Thomas v. State

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Garrison Thomas v. State of Maryland No. 59, September Term, 2006. CRIMINAL LAW PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS DISCOVERY VIOLATIONS SANCTIONS: Under Maryland Rule 4-263, the trial court possesses discretion to impose appropriate sanctions for discovery violations; the proper focus and inquiry in determining the proper sanctions is whether the petitioner was prejudiced, and if so, whether he was entitled to have the evidence excluded. CRIMINAL LAW PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS DISCOVERY VIOLATIONS SANCTIONS: The trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to exclude evidence of consciousness of guilt. CRIMINAL LAW EVIDENCE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GUILT: The State satisfied the evidentiary foundation for the admissibility of evidence of consciousness of guilt. In the Circu it Court for C harles Co unty Case No. K-98-906 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 59 September Term, 2006 GARRISON THOMAS v. STATE OF MARYLAND Bell, C.J. Raker *Wilner Cathell Harrell Battaglia Greene, JJ. Opinio n by Rak er, J. Filed: March 16, 2007 *Wilner, J., now retired, participated in the hearing and conference of this case while an active member of this Court; after being recalled pursuant to the Constitution, Article IV, Section 3A, he participated also in the decision and adoption of this opinion. In this murder and robbery case, we revisit the question of whether petitioner s refusal to provide a b lood sam ple dema nded by po lice pursuan t to a search w arrant was admissible in eviden ce as co nsciou sness o f guilt. See Tho mas v. Sta te, 372 M d. 342, 812 A.2d 1050 (2002) (Thomas I). We mu st also decide whether the Circuit C ourt for C harles Co unty erred in admitting into evidence a statement petitioner made to an F.B.I. agent which was not disclosed to petitioner until one week before trial. We shall affirm. I. Petitioner s convictions stem from the March 1995 murder of Be verly Renee Mitchell. In June 1999, petitioner was tried and convicted in the Circuit Court for Charles County of felony murder, second degree m urder, and robbery. The Court of Special Appeals affirmed the judgment in an unreported opinion. We granted Thomas petition for a writ of certiorari and reversed, finding that, based on the evidence before the Circuit Court, it was reversible error to admit testim ony regarding petitioner s refusal to submit to blood testing to show consciousness of guilt where the State failed to lay the proper evidentiary foundation for the admission of suc h evide nce. Id. at 349, 8 12 A.2 d at 105 4. In a new trial, the State offered the evidence of petitioner s refusal to provide a blood sample to the police as evidence of consciousness of guilt, and he was convicted again of felony murder, second degree murder, and robb ery. On March 23 , 1995, a passerby discovered Beverly Mitchell s body in an area of Charles County kn own as L ocust Hill. T he police collected physical evidence from the location where the body was found. The medical examiner ruled that the cause of death was homicide, and the manner was strangulation and blunt force injuries to the head. Beverly Mitchell was last seen at the home of James and Ann Porter on the evening of March 22, 1995. She had gone there because her mother, Marva Mitchell, had asked her to deliver some money to her brother-in-law, Mr. Po rter. Beverly Mitchell left her mother s house around 9:00 p.m. that evening and arrived at the Porter home shortly thereafter. She gave Mr. Porter ten dollars and left. Earlier in the day, Marva Mitchell had stopped at the Porter residence and info rmed M r. Po rter that h er da ughter w ould be dropp ing o ff th e mo ney. Petitioner, who lived in the basement of the Porter home, was present during the conversation between M arva Mitchell and M r. Porter. On March 24, 1995, the police discovered Beverly Mitchell s white Mitsubishi Eclipse on the 1100 block of 10th Street in Southeast Washington, D.C. That same day, police located a witne ss, Nov ella Lee Harris. Ms. Ha rris told police that around 3:00 a.m. on March 23, 1995, petitioner knocked on her door. At the time, he was dressed as a woman, wearing a wig, high heels, and make-up. He identified himself as Cookie. Ms. Harris later identified petitioner as Cookie f rom a set of seven photographs pro vide d by the police. Ms. Harris told police that petitioner arrived in Ms. Mitchell