State v. Martin, 980129.

• Decision Date: 27 July 1999
• Docket Number: No. 980129.,980129.
• Parties: STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Jeff D. MARTIN, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

984 P.2d 975

1999 UT 72

STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Jeff D. MARTIN, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 980129.

Supreme Court of Utah.

July 27, 1999.

Jan Graham, Att'y Gen., Marian Decker, Asst. Att'y Gen., Blake A. Nakamura, Susan L. Hunt, Salt Lake City, for plaintiff

Linda M. Jones, Stephanie Ames, Salt Lake City, for defendant

ZIMMERMAN, Justice:

¶1 This case comes to us on appeal from the conviction of Jeff Martin ("Martin") on one count of aggravated kidnaping, one count of rape, and three counts of forcible sodomy. All of these charges arise out of an incident involving Lorraine Egan ("Egan"). Martin claims the trial court committed error by: (i) denying Martin's motion for a new trial based on the discovery of new evidence; (ii) denying Martin's pre-trial motion to discover the identity of the individual Egan alleged raped her previously; and (iii) sealing Egan's mental health records before trial but after an in camera review. We agree that the trial court committed error on the last two issues but not on the first. We affirm in part and remand in part for further proceedings.

¶2 Because the legal issues raised by this case are not related to the underlying facts of the alleged rape, we need not discuss the facts in detail. The relevant facts can be summarized as follows: Martin and Egan encountered one another in a parking lot; both parties acknowledge that there was sexual contact; Martin alleges that all contact was consensual while Egan maintains that Martin kidnaped, raped, and sodomized her. After this series of events, Egan sought psychological counseling at the Family Support Center. The Family Support Center created a file dealing with Egan's case. Additionally, six months prior to this event, Egan claimed that she was raped by another individual. This allegation was never reported to the police.

¶3 Martin made numerous pre-trial motions, including a motion to compel discovery of all of Egan's mental health records and a motion to reveal the identity of the individual she alleged had previously raped her. The court conducted an in camera review of Egan's mental health records, disclosed a portion of them to Martin, and sealed the remaining records. It denied the motion to reveal the identity of the individual Egan alleged had previously raped her. The case went to trial on December 15, 1997, and the jury returned a guilty verdict on all counts.

¶4 Before Martin was sentenced, he reviewed a copy of the presentence investigation report. It disclosed that before trial, the prosecutor had told Egan that Martin had threatened her life. Martin filed a motion, contending that he made no such threat and that this warning may have biased Egan's trial testimony against him. A hearing was held. The trial court denied the motion for a new trial but struck all references to the alleged threat from the presentence investigation report, finding them factually unsupported. Martin was then sentenced to six years to life for the aggravated kidnaping conviction, five years to life for each of the three sodomy convictions, and another five years to life for the rape conviction. All sentences were to run concurrently.

¶5 Turning to the first issue on appeal, Martin claims that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a new trial. We first state the standard of review: if a trial court has applied the correct legal standard, it has broad discretion in granting or denying a motion for a new trial. See Crookston v. Fire Ins. Exch., 860 P.2d 937, 940 (Utah 1993); see also Child v. Gonda, 972 P.2d 425, 428 (Utah 1998) (citing State v. Harmon, 956 P.2d 262, 265-66 (Utah 1998); State v. Pena, 869 P.2d 932, 938 (Utah 1994)). The legal standard to be applied when considering a motion for a new trial based on newly-discovered evidence is that the moving party must show that the evidence satisfies the following factors: (i) it could not, with reasonable diligence, have been discovered and produced at the trial; (ii) it is not merely cumulative; and (iii) it must make a different result probable on retrial. See State v. James, 819 P.2d 781, 793 (Utah 1991) (quoting State v. Gellatly, 22 Utah 2d 149, 449 P.2d 993, 996 (1969)).

¶6 The newly-discovered evidence upon which Martin relies is the fact that the prosecutor told Egan prior to trial of an alleged threat that Martin had made on her life. To grant a new trial under James, the trial court must find that all of the listed factors are present. While the trial court did not make explicit findings based on the James factors, it did conclude that Egan's testimony was not affected by the alleged threat. The trial court found that Egan had testified at a preliminary hearing prior to being informed of the threat and that Egan's testimony there was consistent with her testimony at trial.

