People v. Perez

Superior Court of Guam

People v. Perez

Superior Court of Guam·Decided December 14, 2021·No. CF0172-21·Unknown

Opinion

F9LED SUPERWR COURT

OF GUAM

2OZIOEC Li PN 2:53

1 CLERK OF COURT 2 By

3

4

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF GUAM

6 PEOPLE OF GUAM, ) CRIMINAL CASE NO. CF0172-21 7 )

Plaintiff, )

8 )

vs. DECISION & ORDER 9 ~ DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO COMPEL GERARD DANIEL PEREZ, DISCOVERY 10 aka Gerald Daniel Perez, -‘

11 DOB:08/21/1982 ) 12 Defendant. )

I. Introduction

This matter came before the Honorable Maria T. Cenzon on September 28, 2021 for

15 hearing on Defendant Gerard Daniel Perez’s (“Defendant’s”) Motion to Compel Discovery 16 (“Motion”). Assistant Attorney General Alysa Draper-Dehart represented the People of Guam 17 (the “People”), and Attorney Zachary Taimanglo represented the Defendant. During the hearing 18 on Defendant’s Motion, the Court Having duly considered the parties’ briefs, oral arguments, 19

20 and the applicable law, the Court now issues the following Decision and Order and GRANTS in 21 Part and DENIES in Part Defendant’s Motion to Compel Discovery. 22 II. Background

On April 9, 2021, Defendant was charged pursuant to Indictment with Terrorizing (as a 3rd Degree Felony) with the Special Allegation: Possession or Use of a deadly weapon in the 25

26 course of a felony; No Firearms ID (as a 3rd Degree Felony); Family Violence (as a 3tc1 Degree 27 Felony); Family Violence (as a Misdemeanor); and two charges of Assault (as a misdemeanor). 28 People v. Perez; CF0172-21 Decision and Order

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Defendant filed a Motion to Compel Discovery on August 11, 2021, requesting the

2 disclosure of the following discovery materials which the Defendant argues have not been 3 disclosed by the People, despite multiple demands by Defense Counsel:

1. Pictures/Videos pertaining to the execution of the search warrant: Defendant 5 claims that specific reference to such recording(s) was made, however, it is not clear to the court where such references were made;

6 2. Search Warrant Materials: Defendant claims that he did not receive the affidavit or 7 any accompanying documents relating to the search warrant;

3. Witness Rap Sheets: Defendant seeks the rap sheets of witnesses;

8 4. CS! reports/photos: received 2 CDs containing photos of a vehicle and injuries to the alleged victims and to the Defendant.’

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10 The Defendant states that these materials are necessary to prepare a defense for the charges ii alleged and argue that these discovery requests fall squarely within the Government’s statutory 12 and Constitutional delivery obligations. Motion p. 3. 13 The People filed a Response to Defendant’s Motion on August 17, stating that the first

two requests (pictures/videos and search warrant materials) have been disclosed. Response p. 2.

16 Additionally, as to the witnesses’ rap sheets, the People argue that they have already disclosed 17 that there are no prior criminal convictions divulge. Moreover, the People argue that the 18 Defendant has failed in his moving papers to establish the materiality of any other “prior contact 19 with the criminal justice system by a witness” and, should such record contain expunged 20 criminal records, even if the Defendant established that this information is material to the 21

22 preparation of his defense, in the first instance, any disclosure should be made first to the court 23 in camera for final determination of relevance and materiality. Response p. 2, 3 (citing 9 GCA

24 § 70.440). 25

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27 Defendant indicates that his request for medical reports has been satisfied. Motion at 2.

28 People v. Perez; CF0172-21 Decision and Order

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With respect to CSI Photos, the People respond that it has provided all of the photos to

2 the Defendant as obtained from CSI, but are uncertain as to what Defense Counsel is referring to 3 regarding “pictures of a vehicle” and confirm that it has no photos of a vehicle. Response p. 3.

There is additional information which the People anticipate it will receive relating to testing of a 5 firearm purportedly involved in this case, and the report from such testing will be provided to 6 the Defendant upon receipt by the People.

8 Finally, the Defendant seeks all discovery pertaining to suspected crystal ~ methamphetamine, which was found in a room belonging to the alleged victims in this case.

Motion at p. 2. The People responded that the Motion is unclear as to what specific materials

Defendant seeks in reference to any such drugs, and stated further that “[t]he victims are not 12

13 charged with these items.” Response at p. 4. 14 During the hearing on September 28, 2021, the parties informed the Court that all 15 discovery requests in Defendant’s motion had been resolved except for the request for witness 16 Rap sheets and the methamphetamines that were referred to in one of the police reports provided

to the Defendant. This Court now addresses the outstanding discovery pertaining to the Rap

19 Sheets and the suspected methamphetamines referred to in the police report. 20 III. Discussion 21 . .

A. Discoverabihty of Witness Rap Sheets 22 The criminal discovery provisions set forth in 8 G.C.A § 70.10 et seq. strictly define the 23

24 materials/information that govern the discovery obligations between the People and a criminal 25 defendant. Section 70.10 (a)( 1 )-(7) specifically identify the material and information “within the 26 prosecution’s possession or control, the existence of which is known, or by the exercise of due

diligence may become known” as subject to such automatic disclosure.

People v. Perez; CFO 172-21 Decision and Order

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1 Discovery mandated under this rule includes:

2 (1) the name and address of any person whom the prosecuting attorney intends to call as a witness at the trial, together with his relevant written or recorded statement;

(2) any written or recorded statement and the substance of any oral statement s made by the defendant or made by a co-defendant if the trial is to be a joint one; 6 (3) any report or statement of an expert, made in connection with the case, 7 including results of physical or mental examinations and of scientific tests, experiments or comparisons;

8 (4) any book, paper, document, photograph or tangible object, which the prosecuting attorney intends to use in the trial or which was obtained from or 10 belonged to the defendant; ii (5) any record of prior criminal convictions of persons whom the prosecuting attorney intends to call as witnesses at the trial;

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13 (6) whether there has been an electronic surveillance of conversations to which the defendant was party or of his premises;

14 (7) any material or information which tends to negate the guilt of the defendant as 15 to the offense charged or would tend to reduce his punishment therefor. 16 8 G.C.A § 70.10(a)(l)—(7).

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18 Section 70.10(b) extends the prosecution’s obligation under subsection (a) “to any 19 material information in the possession or control of members of his staff and any other persons 20 who have participated in the investigation or evaluation of the case and who either regularly 21 report or with reference to this case have reported to his office.” 8 G.C.A. § 70.10(b). The right 22 to the disclosure of the material in Section 70.10, however, is not absolute. It is fundamental in 23

24 all demands for the production of discovery in criminal cases, that a Defendant seeking such 25 disclosure must satisfy the threshold requirement of materiality. In this regard, the Guam 26 Supreme Court has held that Section 70.10(b), “like Brady itself, ‘imposes a general materiality 27

28 People v. Perez; CFO 172-21 Decision and Order

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1 requirement upon items before disclosure.” People v. Mateo, 2017 Guam 22 ¶ 14 (citing People 2 v. Tuncap, 1998 Guam 13 ¶ 18). 3 Further, under 8 GCA § 70.15, for all matters falling outside the discovery obligations of

8 GCA § 70.10, materiality must first be established, and the Court in its discretion may order 5 the disclosure. 8 G.C.A. § 70.15 specifically provides:

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