State v. Heredia, 83-625-C
| Decision Date | 06 June 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 83-625-C,83-625-C |
| Citation | 493 A.2d 831 |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE v. Sandalio HEREDIA. A. |
This case comes before us on appeal from a judgment of conviction of second-degree murder entered in the Superior Court. In support of his appeal, the defendant raises four issues. In light of our determination of one of the issues, it will be unnecessary to consider all of the points raised by the defendant. We shall, however, consider one issue that is dispositive and another issue that would be required in order to provide guidance for a new trial. The facts pertinent to this appeal are as follows.
On April 30, 1982, David Morales was fatally stabbed in the city of Providence. Prior to the stabbing, a fight had erupted between the victim and defendant, Sandalio Heredia, at a drinking establishment known as Cecelia's Bar. After exchanging blows, the two contestants fell out the door. Carlos Morales (Carlos), the brother of the victim, then observed defendant pull out a knife and chase the victim down Broad Street. Carlos testified that he saw defendant make a stabbing motion with his hand. 1 Carlos then searched for his brother and found him lying on the opposite side of the street from the point where he had first seen him running. Carlos attempted to give the victim mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and then pulled a fire alarm, an action that caused a fire truck and an ambulance to respond. The police later arrested defendant at his home. Evidence disclosed that death was caused by a single stab wound several inches deep in which several branches of the pulmonary artery were found to have been cut. At the location where the victim's body was discovered, another man named Peavey was observed by the victim's brother to be present. Peavey was also arrested and charged with assault because of his conduct at the scene. (Peavey was intoxicated and disorderly but denied having anything to do with the death of the victim and also denied having seen anything unusual at the scene.)
Prior to trial, counsel for defendant made a request for discovery in accordance with Rule 16 of the Superior Court Rules of Criminal Procedure. Among the responses made by the state to this request were a written statement made by Officer Osvaldo Castillo, a member of the Providence police department, and a statement by Officer John MacAndrew, who was on duty that night as Castillo's partner. These statements indicated that Officer Castillo had advised defendant of his Miranda rights in the Spanish language. The statement of Officer MacAndrew further indicated that he had placed Peavey in a police car and that Castillo had translated a statement given by Carlos Morales, the victim's brother, and had served as a witness to Carlos's statement.
Although the state had listed Officer Castillo as a potential witness, the report of his activities included in the state's response to a request for discovery did not completely describe his observations at the scene of the crime. Subsequently, defense counsel disclosed an intention to subpoena Castillo as a witness. However, defense counsel remained unaware of the full scope of Castillo's investigation. Thereafter, counsel for the state decided to call Castillo as a witness in order "to beat [defense counsel] to the punch."
When Castillo was called as a witness, counsel for the prosecution elicited from him a statement that he had noted a trail of blood leading from the point where the body was found all the way down to Parkis Avenue. This testimony was of crucial relevance since it corroborated Carlos Morales's testimony concerning his observation of the stabbing motion made by defendant to the body of the victim just outside the bar. This testimony would support the prosecution's theory that although the fatal blow was struck during the fight near Cecelia's, the victim ran a considerable distance before dropping on the other side of Broad Street beneath the tree where he was ultimately found by his brother. Nothing in the discovery material furnished by the state indicated that Officer Castillo had made such an observation in the course of the investigation or that he had done any more than serve in the capacity of arresting officer and interrogator in regard to certain of the actors in this incident.
When defense counsel heard this testimony, he immediately moved to pass the case. The trial justice declined to grant this motion but later did grant a motion that was made by defense counsel in the alternative (without waiving the motion to pass), and not objected to by the state, that this portion of Officer Castillo's testimony be stricken from the record. Somewhat later in the proceedings, the trial justice made the following statement to the jury:
The question presented is not the propriety of allowing this testimony to be presented in light of the failure of the state to provide full discovery under the provisions of Rule 16 since the trial justice has already determined that the testimony should not have been brought before the court. With this finding we agree. The sole question is whether the remedy of striking this testimony and admonishing the jurors not to consider it was adequate in the circumstances. We...
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