s white Mitsubishi Eclipse, and that after his arrival, she, petitioner, and another individual purchased and smoked crack cocaine. -2- At trial, Ms. Ha rris testified that while at her home, petitioner appeared to be nervous about the car and told her various stories explaining how he had obtained the vehicle. She stated that, subsequent to his arrival, petitioner had attempted to wipe any fingerprints off the vehicle and later moved the car to the location where it was discovered by police. M s. Harris testified that she saw petitioner purchase gasoline and attempt to set the vehicle on fire, and that petitioner disc arded the c ar keys in two different locations. When police discovered the car, it was partially burned inside. They found the keys to the car in the locations described by Ms. Harris. Despite Ms. Harris statements to police, the investigation of Ms. Mitchell s murder stalled until 19 98. It was then that Detective Shane Knowlan of the Charles Co unty Sheriff s Department contacted the Washington, D.C. Cold Case Homicide Unit. The police secured a search and seizure w arrant to search petitioner s home and take samples of his ha ir, blood, and saliva. In June 1998, F.B.I. agents and police officers from both Charles County and Washington, D.C. executed the search warrant. Pursuant to the warrant, petitioner was transported to a police station in the District of Columbia. Detective Knowlan explained the search warrant to petitioner and told him that it was in reference to Beverly Mitchell s death. Detective K nowlan informed petitioner that th e search w arrant require d him to give hair, blood, and saliva samples, and that [v]oluntary would be my choice, but we would have to take th em fo rcibly if no t. Petitioner resisted the taking of his blood nonetheless, and -3- police restrained him to enable a f orensic nu rse to draw blood. Fo llowing this initial restraint, p etitioner coope rated w ith offic ers in pro viding hair and saliva sa mples. He also allowed police to draw a second sample of blood.1 On Decem ber 16, 199 8, F.B.I. Ag ent Bradle y Purscell 2 and several other law enforcement officials arrested petitioner for the murder of Ms. Mitchell. In a search incident to arrest, the police seized from petitioner a Washington, D.C. Driver s License which identified petitioner s gender as female. Following his arrest, while petitioner and Agent Purscell were w alking dow n the hall at po lice headqu arters, petitioner a sked Purs cell if he had found J esus and if he was a Christian. After Agent Purs cell r espo nded aff irma tivel y, petition er stated God has fo rgiven me. 3 At petitioner s second trial, the prosecutor advised the trial court that he learned of the existence of the God has forgiven me statement one week before trial, in a telephone conversation he had w ith Agent P urscell. 4 The same day the prosecutor learned of the 1 DNA testing of the samples taken from petitioner excluded him as a match to tissue samples found u nder M s. Mitchell s fingernails. In add ition, none o f petitioner s h air samples matched those found inside Ms. Mitchell s car and petitioner was excluded as a source of blood foun d on Ms. M itchell s hands. Further tests of the blood on Ms. M itchell s hands did not exclude her as the source of the blood. 2 At the time, Agent Purscell was assigned to the Washington, D.C. Cold Ca se Unit. 3 At the mo tions hearing , Agent P urscell testified th at he in turn responde d to petitioner: That s nic e because the State of Maryland hasn t. The trial judge did not allow this portion o f Agen t Purscell s testim ony to be repe ated at trial. 4 Agent Purscell had called the State s Attorney s office in response to a subpoena he (contin ued...) -4- statement, he called defense counsel and informed her of the information. Defense counsel made no effort to interv iew Ag ent Pursce ll. On the day of trial, prio r to jury selection, pe titioner moved in limine, asking the Circuit Court to exclude the God has forgiven me statement o n the grou nds that the S tate had violated the Maryland Rules o f Discovery in that it disclosed Ag ent Purscell s statement in an untimely manner, in violation of Maryland Rule 4-263. The sole relief requested by petitioner was the exclusion of the evidence. The Circuit Court found there was no discovery violation and denied the motion in limine. The judge stated as follows: Based on these circumstances and what I ve heard, I do not find there s a discovery violation. There s no indication that