People v. Alimurong
Opinion
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6 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF GUAM 7 PEOPLE OF GUAM, Criminal Case No. CF0653-21 GPD Report Nos. 21-31977 / 21-32074 v.
9 DECISION AND ORDER GAVIN DOMINGO ALIMURONG, GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION 10 DOB: 05/24/1998 TO COMPEL DISCOVERY 11 Defendant.
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13 INTRODUCTION 14 This matter came before the Honorable Alberto C. Lamorena, III on June 30, 2022 for
15 hearing on Defendant Gavin Domingo Alimurong's ("Defendant's") Motion to Compel Discovery 16 ("Motion"). Assistant Attorney General Daphnis Le represents the People, and Attorney William 17 Brennan represents Defendant. Having duly considered the parties' briefs, oral arguments, and the 18 applicable law, the Court now issues the following Decision and Order and GRANTS Defendant's 19 Motion. 20 BACKGROUND 21 Defendant stands indicted on C h a r g e O n e (Two C ou n t s): Family Violence (as a 3rd Degree 2 2 F e l o n y ) w i t h S p e ci a l A l l e g a t i o n : Possession or Use of a Deadly Weapon in the Commission of a 2 3 F e l o n y , C h a r g e Two: Possession of an Unregistered Firearm (as a 3 l`d Degree Felony), C h a r g e 2 4 T h r e e : Possession of a Firearm Without a Firearms Identification Card (as a wIld Degree Felony), 25 C h a r g e F o u r : Family Violence (as a MiSdemeanor), a n d C h a r g e F i v e : Assault on an Unborn Child 2 6 ( a s a M i s d e m e a n o r ) . . S e e Indictment (Dec. 30, 2021). Defendant allegedly attacked his then- 27 pregnant ex-girlfriend on multiple occasions and was found with an illegal firearm at the time of his 2 8 a r r e s t . S ee Magistrate's Complaint (Dec. 23, 2021).
Decision and Order Granting Defendant's Motion to Compel Discovery CF0653-21, People of Guam v. Gavin Domingo Alimurong 1 On April 20, 2022, Defendant filed his Motion to Compel Discovery. Defendant requested 2 disclosure of evidence initially requested for on February ll, 2022 which the People have since 3 failed to provide. See Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Motion 4 ("Memorandum Supporting Motion") at 2-3 (Apr. 20, 2022). Defendant believes the People have 5 not completed their discovery obligations, and he specifically requests the Court order disclosure of 6 the following evidence: 7 • Unredacted copies of pages 13 and 19 of discovery in GPD Report No. 21-31977 8 • Copies of a search warrant and supporting documents for a warrant executed at 9 Defendant's alleged home on December 22, 2021 10 See Motion at 1 (Apr. 20, 2022). Defendant believes both pieces of discovery are mandatory under ll 8 G.C.A. §70.10 and permissive under 8 G.C.A. §70.15. See Memorandum Supporting Motion at 12 3_5 (Apt. 20, 2022). 13 On April 22, 2022, the People submitted their Opposition to Defendant's Motion 14 ("Opposition"). The People claim the redacted statements contained in GPD Report No. 21-31977 15 are irrelevant to the charges and wouldn't assist the defense. See Opposition at 1 (Apr. 22, 2022). 16 On April 28, 2022, the Defendant submitted his Reply to Opposition ("Reply"). Defendant 17 reiterated that the requested discovery is material, as it contains statements from government 18 witnesses and could negate his guilt. See Reply at 1-2 (Apr. 28, 2022). 19 The Court held a hearing on June 30, 2022. After hearing the arguments of the parties, the 20 Court took the matter under advisement. 21 DISCUSSION
22 I. Legal Standard: 23 The provisions set forth in 8 G.C.A §70.10 et seq. strictly define the discovery
24 obligations between the People and a criminal defendant. Section 70.10(a) specifically 25 identifies certain material and information within the prosecution's "possession or 26 control" as subject to automatic disclosure.
