People v. Hampton, 82SA575

• Decision Date: 13 June 1988
• Docket Number: No. 82SA575,82SA575
• Citation: 758 P.2d 1344
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Charles HAMPTON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

Page 1344

758 P.2d 1344

The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Charles HAMPTON, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 82SA575.

Supreme Court of Colorado,

En Banc.

June 13, 1988.

Rehearing Denied July 5, 1988.

Duane Woodard, Atty. Gen., Charles B. Howe, Chief Deputy Atty. Gen., Richard H. Forman, Sol. Gen., John Daniel Dailey, Deputy Atty. Gen., Denver, for plaintiff-appellee.

Hutchinson, Black, Hill & Cook, James England, Boulder, for defendant-appellant.

QUINN, Chief Justice.

This case is a sequel to our opinion in People v. Hampton, 696 P.2d 765 (Colo.1985), in which we vacated the conviction of Charles Hampton, the defendant, for the crimes of aggravated robbery, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, and a crime of violence, and remanded the case to the trial court to apply a multi-factor balancing test in determining whether alibi evidence was properly excluded from the defendant's trial. Because on remand the trial court ruled that the evidence was properly excluded, the case is again before us for review of the court's exclusion of alibi evidence and, as well, three other issues left unresolved in our earlier opinion. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the judgment of conviction.

I.

The basic facts have been summarized in our earlier opinion, see Hampton, 696 P.2d at 769-71, and we will state only those facts pertinent to the particular issues herein raised. When this case was before us in 1985, we vacated the judgment of conviction and remanded the case to the trial court for the purpose of determining whether there was good cause to admit the defendant's alibi evidence in spite of his noncompliance with the disclosure requirement of Crim.P. 12.1, which provides as follows:

The prosecuting attorney may serve upon the defendant within a reasonable time before the trial a written notice specifying with reasonable certainty the contention of the prosecuting attorney as to the time when and the place where the defendant committed the offense charged. In that event the defendant, if he intends to introduce evidence that he was at a place other than that specified, shall serve upon the prosecuting attorney within a reasonable time after service of the prosecuting attorney's notice a statement in writing specifying the place where he claims to have been and the names and addresses of the witnesses he will call to support the defense of alibi. Upon receiving this statement, the prosecuting attorney shall advise the defendant of the names and addresses of any additional witnesses who may be called to refute such alibi within a reasonable time after their identity becomes known. Neither the prosecuting attorney nor the defendant shall be permitted at the trial to introduce evidence inconsistent with his specification, unless the court for good cause and upon just terms permits the specification to be amended. If a defendant fails to make the specification required by this section, the court shall exclude evidence in his behalf that he was at a place other than that specified by the prosecuting attorney unless the court is satisfied upon good cause shown that such evidence should be admitted. ¹

In our prior opinion we enumerated the following factors for the trial court's consideration in determining whether there was good cause to admit the defendant's alibi evidence: (1) the reason for and the degree of culpability associated with the failure to timely respond to the prosecution's specification of time and place; (2) whether and to what extent the nondisclosure prejudiced the prosecution's opportunity to effectively prepare for trial; (3) whether events occurring subsequent to the defendant's noncompliance mitigated the prejudice to the prosecution; (4) whether there was a reasonable and less drastic alternative to the preclusion of alibi evidence; and (5) any other relevant factors arising out of the circumstances of the case. Hampton, 696 P.2d at 778. We directed the trial court to identify on the record those factors which it considered critical to its ultimate resolution of the "good cause" issue so that there could be meaningful appellate review of the trial court's ruling. We further stated that if the trial court on remand were to determine that the defendant's alibi evidence was properly excluded from the trial, then the judgment of conviction should be reinstated and the case certified to this court for review of the court's ruling and the following three issues not addressed in our prior opinion: whether the exclusion sanction of Crim.P. 12.1 was unconstitutionally applied in this case; whether the trial court violated due process of law by denying the defendant's request for a continuance based on his attorney's alleged unpreparedness; and whether the trial court erred in giving an instruction on recent and unexplained possession of stolen property. Id. at 779. We also directed that if the trial court on remand were to determine that there was good cause to permit the alibi evidence notwithstanding the defendant's noncompliance with Crim.P. 12.1, then the defendant should be granted a new trial. Id.

