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People v. Gansz12/12/2000
UNPUBLISHED
Defendant appeals by right from his conviction by a jury of kidnapping, MCL 750.349; MSA 28.581, and two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC I), MCL 750.520b; MSA 28.788(2). The trial court sentenced defendant to three concurrent terms of fifteen to forty years' imprisonment. We affirm.
Defendant first argues that the trial court should have granted his motion for a mistrial because the prosecutor did not disclose a statement defendant made to a police officer until after defendant testified. "We review a trial court's decision regarding the appropriate remedy for noncompliance with a discovery order for an abuse of discretion." People v Davie (After Remand), 225 Mich App 592, 597-598; 571 NW2d 229 (1997).
A defendant is entitled to have produced at trial all the evidence bearing on his guilt or innocence that is within the prosecutor's control. People v Florinchi, 84 Mich App 128, 133; 269 NW2d 500 (1978). While earlier case law suggests that prosecutorial noncompliance with a discovery order would result in reversal unless the failure to divulge was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, see People v Pace, 102 Mich App 522, 530-531; 302 NW2d 216 (1980), more recent case law is consistent with MCR 6.201 and holds that questions of noncompliance with discovery orders or agreements are subject to the discretion of the trial court. People v Taylor, 159 Mich App 468, 487-488; 406 NW2d 859 (1987). The court must exercise discretion in fashioning a remedy for noncompliance. Id. at 487. To fashion a remedy, the court must determine the legitimate interests of the court and the parties involved and how they may be affected by the remedial choices available. Id. This process requires an inquiry into all the relevant circumstances, including the causes of the tardy or total noncompliance, as well as a showing by the objecting party of actual prejudice. Davie, supra at 598.
The use of a defendant's nondisclosed statements for impeachment purposes is permissible and generally is considered not prejudicial because a defendant is presumed to know of them. Thus, in People v Lynn, 91 Mich App 117, 126-127; 283 NW2d 664 (1979), where the defendant was impeached with a prior statement that had not been made available to him pursuant to a discovery order, this Court found no prejudicial error because the statement was made by the defendant, and the defendant was presumed to know what statements he had made. Similarly, in Taylor, supra at 487-488, this Court held that the defendant was properly impeached with a letter he wrote, despite the prosecution's nondisclosure of the letter, because the defendant had knowledge of the letter independent of discovery.
In this case, defendant clearly had knowledge of his own statement to the police officer independent of discovery, and therefore he was not in a position to claim prejudice from its use for impeachment purposes. Moreover, even ignoring the impact of the admission of the statement, the evidence against defendant was overwhelming. Under these circumstances, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant's motion for a mistrial and allowing the statement at issue to be used for impeachment purposes.
Next, defendant argues that there was insufficient evidence to support his convictions. This Court reviews claims of the sufficiency of the evidence de novo. People v Mayhew, 236 Mich App 112, 124; 600 NW2d 370 (1999). In evaluating whether the evidence introduced against a defendant supported a conviction, this Court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecutor and determines whether a rational trier of fact could have found that the essential eleme
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