¶7 In cases where there is sufficient evidence in the record to support a ruling, this court will uphold it even where the trial court fails to make explicit factual findings. See State v. Ramirez, 817 P.2d 774, 787-88 (Utah 1991). The record in this case shows that Egan's testimony was unchanged by virtue of the warning about the alleged threat. This provides an adequate factual basis to support a conclusion that one of the James factors was not present, i.e., impeaching Egan's testimony at a new trial with the suggestion that it was a product of fear based on the communicated threat would not be likely to bring about a different result on retrial. Therefore, we find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion for a new trial.

¶8 Martin also argues that the trial court's denial of his motion for a new trial violated his rights under Rule 16(a) of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Because Martin did not request this evidence, Rule 16(a) does not apply. Rule 16(a) only requires the prosecutor to "disclose [evidence] to the defense upon request." Utah R.Crim. P. 16(a). Due process, on the other hand, requires that certain evidence be disclosed even without a request.

¶9 Under federal due process, a defendant's rights are violated in cases where the defendant does not specifically request exculpatory evidence and where the prosecutor fails to volunteer the evidence if "the omitted evidence creates a reasonable doubt that did not otherwise exist.... This means the omission must be evaluated in the context of the entire record." United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 112, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976); see also Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963); Codianna v. Morris, 660 P.2d 1101, 1106 (Utah 1983). While the evidence in this case appears to be inculpatory, it is considered exculpatory for Brady purposes because it could be used to impeach Egan. In United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985), the United States Supreme Court considered a prosecutor's failure to disclose evidence that the defense might have used to impeach a government witness. See id. at 676, 105 S.Ct. 3375. The Court held that impeachment evidence falls under the Brady rule. See id. Impeachment evidence, when disclosed and used effectively, may make the difference between conviction and acquittal. See id. (citing Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963),Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264, 269, 79 S.Ct. 1173, 3 L.Ed.2d 1217 (1959)).

¶10 On the record in this case, however, reasonable doubt is not created by virtue of the fact that Egan was warned before trial that Martin had threatened her life. It is clear that Egan's testimony did not change substantially from the preliminary hearing to the trial. Therefore, there is little basis to conclude that Martin would be able to impeach Egan with the threat evidence on retrial so as to create reasonable doubt. Therefore, Martin's due process rights were not violated.

¶11 We now turn to the second issue on appeal. Martin argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to discover the identity of the person Egan alleged had previously raped her. Martin again relies on Rule 16(a) of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution.

¶12 Martin filed a motion to disclose the identity of the prior rapist in July of 1997. The State responded to this motion by arguing that the information would not be admissible and therefore should not be discoverable. In a minute entry, dated August 18, 1997, the trial court denied the defendant's motion stating that if the results of the DNA test were to indicate that defendant was the most-likely perpetrator, it would revisit the defendant's motion. After the DNA test indicated that Martin was the most-likely perpetrator, the court, without making findings, filed a minute entry denying the motion to disclose the identity of the alleged prior rapist. We will begin by addressing Rule 16(a).

¶13 Rule 16(a) provides in relevant part:

(a) Except as otherwise provided, the prosecutor shall disclose to the defense upon request the following material or information of which he has knowledge:

. . .

(4) evidence known to the prosecutor that tends to negate the guilt of the accused, mitigate the guilt of the defendant, or mitigate the degree of the offense for reduced punishment; and

(5) any other item of evidence which the court determines on good cause shown should be made available to the defendant in order for the defendant to adequately prepare his defense.

Utah R.Crim. P. 16(a)(4)-(5). A determination of "[w]hether the trial court abused its discretion in denying [a motion for discovery under rule 16(a)] ... depends entirely upon a determination of whether the prosecutor's failure to produce the requested information resulted in prejudice sufficient to warrant reversal." State v. Knight, 734 P.2d 913, 919 (Utah 1987). An error warrants reversal only if it is "harmfu...