On remand, the trial court heard arguments from both the prosecutor and defense counsel and made extensive findings with respect to whether there was good cause to admit the defendant's alibi evidence notwithstanding his failure to comply with the disclosure requirements of Crim.P. 12.1. In addressing the first factor--the reason for and the degree of culpability associated with the failure to timely respond to the prosecution's specification of time and place--the court found that the prosecution served the defendant with the written specification of the time and place of the offense in September 1977, approximately a month after the offenses had taken place, and that it should not have been difficult at that time for the defendant to recall his whereabouts at the time when the crimes were committed. The court further found that there was no suggestion by the defendant that his attorney was at fault for noncompliance with the prosecution's request and that, accordingly, the defendant alone was culpable for failure to comply with Crim.P. 12.1.

The trial court next considered the second and third factors pertinent to the "good cause" issue--whether and to what extent the nondisclosure prejudiced the prosecution's opportunity to effectively prepare for trial, and whether events occurring subsequent to the defendant's noncompliance mitigated the prejudice to the prosecution. Although the trial court found that it was not until the commencement of trial on November 28, 1978, that defense counsel served the prosecuting attorney with a written notice of alibi and the names and addresses of two alibi witnesses, the prosecution concedes in its brief that the written notice of alibi with the names and addresses of the two alibi witnesses was actually served on the prosecution on November 27, 1978, the day prior to the commencement of jury selection. ² The trial court further found that the name and address of the third alibi witness was not served on the prosecuting attorney until three days later during trial. It was the trial court's determination that this belated disclosure deprived the prosecuting attorney of any reasonable opportunity to interview the defendant's alibi witnesses prior to or during the trial and further left the prosecution without any opportunity to conduct a proper investigation to discover possible rebuttal alibi witnesses. The court accordingly concluded that there was obvious prejudice to the prosecution by the belated disclosure and that there were no events occurring subsequent to the defendant's noncompliance which mitigated that prejudice.

The trial court next addressed whether there was a reasonable and less drastic alternative to the preclusion of the defendant's alibi evidence. Although during argument on remand the defendant suggested that a brief continuance would have afforded the prosecution an opportunity to overcome the prejudice of late disclosure, the trial court was of the view that, in light of the difficulty experienced by the defense investigator in locating the defendant's three alibi witnesses, it would have been even more difficult for the prosecutor to have conducted an investigation for potential rebuttal alibi witnesses. The court determined, therefore, that a brief continuance would not have afforded the prosecution a reasonable opportunity to conduct any appropriate investigation to meet the defendant's alibi evidence.

The trial court concluded that its prior decision to exclude the defendant's alibi evidence was appropriate under the circumstances of this case, and emphasized in its ruling the following additional factors: the defendant's own culpability in failing to provide defense counsel with the requisite information sufficiently in advance of trial to afford the prosecution a reasonable opportunity to conduct the necessary interviews and to undertake a reasonable investigation; the belated disclosure made on the eve of the trial, even though defense counsel apparently knew the names of at least two witnesses some twelve days prior to the commencement of jury selection and failed to communicate that information to the prosecuting attorney; and the obvious practical difficulties in interrupting and continuing a jury trial to some date in the future in order to provide the prosecution with an opportunity for reasonable investigation. Since the court was satisfied that the defendant had failed to establish good cause to permit alibi evidence in spite of his noncompliance with the disclosure requirements of Crim.P. 12.1, the trial court reinstated the previously entered judgment of conviction.

II.

We first review the propriety of the trial court's exclusion of the defendant's alibi evidence pursuant to Crim.P. 12.1. Our review of the trial court's ruling is necessarily circumscribed by the rule that a court's factual...