People Ex Rel. Bowman v. Woodward

349 N.E.2d 57, 63 Ill. 2d 382, 1976 Ill. LEXIS 324
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedMay 28, 1976
Docket47806
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 349 N.E.2d 57 (People Ex Rel. Bowman v. Woodward) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People Ex Rel. Bowman v. Woodward, 349 N.E.2d 57, 63 Ill. 2d 382, 1976 Ill. LEXIS 324 (Ill. 1976).

Opinion

MR. CHIEF JUSTICE WARD

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an original action brought by John Bowman, the State’s Attorney of Du Page County, in which he has petitioned for a writ of mandamus (58 Ill.2d R. 381) or, alternatively, for a supervisory order, directed to the Honorable Alfred E. Woodward, circuit judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, one of the respondents, to allow a discovery motion of the petitioner.

On May 1, 1975, F. Willis Caruso, who is the other respondent and whom we refer to as the defendant, was indicted in the circuit court of Du Page County for reckless homicide (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 38, par. 9 — 3(b)). On May 6, 1975, he filed a motion for discovery before Judge Woodward under our Rule 412 (58 Ill.2d R. 412), requesting in part “any reports or statements of experts, made in connection with the entitled matter, including results of physical tests, mental examinations, scientific tests, experiments or comparisons.” The motion was allowed and an order was entered directing the People to comply with the motion’s request.

On May 12, 1975, the People filed a motion for discovery from the defendant under Rule 413(c) (58 I11.2d R. 413(c)). It asked that the defendant:

“inform the State whether any scientific tests, experiments or comparisons or any other reports or statements of experts have been conducted or prepared concerning the entitled cause; and if so:
(a) To provide the names and addresses of the individuals conducting, preparing, reporting or interpreting said tests, experiments or comparisons, or giving any other expert report or statement;
(b) To list the article, item or individual examined, tested or compared;
(c) To state whether written or oral reports were prepared showing the findings and results of said scientific tests, experiments or comparisons;
(d) To permit the State to inspect and copy or photocopy any and all of said reports or results or testimony relative thereto.”

On June 19, 1975, after numerous hearings, Judge Woodward entered an order which provided:

“[D] efense counsel shall inform the State of, and permit the State to inspect and copy or photograph, any reports or results, or testimony relative thereto, of physical or mental examinations or scientific tests, experiments or comparisons, or any other reports or statements of experts which defense counsel has in his possession or control, only where defense counsel intends to call such expert, at a hearing or trial; and the defendant shall not be compelled to provide the aforesaid discovery to the State where the defendant does not intend to call the expert, or use said reports or material at a hearing or trial.”

The petitioner, the State’s Attorney, contends that the trial court’s order was erroneous. He seeks a writ of mandamus to compel the court to allow his motion under the provisions of our Rule 413(c). Those provisions are:

“Medical and scientific reports. Subject to constitutional limitations, the trial court shall, on written motion, require that the State be informed of, and permitted to inspect and copy or photograph, any reports or results, or testimony relative thereto, of physical or mental examinations or of scientific tests, experiments or comparisons, or any other reports or statements of experts which defense counsel has in his possession or control, except that those portions of reports containing statements made by the defendant may be withheld if defense counsel does not intend to use any of the material contained in the report at a hearing or trial.” 58 Ill.2d R. 413(c).

The respondent Caruso argues that to compel him to disclose the reports and statements of experts whom he has consulted in preparing for trial, but whom he does not intend to call as witnesses at a hearing or trial violates his constitutional assurances against self-incrimination.

The concerned part of the fifth amendment of the Constitution of the United States states: “ [N] or shall any person *** be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself ***.” This provision has been made applicable to the States through the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment. (Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1, 12 L. Ed. 2d 653, 84 S. Ct. 1489.) The Constitution of Illinois provides: “No person shall be compelled in a criminal case to give evidence against himself ***. (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, sec. 10.) The constitutional provisions have received the same general construction. (People ex rel. Hanrahan v. Power, 54 Ill.2d 154, 160.) Generally, the privilege “protects an accused only from being compelled to testify against himself, or otherwise provide the State with evidence of a testimonial or communicative nature ***.” (Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 761, 16 L. Ed. 2d 908, 914, 86 S. Ct. 1826, 1830.) In People v. Williams, 40 Ill.2d 522, 528, this court observed: “And Wigmore states that the privilege is limited to testimonial disclosure, that it was directed at the employment of legal process to extract from the person’s own lips an admission of guilt, which would take the place of other evidence. (8 Wigmore, Evidence, [sec. 2263 (McNaughton rev. ed. 1961)].)”

Judge Woodward correctly decided that the defendant could be required to disclose information sought in the prosecution’s motion only if the defendant intended to call the expert concerned as a witness or to use the requested reports or materials at a hearing or trial.

The materials sought were of a “testimonial or communicative nature,” and an accused has a privilege against being compelled to provide the State with such materials. Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 761, 16 L. Ed. 2d 908, 914, 86 S. Ct. 1826, 1830.

The prosecution had asked, in substance, to be informed by the defendant whether there had been any scientific tests conducted or statements of experts given and, if there were, to provide the names and addresses of the experts and their reports. The prosecution also asked the defendant to inform it of the thing or article or the person examined or tested and to advise the prosecution whether there had been any oral or written reports prepared showing the results of any tests. And the prosecution asked that the defendant provide all of such reports for its inspection and copying.

The defendant was being asked to provide the State with his knowledge of whether there had been tests conducted, who had conducted them, and the results of the tests, whether damning or exculpating. We do not have here simply the question whether the defendant would be incriminated on the reasoning that he was being compelled to make an implied representation that the evidence he would produce was in fact the evidence that the prosecution demanded. (See McCormick on Evidence, sec. 126 (2d ed. 1972); 8 Wigmore, Evidence, sec. 2264 (McNaughton rev. ed.

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Bluebook (online)
349 N.E.2d 57, 63 Ill. 2d 382, 1976 Ill. LEXIS 324, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-ex-rel-bowman-v-woodward-ill-1976.