State v. Lucius

663 A.2d 605, 140 N.H. 60, 1995 N.H. LEXIS 97
CourtSupreme Court of New Hampshire
DecidedJuly 27, 1995
DocketNo. 93-835
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 663 A.2d 605 (State v. Lucius) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Lucius, 663 A.2d 605, 140 N.H. 60, 1995 N.H. LEXIS 97 (N.H. 1995).

Opinion

HORTON, J.

The defendant, Mark Lucius, was convicted on four counts of criminal solicitation, RSA 629:2 (1986), for solicitation of: (1) aggravated felonious sexual assault, RSA 632-A:2 (Supp. 1994); (2) felonious sexual assault, RSA 632-A:3 (1986); (3) kidnapping, RSA 633:1 (1986); and (4) violation of child pornography laws, RSA 649-A:3 (Supp. 1994), after a jury trial in Superior Court (Brennan, J.). On appeal the defendant argues that the trial court erred: (1) by failing to disclose material, exculpatory information in an investigatory file concerning allegations against the State’s main witness, in violation of the defendant’s right to due process under the State and Federal Constitutions; (2) by imposing sentences in violation of double jeopardy provisions of the State and Federal Constitutions; and (3) by admitting the defendant’s prior conviction for false imprisonment contrary to New Hampshire Rule of Evidence 404(b). We reverse the defendant’s convictions and remand for a new trial.

The charges against the defendant stem from a series of events that occurred in the summer of 1991. The State’s main witness, Anson Boudrieau, approached the defendant to inquire if the defendant knew of any way he could make some money. The defendant offered Boudrieau a number of suggestions including selling unwanted power tools and making a video with Boudrieau’s [62]*62girlfriend. At some point the defendant asked Boudrieau to kidnap two young girls and to sexually assault them for the purpose of creating a videotape, which would later be sold for profit.

At trial, the defendant admitted asking Boudrieau to do this, but argued that he did so not with a purpose that Boudrieau in fact carry out his request. The defendant testified that Boudrieau had approached him with a plan to take pornographic pictures of Boudrieau’s three-year-old niece. The defendant maintained that he proposed the plan to abduct older girls in order to divert Boudrieau from sexually assaulting his niece and to “string him along” until law enforcement officials could arrest him for an unrelated offense.

As part of his plan, the defendant suggested that Boudrieau abduct a young girl in their neighborhood. Boudrieau then approached the young girl’s parents to inform them that somebody had nefarious plans for their child. As a result, the State Police were brought in to investigate. Boudrieau reluctantly agreed to help the police gather evidence against the defendant by wearing a microphone that would permit the police to monitor and record their conversations.

The defendant was indicted on four counts of criminal solicitation. Four days before trial, the defendant received a letter from the county prosecutor advising that Boudrieau was currently under investigation by the State Police regarding an allegation of sexual misconduct with a three-year-old child. On the first day of the trial, the defendant made a Brady request for production of the investigative file. See Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963). In support of his request, the defendant specifically stated that he needed the file to determine whether it contained allegations concerning Boudrieau’s niece.

The court reviewed the State Police file in camera. The court denied the defendant access to it but gave counsel a summary description of its contents. The court stated that the record was very minimal, that it contained an allegation of sexual misconduct to a State agency, that the incident allegedly occurred on July 30,1992, that the police had just begun their investigation within the last few weeks, and that sometime after August 6, 1993, Boudrieau became aware that he was under investigation.

The court prohibited the defendant from asking Boudrieau questions specifically mentioning the alleged sexual abuse, but allowed questions as to whether Boudrieau was under investigation for a “serious crime.” The court also permitted the defendant to inquire into any bias Boudrieau may have resulting from his awareness that the same office prosecuting the defendant would be responsible for [63]*63prosecuting the witness if charges were brought as a result of the pending investigation, and to ask Boudrieau if he understood that involvement in criminal activity would affect his probation status.

On the date the court requested the file for in camera review, the State Police had a tape recording of their interview with the victim in the case, but neither included the tape in the file nor indicated in any manner that it existed. During that taped interview, the victim stated that Boudrieau sexually assaulted her. The tape also revealed that the victim referred to Boudrieau as “Unkie” and Boudrieau referred to the victim as his “niece,” even though there was no such legal relationship between the two.

I. Exculpatory Evidence

The defendant argues that the trial court’s failure to turn over the file after in camera review, and the failure of the State Police to include the tape recording in that file, violated the defendant’s right to due process as guaranteed by the State and Federal Constitutions. Because we reverse on the failure of the State Police to turn over the full investigatory “file,” we need not address whether the trial court erred by refusing to grant the defendant access to the incomplete file.

We first address the defendant’s claim under the State Constitution, State v. Ball, 124 N.H. 226, 231, 471 A.2d 347, 350 (1983), citing federal law only as an aid to our analysis. State v. Maya, 126 N.H. 590, 594, 493 A.2d 1139, 1143 (1985). Because we find a violation of the State Constitution and reverse, we need not analyze the defendant’s federal constitutional claim.

“There is no doubt that the prosecution has a duty to disclose evidence favorably to the accused where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment.” State v. Dedrick, 135 N.H. 502, 507, 607 A.2d 127, 130 (1992) (quotation omitted). Although the misconduct may be attributable to the State Police rather than the county attorney’s office, failure of the police to disclose exculpatory evidence to the prosecutor, who in turn could have turned it over to the defense, is treated no differently than if the prosecutor failed to turn it over to the defense. See State v. Colbath, 130 N.H. 316, 320-21, 540 A.2d 1212, 1214 (1988) (noting that the “State would be well advised to remind its police investigators of the rule in Brady”).

We first determine whether the evidence withheld by the State was exculpatory, see, e.g., State v. Arthur, 118 N.H. 561, 563, 391 A.2d 884, 886 (1978), and then, if so, whether the evidence was material, therefore requiring reversal. State v. Laurie, 139 N.H. 325, 330, 653 A.2d 549, 553-54 (1995). Nondisclosed, exculpatory [64]*64evidence is material under the New Hampshire Constitution unless the State proves, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the undisclosed evidence would not have affected the verdict. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
663 A.2d 605, 140 N.H. 60, 1995 N.H. LEXIS 97, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lucius-nh-1995.