Grube v. State
| Decision Date | 07 January 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 24854.,24854. |
| Citation | 995 P.2d 794,134 Idaho 24 |
| Parties | Rauland J. GRUBE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. STATE of Idaho, Respondent. |
| Court | Idaho Supreme Court |
Rigby, Thatcher, Andrus, Rigby, Kam & Moeller, Rexburg, for appellant. Gregory W. Moeller argued.
Hon. Alan G. Lance, Attorney General; Kenneth K. Jorgensen, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for respondent. Kenneth K. Jorgensen argued.
This is an appeal from the denial of a post-conviction relief application filed with regards to Rauland Grube's conviction for first-degree murder in the 1983 death of Amy Hossner in Ashton, Idaho. The order denying relief is affirmed.
Amy Hossner was murdered while she slept in her bedroom in the basement of her parent's home in the early morning hours of June 4, 1983. She was killed by a single shotgun blast through a window above her bed. Rauland Grube was tried for the crime in October of 1991, after information came to light placing Grube at Amy Hossner's house on the night of the murder. Brenda Fredricksen Briggs, a witness who did not come forward until 1991, testified at trial that shortly after the murder, Grube had approached her and told her that he had a crush on Amy and had spoken to Amy through her bedroom window the night Amy was murdered. Briggs also testified Grube told her that when Amy failed to meet him several hours later, he went back to her house and looked in the window, whereupon he told Briggs that he had "never seen so much blood in his life." Although Grube did not testify, a tape-recorded interview of Grube which had been conducted by the police in 1991 was played for the jury, in which Grube said that the story he had told Briggs was a lie. There was testimony relating to the various tests performed by firearms experts on Grube's weapon, a shotgun, both in 1983 and in 1991. The jury found Grube guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Amy Hossner, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The judgment of conviction and the sentence were upheld by this Court on direct appeal in State v. Grube, 126 Idaho 377, 883 P.2d 1069 (1994).
In 1994, while Grube's appeal from the judgment of conviction was pending, Lynn Gifford approached defense counsel. Gifford indicated that he was the person who had first told Grube that Amy Hossner had been murdered, and that although he had been interviewed by the police in 1991, he had not been called to testify at Grube's trial. In their conversation with Gifford, defense counsel learned information (1) that Grube had reacted with genuine surprise and sadness to the news of Amy Hossner's death, and (2) that Gifford had reported seeing Ashton police officer Stephen Brood—an early suspect in this crime—driving a police car within a few blocks of Amy Hossner's house at approximately 2:30 a.m. on the night of the murder. This information had been communicated to the police investigator in 1991 but was never disclosed by the state to the defense, prompting counsel to seek post-conviction relief on Grube's behalf from the district court.
In his application for post-conviction relief, Grube asserted that he was entitled to a new trial because he had been denied due process by the state's failure to disclose exculpatory information contained in Gifford's interview with the investigator in 1991. The Gifford information led defense counsel to discover that Ashton police logs recording activity the night of the murder appeared to have been altered. Consequently, Grube also alleged that he was entitled to a new trial on the basis of that evidence which only came to light subsequent to the trial. After denying the state's motion to dismiss Grube's request for post-conviction relief, the district court conducted an evidentiary hearing on the application. According to the state, the police logs in question could not be located and were unavailable for the defense to examine whether they corroborated Gifford's story and supported an investigator's testimony that Chief of Police Sebek, the only other Ashton police officer, had gone home before midnight the night that the murder took place. Just days before the scheduled post-conviction hearing, the police logs were found, necessitating a continuance to allow examination of the logs by forensic experts.
The district court denied Grube any relief on his post-conviction application. The district court made the following findings: (1) that even if it were proven that Officer Brood had written on the log of June 3, 1983, such evidence does little more than prove that he had access to the logs and does not provide any solid footing to conclude that Officer Brood may have murdered Amy Hossner or had access to the police vehicle on that date; (2) that Gifford's observation, even assuming it was accurate, was only marginally relevant in view of the other evidence presented at trial; (3) that Gifford's testimony fails to cast any different light on the trial which would undermine confidence in the jury's verdict; (4) that the additional evidence did not contradict any physical evidence and failed to impeach the testimony of any witness critical to the state's case or to weaken the overall case against Grube; (5) that the post-conviction evidence failed to establish the reasonable probability of a different verdict; and (6) that Gifford's conclusions regarding Grube's reactions upon learning of Amy Hossner's murder would not be admissible over an appropriate objection. Grube filed a notice of appeal to this Court.
1. Did the state violate Grube's due process rights by failing to disclose Brady evidence in the form of Lynn Gifford's interview with the state investigator?
2. Did Grube show that he was entitled to a new trial on the basis of newly discovered evidence?
3. Did the state's failure to disclose the Gifford interview deny Grube the right to a manslaughter instruction at his trial on the murder charge?
4. Did the state's failure to disclose the Gifford interview deny Grube a fair proceeding at the time he was sentenced?
An applicant for post-conviction relief bears the burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, the allegations on which the applicant's claims are based. I.C.R. 57(c); McCoy v. State, 129 Idaho 70, 72-73, 921 P.2d 1194, 1196-97 (1996); Clark v. State, 92 Idaho 827, 830, 452 P.2d 54, 57 (1969). Where there is competent and substantial evidence to support the district court's decision made after an evidentiary hearing on an application for post-conviction relief, that decision will not be disturbed on appeal. McCoy, supra; State v. Pizzuto, 119 Idaho 742, 778, 810 P.2d 680, 716 (1991). The credibility of the witnesses, the weight to be given to their testimony, and the inferences to be drawn from the evidence are all matters solely within the province of the district court. Larkin v. State, 115 Idaho 72, 764 P.2d 439 (Ct.App.1988).
Grube contends that the state withheld evidence favorable to him upon a discovery request by the defense. Only after the trial did Grube learn that the state's investigator had interviewed Lynn Gifford in 1991 at which time Gifford provided information that contradicted the testimony of the state's primary witness against Grube, put into question the alibi of the other suspect (Brood), and supported Grube's theory of defense that someone else had killed Amy Hossner. This evidence, commonly referred to as Brady material, is required to be disclosed if the police or prosecutor possessed the evidence.
Under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), the prosecution is bound to disclose to the defense all exculpatory evidence known to the state or in its possession. The duty to disclose encompasses impeachment evidence as well as exculpatory evidence. United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 676, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 3380, 87 L.Ed.2d 481, 490 (1985). In the situation where a general request for Brady materials is made and when the exculpatory information in the possession of the prosecutor may be unknown to the defense, the reviewing court must look to the whole record and determine whether "the omitted evidence creates a reasonable doubt that did not otherwise exist." United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 112, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 2402, 49 L.Ed.2d 342, 354 (1976).
If there is no reasonable doubt about guilt whether or not the additional evidence is considered, there is no justification for a new trial. On the other hand, if the verdict is already of questionable validity, additional evidence of relatively minor importance might be sufficient to create a reasonable doubt.
Id. at 112-13, 96 S.Ct. at 2402, 49 L.Ed.2d at 354-55.
In a recent decision, the United States Supreme Court further explained the holding of Ky...
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