State v. Tunstall

651 P.2d 19, 8 Kan. App. 2d 76, 1982 Kan. App. LEXIS 235
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedSeptember 2, 1982
DocketNo. 53,756
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 651 P.2d 19 (State v. Tunstall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Tunstall, 651 P.2d 19, 8 Kan. App. 2d 76, 1982 Kan. App. LEXIS 235 (kanctapp 1982).

Opinion

Meyer, J.:

Appellant was found guilty of felony criminal damage to property (K.S.A. 21-3720); burglary (K.S.A. 21-3715); and felony attempted theft (K.S.A. 21-3301 and 21-3701). Appellant was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than one nor more than five years for Counts 1 and 3, and to not less than three nor more than ten years on Count 2, such terms to be served concurrently with each other.

Appellant first contends the court erred by failing to impose adequate sanctions on the State for its failure to provide appellant access to a witness’ statement, as ordered by the court, and to which appellant was entitled pursuant to K.S.A. 22-3213.

At the preliminary hearing, Officer Scurlock testified that immediately after observing a man leap from the roof of the burglarized store, he broadcast a description of the suspect over his police radio. This broadcast was recorded by electronic means as a matter of routine procedure. After such testimony, appellant’s counsel moved to be granted access to this recording. This request was granted by the court, and an appropriate order was issued.

Approximately twelve days later, when appellant’s counsel attempted to review said recording, he was informed that it had been erased. This periodic erasure and reuse of tapes is also routine procedure of the police department. Appellant moved, at the opening of trial, for dismissal, based on the failure by the State to supply him with Scurlock’s prior statement. The court denied this motion, instead ruling that there should be no testi[78]*78mony concerning the details of the broadcast description allowed into evidence. Appellant challenges this action.

The governing statute is K.S.A. 22-3213. It provides, in pertinent part:

“(1) In any criminal prosecution brought by the state of Kansas, no statement or report in the possession of the prosecution which was made by a state witness or prospective state witness (other than the defendant) shall be the subject of subpoena, discovery, or inspection until said witness has testified on direct examination at the preliminary hearing or in the trial of the case.
“(2) After a witness called by the state has testified on direct examination, the court shall, on motion of the defendant, order the prosecution to produce any statement (as hereinafter defined) of the witness in the possession of the prosecution which relates to the subject matter as to which the witness has testified. If the entire contents of any such statement relate to the subject matter of the testimony of the witness, the court shall order it to be delivered directly to the defendant for his examination and use.
“(4) The term ‘statement,’ as used in subsections (2) and (3) of this section in relation to any witness called by the prosecution means —
(b) a stenographic, mechanical, electrical, or other recording, or a transcription thereof, which is a substantially verbatim recital of an oral statement made by said witness and recorded contemporaneously with the making of such oral statement.”

Under Kansas law, the prosecutor is charged with the requirement to produce statements not only in his own actual possession, but also those in the possession of law enforcement agencies. A rule otherwise would allow the prosecutor to defeat the purpose of the discovery statute simply by removing such statements or reports from his personal file. State v. Humphrey, 217 Kan. 352, 357, 537 P.2d 155 (1975).

It is clear that, once he had testified at the preliminary hearing, the recording of Officer Scurlock’s prior statement was a proper item for discovery. Thus, appellant’s motion to allow access was properly sustained. But this is only part of the issue; the crux here is whether a more drastic sanction was necessary to protect the rights of the appellant.

It has been pointed out by the courts that the right of confrontation of witnesses means more than being allowed to confront the witness physically; it also includes the right to effectively cross-examine the witness, to explore his credibility and aid in determining the weight to be given his testimony. See State v. Wilkins, 215 Kan. 145, 149, 523 P.2d 728 (1974); and State v. Montanez, 215 Kan. 67, 69, 523 P.2d 410 (1974). It is the protec[79]*79tion of this facet of the right of confrontation which is the purpose of the production requirements of K.S.A. 22-3213. State v. Humphrey, 217 Kan. at 358.

Appellant argues that when he could not gain access to Officer Scurlock’s prior statement, he was denied a fundamental right. The fact that it is now impossible to know whether that recording would have been helpful or damaging to his case is not dispositive, he argues. By the destruction of the recording, appellant was denied a tool with which he could have possibly attacked Officer Scurlock’s credibility, maybe showing that the description the officer initially broadcast did not comport with the one he later gave in court or filed as part of his report (both of which occurred after appellant’s arrest and after Officer Scurlock had viewed appellant himself). This denial, he insists, mandates that his conviction on all counts be reversed with orders to dismiss all charges.

Appellant does not allege that the prosecutor or the police department acted in bad faith; he alleges only negligence on their part. For his own conduct, he insists that twelve days was not an unreasonably long time to wait before actually attempting to obtain the statement, and that this was not dilatory or negligent conduct on his part.

Appellant cites United States v. Bryant, 439 F.2d 642 (D.C. Cir. 1971), for the proposition that the government may not evade the sanctions for nondisclosure of discoverable statements merely by averring that these were destroyed in good faith, in accord with routine and normal practice. Bryant is distinguishable from the case at bar.

In Bryant, the court was concerned with the destruction of recordings between the defendant himself and government undercover agents. Such recordings were obviously discoverable, and the failure to administer a system of preservation adequate to insure their preservation was insufficiently protective of the defendant’s rights. In such a case, no bad faith need be shown, but rather, mere negligence alone would justify imposition of sanctions.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
651 P.2d 19, 8 Kan. App. 2d 76, 1982 Kan. App. LEXIS 235, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-tunstall-kanctapp-1982.