People v. Gayle

193 Misc. 2d 556, 750 N.Y.S.2d 443, 2002 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1365
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 15, 2002
StatusPublished

This text of 193 Misc. 2d 556 (People v. Gayle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Gayle, 193 Misc. 2d 556, 750 N.Y.S.2d 443, 2002 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1365 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Vincent M. Del Giudice, J.

Defendant , is charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, under Penal Law § 265.02 (1), and moves [557]*557for dismissal of the indictment on double jeopardy grounds, pursuant to CPL 40.20 (1).

The instant motion arises out of this court’s constrained grant of defendant’s motion for a mistrial on September 19, 2002, during the direct testimony of a law enforcement agent called by the People as their first witness, on the ground that the prosecution failed to turn over to the defense in a timely manner, as Rosario material pursuant to People v Rosario (9 NY2d 286, cert denied 368 US 866) and its progeny, certain handwritten notes that the witness testified he had placed on the reverse side of a “consent to search” form signed by defendant shortly before a search uncovered the handgun that is the subject of the crime charged.

Mindful that in the usual case involving delayed delivery of Rosario material, an adequate remedy would be for the court simply to direct that the relevant witness remain available for appropriate questioning by the defense (see, e.g., People v Page, 296 AD2d 247 [2d Dept]; People v Brown, 234 AD2d 15 [1st Dept], lv denied 89 NY2d 984) or, in an appropriate case, for the court to preclude evidence relating to the subject matter of the material in question so as to obviate prejudice to the defendant (see, e.g., People v Martinez, 71 NY2d 937, 940), this court heard extensive argument from the parties before concluding that in the particular factual circumstances presented in this case, this seemingly easily curable Rosario violation so disadvantaged the defense that the granting of defendant’s motion for a mistrial was compelled (see, United States v Dinitz, 424 US 600, 608; see, also, People v Goins, 73 NY2d 989).

Recognizing that the grant of a motion for a mistrial is a drastic remedy, and mindful of the court’s duty to consider, in its discretion, “appropriate alternatives” (Hall v Potoker, 49 NY2d 501, 505), this court first reviewed the notes in question to determine their status as prior written statements of a prosecution witness and their relation to the subject matter of that witness’ testimony, as contemplated by People v Rosario (supra) and its progeny.

Initially, contrary to the prosecution’s argument, this court found that the notes in question in fact constitute Rosario material. A review of the notations in question reveals that, in addition to memorializing incriminatory statements allegedly offered by defendant at the scene of his arrest regarding ownership and possession of the handgun in question, they memorialize circumstances allegedly observed by the witness relating to the alleged basis for defendant’s arrest. More particularly, in [558]*558this constructive possession case, the notes refer, inter alia, to the alleged whereabouts of defendant’s roommate and to the location of personal property alleged to be that of defendant at the time in question. Thus, clearly the facts of this case are distinguishable from those in People v Loper (275 AD2d 801 [2d Dept], lv denied 96 NY2d 736), cited by the People in support of their opposition to defendant’s mistrial motion. In Loper, the defendant claimed a Rosario violation and substantial prejudice by the delayed production of a memo book entry of a police witness containing one of two statements made by the defendant upon his arrest. The Appellate Division found in that case that the notation in question did not constitute Rosario material with respect to the police officer because, unlike in this case, it referred merely to the defendant’s own statement (of which the defendant had appropriate and timely notice).

Having determined that the notes in question in this case constitute Rosario material, this court was then presented with the question of whether the delayed discovery/delivery of this Rosario material warranted granting the defense motion for a mistrial on the ground that the defense was substantially prejudiced by such delayed discovery/delivery (see, People v Cannon, 171 AD2d 752 [2d Dept], lv denied 78 NY2d 1074).

Defense counsel argued that, in light of the delayed discovery/ delivery of evidence that an investigating officer had made contemporary notes of defendant’s alleged incriminatory statements and other matters directly relevant to the circumstances of defendant’s arrest, counsel could not at this juncture continue pursuit of the defense, already put into motion during the jury voir dire and opening statement, that any testimony regarding defendant’s alleged incriminatory statements must be subjected to careful scrutiny and rejected, because no contemporary notes had been made by any of the investigating officers. Defense counsel argued further that, even in the event the court ruled to preclude any evidence of the notations in question, ethical considerations barred defense counsel from arguing to the jury, as planned, that the investigation of this case was conducted and documented inadequately and/or erroneously, with reliance in large measure on the particular circumstance that, in this constructive possession case, absolutely no contemporaneous notes exist of defendant’s alleged incriminatory statements.

Defense counsel’s argument is supported by the record, which reveals that counsel forcefully presented the defense position regarding faulty investigation and nonexistent documentation [559]*559of key elements thereof, both in questioning the jury panel during voir dire and in the defense opening statement, in reliance on the prosecution’s representation that all extant Rosario materials had already been turned over to the defense. The delayed disclosure thus rendered the core of this planned defense, at best, inaccurate, or, at worst, a deliberate attempt to deceive the jury.

In exploring alternatives to granting the defense motion for a mistrial, this court considered the circumstance that preclusion of testimony by any of the People’s witnesses regarding contemporaneous notes relating to defendant’s alleged statements would permit defense counsel to argue in summation, accurately, that no evidence of contemporaneous documentation had been “presented” during trial (rather than that the evidence established that no such documentation had ever been created). This proposition was fairly met with defense counsel’s argument that the planned defense strategy relied heavily on affirmative use of the total failure of any law enforcement agent to create such contemporaneous documentation. In this regard, this court took notice that based upon repeated assurance by the prosecutor that all extant discovery materials had been delivered to the defense as required, both in connection with the suppression hearing in this case held before this court approximately two months prior to trial and prior to commencement of testimony at trial (an assurance first discovered to be inaccurate during the direct testimony of the People’s first witness), defense counsel had reasonably been led to believe that no such documentation existed, and had reasonably implemented the defense strategy accordingly.

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Related

United States v. Jorn
400 U.S. 470 (Supreme Court, 1971)
United States v. Dinitz
424 U.S. 600 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Oregon v. Kennedy
456 U.S. 667 (Supreme Court, 1982)
MATTER OF DAVIS v. Brown
664 N.E.2d 884 (New York Court of Appeals, 1996)
People v. Rosario
173 N.E.2d 881 (New York Court of Appeals, 1961)
People v. Poole
397 N.E.2d 697 (New York Court of Appeals, 1979)
Hall v. Potoker
403 N.E.2d 1210 (New York Court of Appeals, 1980)
People v. Martinez
524 N.E.2d 134 (New York Court of Appeals, 1988)
People v. Goins
538 N.E.2d 346 (New York Court of Appeals, 1989)
Potenza v. Kane
79 A.D.2d 467 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1981)
People v. Holmes
128 A.D.2d 727 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1987)
People v. Cannon
171 A.D.2d 752 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1991)
People v. Brown
234 A.D.2d 15 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1996)
People v. Loper
275 A.D.2d 801 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2000)

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Bluebook (online)
193 Misc. 2d 556, 750 N.Y.S.2d 443, 2002 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1365, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-gayle-nysupct-2002.