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State v. Diprete5/1/1998
ren and Their Families (DCF). Id. at 1102. This nondisclosure was in violation of an order of a Justice of the Superior Court that required the production of these records in a case involving a charge of first-degree sexual assault. This Court concluded that the redacting of the DCF records amounted to inadvertent nondisclosure and, referring to the four-part test contained in State v. Coelho, supra, denied the relief requested by the defendant, even assuming arguendo that there was negligence or bad faith on the part of the prosecution. Brisson, 619 A.2d at 1103-04. The relief was denied because the defendant failed to demonstrate prejudice. Id. The analysis in Brisson more or less combined the Brady principles and the Coelho doctrine relating to a Rule 16 violation. The Court reenunciated the Coelho factors as follows:
"The trial Justice should consider '(1) the reason for nondisclosure, (2) the extent of prejudice to the opposing party, (3) the feasibility of rectifying that prejudice by a continuance, and (4) any other relevant factors.'" Brisson, 619 A.2d at 1102 (quoting Coelho, 454 A.2d at 245).
A motion for new trial for discovery and/or Brady violations was granted in State v. Wyche, 518 A.2d at 910-11, for failure to provide the results of a blood test showing the alcohol content of the complaining witness that would have been of assistance to the defense and in the light of deliberate nondisclosure by the prosecution. A new trial was granted in State v. Evans, 668 A.2d 1256, 1260 (R.I. 1996), for unintended nondisclosure of promises made to the sole prosecution witness in exchange for his testimony. The foregoing cases indicate that the remedy for deliberate or negligent violation of discovery orders has generally been the vacating of a conviction and the ordering of a new trial.
It is of extreme importance in the case at bar to recognize that this is delayed discovery, not denied discovery. In all the cases in which this Court has ordered a new trial for discovery-rule violations or failures, the defendants were subjected to greater disadvantages than were defendants in the case at bar in that they were required to undergo a trial and a determination of guilt. Nevertheless, the remedy of a new trial was considered adequate and appropriate by this Court.
However, in State v. Quintal, 479 A.2d 117 (R.I. 1984), the trial justice did dismiss an indictment in unique circumstances for failure to obey an order of the Superior Court. Id. at 118. In that case the defendant was charged with third-degree sexual assault. He had sought discovery pursuant to Rule 16 of medical reports pertaining to the mental health and gynecological history of the complaining witness. The motion was granted by the trial Justice on November 9, 1981. On January 8, 1982, defense counsel filed a motion to dismiss the indictment on the ground that the state had failed to comply with the discovery order. The motion to dismiss was not heard until June 25, 1982. In the interim some records had been provided, but clearly the records were not complete. At the hearing a Justice of the Superior Court treated the defendant's motion to dismiss as a motion to compel production and granted it. This order was entered July 1, 1982. 479 A.2d at 118.
The state subsequently produced some additional records but did not completely satisfy the orders of November 9, 1981, and June 25, 1982. At a pretrial conference on November 23, 1982, the trial Justice ordered the state to produce the psychiatric records requested by defense counsel. The Justice entered a conditional sixty-day order, specifying that if the state failed to comply with the court's command, the case would be automatically dismissed w
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