Gray v. Commonwealth

203 S.W.3d 679, 2006 WL 2986472
CourtKentucky Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 31, 2006
Docket2004-SC-000457-MR
StatusPublished
Cited by68 cases

This text of 203 S.W.3d 679 (Gray v. Commonwealth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Kentucky Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gray v. Commonwealth, 203 S.W.3d 679, 2006 WL 2986472 (Ky. 2006).

Opinions

Opinion of the Court by

Justice SCOTT.

This appeal arises out of the Appellant’s conviction for the murder of Andrea Tiller in Lexington, Kentucky, for which Appellant was sentenced to forty-five years in prison. Tiller arrived in the parking area of the Arbor Grove housing project after arranging a drug purchase with Bobby Faulkner. The Appellant, Faulkner, and Octavious Eggerson approached Tiller’s car. Eggerson remained on the sidewalk while Faulkner and the Appellant walked up to the car. The Appellant leaned into the open driver’s side window while Faulkner stood to his left. The Appellant attempted to sell the crack to Tiller, but became angry when Tiller insisted on making the purchase from her contact, Faulkner. The Appellant then shot Tiller six times, killing her.

The Appellant argues several errors on appeal. First, he argues that the trial court erred by excluding two statements made by witnesses called by the Commonwealth. Both statements were excluded on the ground that the Appellant failed to provide the statements to the Commonwealth prior to trial in violation of reciprocal discovery. He further argues that the trial court erred (1) in refusing to continue the penalty phase until the next morning; (2) in allowing the attorney for the Commonwealth to make improper and prejudicial comments that denied him due process and a fair trial; (3) in allowing the Commonwealth to use a peremptory strike to improperly strike a prospective African-American juror violating the Appellant’s right to equal protection under the law; (4) by denying him due process when it failed to grant a mistrial due to the admission of prior bad acts; and (5) in overruling Appellant’s motion for a directed verdict on the murder charge.

I. RECIPROCAL DISCOVERY AGREEMENT

Appellant’s first claim of error arises from the trial court’s exclusion of a written statement by Octavious Eggerson and an audiotaped statement of Rose Crutcher, a resident in the neighborhood where Tiller [684]*684was shot and killed. The Appellant attempted to use each of the statements to refresh the witnesses’ recollection or to impeach them at trial. The Commonwealth, however, objected to the use of the statements, and the trial judge excluded the evidence on grounds that the Appellant had failed to provide the statements to the Commonwealth pursuant to a pre-trial conference agreement in which both parties agreed to provide reciprocal discovery. The Appellant argues that he was not required to provide the statements, as there was no court order requiring him to do so and that the agreement entered into by the Appellant’s trial counsel and the Commonwealth did not specifically require the statements to be provided in order to be admissible at trial.

At the bench conference, Appellant apprised the trial judge and opposing counsel of the substance of the written and taped statements. He later tendered the tape and statements to the trial court for avowal purposes after the conclusion of his jury trial, just before the final sentencing by agreement with the Commonwealth.

While we find that counsel did not technically preserve the matter for appellate review by avowal, as argued by the Commonwealth, the issue was nevertheless preserved for appeal by the Agreed Order wherein the Commonwealth “agreed that the written statements ... and an audio tape of a statemenf/conversation ... be allowed as an avowal to be part of the Defendant’s record on appeal.” This, in addition to the fact that counsel also proffered the substance of the excluded statements to the trial court and opposing counsel during the bench conferences, adequately preserved the issue for review and satisfies the purposes for making the offer of proof. Since the Appellee agreed to allow the statements to be filed as an avowal, albeit late, it thus waived any objections on appeal as to the preservation of this issue. Accordingly, we find the issue preserved.

Having found the issue adequately preserved for review, we must determine whether or not the trial court abused its discretion in excluding the written statements and audio tape of a statement/conversation. In doing so, we will look at each instance where the evidence was excluded.

A. Exclusion of Rose Crutcher’s Au-diotaped Statements.

Notwithstanding Appellant’s offer of proof for preservation of the issue for review, we find that Appellant has nonetheless waived his right to complain of any error allegedly committed by the trial court in excluding the audiotaped statements of Rose Crutcher.

During Crutcher’s testimony at trial, Appellant’s defense counsel attempted to introduce audiotaped statements that defense counsel and an investigator recorded in an interview they had with Crutcher in which she stated that she thought someone other than Appellant may have held the murder weapon in her apartment immediately after Andrea Tiller was shot and killed. Prom the record, it appears Appellant was attempting to impeach Crutcher’s testimony with these prior inconsistent statements when the Commonwealth objected on the grounds that this evidence was never disclosed to the prosecution pursuant to the reciprocal discovery agreement between the parties.

Upon sustaining the Commonwealth’s objection, the trial judge reminded defense counsel that he could ask the witness if she remembered making certain statements to him which may have implicated someone other than Appellant as the person holding the murder weapon. If the witness could not remember, the trial judge instructed [685]*685defense counsel that he would then be prohibited from further questioning the witness and could not introduce the audio-taped statements because he had failed to comply with the reciprocal discovery agreement and because the proper foundation had not been laid. However, defense counsel asked no further questions on this matter, thus waiving his right to complain on appeal that the trial court committed reversible error in excluding the audio-taped statements.

The reciprocal discovery agreement between the parties stated, in pertinent part, that the Appellant agreed to provide reciprocal discovery pursuant to RCr 7.24(3) (A) (i). This rule, however, only requires the defendant to “permit the Commonwealth to inspect, copy, or photograph any results or reports of scientific tests or experiments made in connection with the particular case.” RCr 7.24(3)(A)(i) (emphasis added). As such, the rule would not apply in this instance to the audiotaped statements.

Of course, failure to provide the necessary discovery mandated by RCr 7.24 may result in a number of consequences, one of which is that the trial court may “prohibit the party from introducing in evidence the material not disclosed.” RCr 7.24(9). Here, the trial court prohibited the introduction of the audiotaped statements because it found that Appellant failed to disclose Rose Crutcher’s taped statements as provided for by the reciprocal discovery agreement.1 However, because the agreement only required Appellant to provide the Commonwealth with scientific results under RCr 7.24(3)(A)(i), the exclusion of Crutcher’s audiotaped statements was an abuse of discretion and erroneous. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. v. Thompson, 11 S.W.3d 575, 577 (Ky.2000).

Despite finding the trial court erred in excluding this evidence, we find the error to be harmless.

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Bluebook (online)
203 S.W.3d 679, 2006 WL 2986472, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gray-v-commonwealth-ky-2006.