this statement was known to the State prior to a week ago. There s no bad faith on the part of the State. So, as far as that goes, I find that the S tate promp tly reported to defense counsel its intent to use th e statemen t by the Defe ndant. The statement certainly is relevant. As the D efendant s being taken down the hall upon being arrested for murder, he initiates a convers ation with A gent Pursc ell and in that c ontext, states that God has forgiven me. I believe that it is relevant and that state ment w ill be allow ed. 4 (...continued) had received because he wanted to find out if he was needed for trial. Agent Purscell had been subpoenaed because he was involved in the chain of custody on the vacuum fibers. As there had been no prior knowledge of any statement by petitioner to Agent Purscell, the subpoena was unre lated to the God has forgiven me statement. There is no suggestion in this record that the State s Attorney s Office acted in bad faith. -5- Petitioner asked the court to suppress Detective Knowlan s testimony regarding the drawing of the b lood. He argued that Detective Knowlan s testimony was irrelevant and at best ambiguous, and not admissible as evidence of consciousness of guilt. In addition, he argued that, becaus e the DN A test results o f the blood excluded petitioner, the prejudicial effect substantially outweighed the probative value of the evidence. The court reserved ruling until trial to determine whether the State satisfied the evidentiary foundation for the admission of the evidence. At trial, after the dete ctive testified th at he told Th omas that this was in referenc e to Beve rly Mitchell s de ath, the cou rt ruled that the evidence was admissible. The jury found p etitioner guilty of first degree fe lony murder , second de gree specif ic intent murder, and robbery. The court imposed a life sentence. Petitioner noted a timely appeal to the Court of Special Appea ls. The interm ediate appellate court affirmed, holding that because Agent Purscell was an F.B.I. Age nt who d id not regularly repo rt to the State s Attorney, petition er s statemen t to him did not fall within the State s d isclosur e obliga tion. Thoma s v. State, 168 Md. App. 682, 695, 899 A.2d 170, 178 (2006). Th e Court of Special A ppeals also held that it w as not error to allow the ju ry to consider petitioner s res istance to the drawing of his blood as evidence of consciousness of guilt. Id. at 713, 899 A.2d at 188-89. We granted petitioner s request for a writ of certiorari to address the following questions: -6- I. Did the C ourt of Sp ecial App eals err in finding that the F.B.I. agent who arre sted and b ooked M r. Thoma s was no t a state agent for purposes of Maryland Rule 4-263 and, therefore, there was no discovery violation when, one week before the retrial in a nine year old murder case, the state revealed for the first time that Mr. Thomas had, as the prosecutor argued in closing, confesse d to the F.B .I. agent at the tim e of his arres t? II. Does the fact that Mr. Thomas initially resisted police efforts to obtain blood, the testing of w hich ultimately excluded M r. Thomas, constitute evidence of a consciousness of guilt when the initial resistance occurred three years after the victim s murder, while Mr. Thomas was handcuffed in a police interrogation room, was surrounded by four police officers, had no reason to believe that his blood would be drawn by someone skilled in doing so, and, after calming down, submitted to the removal of pubic hairs, saliva and a second vial of blood? Thoma s v. State, 394 Md. 479 , 906 A.2d 942 (2006). II. We turn first to petitio ner s argum ent that the C ourt of Sp ecial App eals erred in finding that the F.B.I. agent who arrested and booked him was not a State agent for purposes of Maryland Rule 4-263 and, therefore determined that there w as no discovery violation. Petitioner m aintains that the State violated the Maryland R ules of Discovery because it failed to timely disclose the God h as forgive n me state ment to the defense. He argues that even though Agent Purscell was a federal ag ent, his role in th is case mad e him a State agent for the purposes of Rule 4-263. As such, he continues, the State had an affirmative duty to discover whether Agent Purscell knew of any statem ents petitioner may -7- have made. B ecause the State failed to learn of su ch information until a week before the second trial, it violated the requirement to disclose any statement made by the defendant with in the ma ndatory