27 Discovery mandated under this rule includes :
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Decision and Order Granting Defendant's Motion to Compel Discovery CF0653-21, People of Guam v. Gavin Domingo Alimurong 1 (1) the name and address of any person whom the prosecuting attorney intends to call as a witness at the trial, together with his 2 relevant written or recorded statement, 3 (7) any material or information which tends to negate the guilt of the 4 defendant as to the offense charged or would tend to reduce his punishment therefor.
5I 6 See 8 G.c.A. § 70.10(a)(1) & (7).
7 However, the right to disclosure of information in 8 G.C.A. §70.10 is not absolute. 8 It is fundamental in all demands for the production of discovery in criminal cases, that a
9 Defendant seeking such disclosure must satisfy the threshold requirement of materiality.
10 In this regard, the Guam Supreme Court has held that §70.l0, "like Brady itself, 'imposes 11 a general materiality requirement upon items before disclosure." See People v. Mateo, 12 2017 Guam 22 TI14 (citing People v. Tuncap, 1998 Guam 13 'II 18). Evidence is material 13
14 for Brady purposes when "there is a reasonable probability that, had the evidence been
15 disclosed to the defense, the result of the proceeding would have been different." See US. 16 v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 682 (1985). A "reasonable probability" is "a probability 17 sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome." LcL at 682, Guam's Supreme Court 18 has held that "impeachment evidence relating to government witnesses" is material to 19
20 guilt or punishment, and therefore falls under the coverage of Brady and 8 G.C.A §70.10. 21 See People v. Fisher, 2001 Guam 2 'U 12.
22 8 GCA §70.l5 serves as a catchall provision, allowing defendants to compel 23 disclosure of information not mandated by §70.10, as long as the requested information is 24 material to the defense and is reasonable. See 8 G.C.A. §70.15.
25 11. Legal Analysis :
26 a. Unredacted copies of GPD Report No. 21-31977 are mandated discovery under 27 8 G.C.A. §70.10(a)(1) and (a)(7).
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Decision and Order Granting Defendant's Motion to Compel Discovery CF0653-21, People of Guam v. Gavin Domingo Alimurong t
1 The first piece of requested discovery concerns GPD Report No. 21-31977. 2 The People initially provided a copy of this report, but several key areas such as the 3 alleged victim's written statement and GPD Officer J. Quenga's narrative report were 4 redacted. See Memorandum Supporting Motion at 2 (Apr. 20, 2022). 5 This evidence is clearly material for Brady purposes and is mandated 6 discovery under 8 G.C.A. §70.l0(a)(l). The People will presumably call the alleged 7 victim as a witness at trial, so her statement recorded in GPD Report No. 21-31977 8 must be turned over pursuant to 8 G.C.A. §70.l0(a)(l). The same applies to GPD 9 Officer Quenga's narrative report, which is a recorded statement by a government 10 witness. 11 The redacted statements are also mandated discovery under 8 G.C.A. 12 §'70.l0(a)(7) as being material towards negating Defendant's guilt or reducing his 13 potential punislnnent. Comparing the alleged victim's testimony against her previous 14 statements is important to Defendant's defense and clearly relevant to his potential 15 guilt. The Court believes that if an unredacted copy of GPD Report No. 21-31977 is 16 not disclosed to Defendant, the result of his trial could be different. Therefore, this 17 material is mandated discovery under 8 G.C.A. § 70.l0(a)(l) and (a)(7). 18 b. The December 22, 2021 search warrant and its supporting documents are 19 mandated discovery under 8 G.C.A. §70.10(a)(7). 20 The second piece of requested discovery surrounds a search warrant executed 21 at Defendant's alleged home on December 22, 2021, roughly nine hours before 22 Defendant's arrest. See Magistrate's Complaint (Dec. 23, 2021), Memorandum 23 Supporting Motion at 2 (Apr. 20, 2022). 24 Defendant was arrested on allegations of family violence dating back to the 25 previous six months. See Magistrate's Complaint (Dec. 23, 2021). However, it's 26 possible that the search warrant played a role in Defendant's arrest given the short 27 lapse in time between the search and his arrest. A copy of the search warrant and its 28
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