery, the accused in Virginia had no right to examine the evidence against him prior to trial. See Hackman v. Commonwealth, 220 Va. 710, 713, 261 S.E.2d 555, 558 (1980) (noting right to limited discovery by defendants in felony cases under Supreme Court rules existing prior to 1984). The traditional narrow scope of discovery in criminal litigation, versus civil litigation, rests on three considerations: (1) the fear that broad disclosure of the essentials of the prosecution’s case would result in perjury and manufactured evidence; (2) the fear that revealing the identity of confidential government informants would create the opportunity for intimidation and discourage the giving of information to the police authorities, [421]*421and (3) the recognition that, since the self-incrimination privilege would effectively block any attempts at discovery from the defendant, he would retain the opportunity to surprise the prosecution while the government would be unable to obtain additional facts. Campbell v. Eastland, 307 F.2d 478, 487 (5th Cir. 1962) (John Minor Wisdom writing for the panel). Many of these considerations are addressed in Rule 3A:11 of the Rules of the Virginia Supreme Court, which provides for limited reciprocal discovery. Rule 3A:11 provides the prosecution and the defense with a limited right to discovery. Of course, as in this case, the parties may also agree to certain discovery, and where such a “discovery order has been entered in a criminal case, it governs discovery in that case.” Smoot v. Commonwealth, 37 Va. App. 495, 499-500, 559 S.E.2d 409, 411 (2002). In addition to the right to discovery provided by the Rule, the defendant has a constitutional right to the disclosure of exculpatory evidence even if no such request has been made. Brady v. Maryland,

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Bluebook (online)
65 Va. Cir. 418, 2004 Va. Cir. LEXIS 296, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-waddler-vaccportsmouth-2004.