tim e for discovery. The State responds that the Circuit Court denied the motion correctly to exclude Agent Purs cell s test imony. The State argues that Agent Purscell did not qualify as a State agent under Rule 4-263 because he did not report reg ularly to th e off ice o f the State s A ttorn ey. Alte rnatively, the State maintains that even if there was a discovery violation, exclusion of Agent Purscell s testimony would be inappropriate. Disclosure of Purscell s statement was made more than a w eek before trial, thus giving petitioner reasonable time to respond to the newly discovered evidence. Maryland Rule 4-263 go verns disco very in criminal cases in the circuit courts. One purpose of the Rule is to assist the defendant in preparing a defense and to protect the defendant from s urprise. Williams v . State, 364 Md. 160, 174, 771 A.2d 1082, 1090 (20 01). Another purpose is to force a defendant to file timely motions to suppre ss evide nce. Bailey v. State, 303 Md. 650 , 655, 496 A.2d 6 65, 667 (1985). Rule 4-263(a)(2)(B) provides that the State s Attorney sha ll disclose , without request, inter alia, [a]ny relevant material or information regarding . . . the acquisition of stateme nts made by the defendant to a State agent that the State intends to use at a hearing or trial. 5 5 The relev ant information that wa s disclosed in this case do es not fall w ithin Maryland Rule 4-263(a)(1), material or information tending to negate the guilt or punishment (contin ued...) -8- Rule 4-263(b) provides, in pertinent part, th at the Sta te shall d isclose, upon request, the following information: (1) Witne sses. Disclose to the defendant the name and address of each person then known who m the State intends to call as a witness at the hearing or trial to prove its case in chief or to rebu t alib i testi mon y; (2) Statements of the defendant. As to all statements made by the defendant to a State agent that the State intends to use at a hearing or trial, furnish to the defendant, but not file unless the court so or ders : (A) a cop y of each written or recorded statement, and (B) the substance of each oral statement and a copy of a ll reports of eac h oral sta temen t. The State s A ttorn ey mu st pro vide man dato ry disclosures with out request with in 25 days after the earlier of the appearance of counsel or the first appearance of the defendant befo re the court pursuant to Rule 4-213. Rule 4-263(e). The State s Attorney must provide discovery upon request within 15 days after the earlier of the appearance of counsel or the first appearance of the defendant before the court pursuant to Ru le 4-213. Rule 4-26 3(e). Rule 4-263(g) addresses the discovery obligations of the State s Attorn ey. The Ru le provides as follows: The obligations of the State s Atto rney under this Rule extend to material and information in the possession or control of the State s Attorney and staff members and any others who have participated in the investigation or evaluation of the action and 5 (...continued) of the defendant as to the offense charged. Nor does the information fall under the obligations covered by Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). -9- who either regularly report, or with reference to the particular action h ave rep orted, to the off ice of th e State s Attorn ey. In Bailey v. State, 303 Md. 650, 496 A.2d 665, we discussed the meaning and scope of the term State a gent a s used in the Ru le 741, the predecessor to the present criminal discovery rule.6 We con cluded tha t State agen t should not be read more narrowly than the Rule provisio n applyin g to an y others w ho hav e particip ated in th e inves tigation . . . and who with reference to the particular case have reporte d to [the State s A ttorney s] o ffice. Id. at 655-56, 496 A.2d at 667. We explained that one of the underlying purposes of the Rule, to require timely motions to suppress, would be defeated where agents of a sovereign, other than M aryland, have b een involv ed in investigating the case. Id. at 656, 496 A.2d at 668. The Court of Special Appeals, in this case, held that F.B.I. Age nt Purscell c learly did not regularly report to the State s Attorney s office and did not report with refere nce to this case until he contacted that office shortly before the pretrial hearing. Thomas, 168 Md. App. at 695, 899 A.2d at 178. Ordinarily, the o bligation to not only provide discovery, but to impute information within the knowledge of a State agent to the State s Attorney, does not apply to federal ag ents becau se they do no t usually participate in the investigation or evaluation of the action and do not either regula rly report, or with reference to the particular 6 As we h ave noted , our earlier interp retations of te rms in Ru le 741 are re levant to interpretations of similar terms in Rule 2 -463. See William s v. State, 364 Md. 160, 171 n.13, 771 A.2d 10 82, 1088 n.13 (20 01). -10- action, actually report to the office of the State s Attorney. In the instant case, however, we do not think it is so clear that Agent Purscell should not be considered a State agent. He participated in the investigation as a member of the Washington, D.C. Cold Case Unit, he arrested petitioner, and he wrote a report in the matter. Altho ugh we have stated repeatedly that Rule 4-263 should be interpreted liberally in favor of disclosure, nonetheless, we need not decide here whether Agent Purscell was a State agent under the Rule, because even if he was, we agree w ith the trial judge that petitioner was not prejud iced by the State s disclosure of the statem ent later than th e Rule m andates bu t prior to trial. To implement the objectives of the Rule, it is within the discretion of the trial court to impose sanctions if the R ule is vio lated. Thomp son v. State , 395 Md. 240, 258, 909 A.2d 1035, 1046 (2006). Rule 4-263(i) states, in pertinent part, as follows: If at any time during the proceedings the court finds that a party has failed to comply w ith this Rule or an order issued pursuant to this Rule, the court may ord er that party to permit the discovery of the ma tters not previo usly disclosed, strike the testimony to which the undisclose d matter relate s, grant a reasonab le continuance, prohibit the party from introducing in evidence the matter no t disclosed, gra nt a mistrial, or enter any other o rder ap propria te unde r the circ umstan ces. 7 7 The available sanctions under the Maryland Rule are consistent w ith the discovery sanctions set out by the Ame rican B ar Asso ciation. See ABA S TANDARDS FOR C RIMINAL J USTICE: D ISCOVERY AND T RIAL BY J URY (3d ed. 1996) (hereinafter ABA Criminal Justice Standards). Standard 11-7.1(a) of the ABA Criminal Justice Standards provides as follows: (a) If an ap plicable disco very rule or an order issued pursuant thereto is not promptly implemented, the court should do one or more of the following: (i) order the no ncomplying party to permit the discovery of the (contin ued...) -11- The Rule, on its face, does not require the court to take any action; it merely authorizes the court to act. Therefore, the presiding judge has the discretion to selec t an approp riate sanction, but also has the discretion to decide wheth er any san ction is a t all nece ssary. Evans v. State, 304 Md. 487 , 500, 499 A.2d 1 261, 1268 (198 5). In exercising its discretion regarding sanctions for discovery violations, a trial court should consider: (1) the reasons why the disclosure was not made;8 (2) the existence and 7 (...continued) material and information not previously disclosed; (ii) grant a continuance; (iii) prohibit the party from calling a witness or introducing into evidence the material not disclosed, subject to the de fendant s right to present a defense and provided that the exclusion does not work an injustice either to the prosecution or the defense; and/or (iv) enter such other order as it deems just under the circum stances . 8 In determining a proper sanction, the court may address the reasons the State failed to conform to discov ery rules. While the prosecutor s intent alone does not determine the appropriate sanction, bad faith on the part of the State can justify exclusion of evidence or serve as a factor in granting a harsher sanction. Bad faith or willful violation of the discovery rules has bee n held to justify exc lusion o f evide nce. See State v. Brisson, 619 A.2d 1099, 1102-03 (R.I. 19 93). See also 4 W AYNE R. L AF AVE, J EROLD H. ISRAEL, & N ANCY J. K ING, C RIMINAL P ROCEDURE § 20.6(b), p. 937 (2d ed. 1999) ( stating that [p ]rosecution bad faith might also justify selection of preclusion over a continuance although the latter would be equally effective (though not as convenient) in responding to a prejudicial impact ). [W]here a pattern emerges of discovery violations by a particular person or office, the cou rt should also consider the need to impose sanctions that will deter future violations. ABA Criminal Justice S tandard s, supra note 7, Standard 11-7.1, Commentary, p. 114. Where the violation is willful, or in b ad faith, the court should consider sanctioning the lawyer individually in addition to any sanctions imposed under this section. Id. See also State v. Deleon, 143 Md. App. 645, 663 n.4, 795 A.2d 776, 786 n.4 (2002) (observing that [o]ther remedies besides dismissal, such as a contempt of court or attorney disciplinary proceedings, (contin ued...) -12- amount of any prejudice to the opposing party; (3) the feasability of curing any prejudice with a continuance; and (4) any othe r releva nt circum stances . See Taliafe rro v. State, 295 Md. 376, 390, 456 A .2d 29, 37 (1983); United States v. Hastings, 126 F.3d 310, 317 (4th C ir. 1997). See gene rally, J OHN E. T HEUMAN, Exclusion of Evidence in State Criminal Action for Failure of Prosecution to Comply with Discovery Requirements as to Statements Made by Defendants or Other Nonexpert Witnesses, in 33 A.L.R.4th 30 1 (1984). The most acce pted view of discovery sanctions is that in fashioning a sanction, the court should impose th e least severe sanction that is consistent with the purpose of the discov ery rules. See e.g., Hastings, 126 F.3d at 317; United States v. Fernandez, 780 F.2d 1573, 1576 (11th C ir. 1986); United Sta tes v. Sarcine lli, 667 F.2d 5, 7 (5th Cir. 1982); People v. Dist. Ct., City and Cty. of Denver, 808 P.2d 831, 836 -37, (Colo . 1991); State v. Smith, 599 P.2d 187, 20 8 (Ariz . 1979) . See also ABA S TANDARDS FOR C RIMINAL J USTICE: D ISCOVERY AND T RIAL BY J URY, Standard 11-7.1, Commentary, p. 114 (3d ed. 1996) (hereinafter ABA Criminal Justice Standard s). Assuming arguendo that the State violated the discovery obligations under the rules because the State did not learn of the existence of the statement until a week before trial and 8 (...continued) allow the court to focus on the behavior of the prosecutor instead of granting a w indfall to an unprejudiced d efendant ). On the other hand, even w here the prosecutor acts in good faith, and an unintentional violation of the Rule results, the error may require a mistrial if it has irreparably prejudiced a defe ndant. Evans v. S tate, 304 Md. 487 , 501, 499 A.2d 1 261, 1268 (198 5). -13- therefore did not disclose it earlier, the proper focus and inquiry is whether petitioner was prejudiced, and if so, whether he was entitled to have the evid ence e xclude d. Williams, 364 Md. at 178, 771 A.2d at 1092 (stating that the trial court s evaluation of a discovery violation necessarily includes determining w hether the violation has cause d prejudice). In assessing prejudice, the facts are significant. The State notified defense counsel immedia tely upon learning of Agent Purscell s conversation with petitioner after the arres t. There is no suggestion or allegation h ere of bad faith on the part of the prosecutor. 9 Petitioner received this notice a week prior to trial, affo rding defe nse coun sel an opp ortunity to interview the witness and to prepare for cross-examination. Significantly, petitioner requested only that the trial co urt exclude the evidence. He was not interested in a continuance nor an op portunity to talk to Agent Purscell. As we have indicated, even if the State violates Rule 4-263, the question of whether any sanction is to be imposed is committed to the discretion of the trial judge. We hold that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in admitting the challenged evidence at trial. Petitioner was not prejudiced in any way and there was no bad faith on the part of the State. Exclusion of evid ence for a discovery violation is not a favored sanction and is one of the most drastic measures that can be imp osed. See e.g., State v . Tascarella , 580 So.2d 9 It is important to our decisio n that there is n ot the slightest suggestion in this case that the State acted in bad faith. It is also not disputed in this case that the State s Attorney nor anyone in that office was aware of the statement in question until the day it was disclosed to defense counsel and that the prosecutor disclosed the statement to defense counsel immediately upon learning of its existence. -14- 154, 157 (Fla. 1991); People v. Rubino, 711 N .E.2d 4 45, 448 -449 (Ill . App. C t. 1999) . See also 4 W AYNE R. L AF AVE, J EROLD H. ISRAEL, & N ANCY J. K ING, C RIMINAL P ROCEDURE § 20.6(b), p. 935 (2d ed. 1999) ( stating that appellate courts frequently warn against the unnecessary use of the preclusion sanction ); T HEUMAN, supra at §2[a], p. 307 (stating that [b]arring the admission of undisc losed evide nce at trial is one of the mo st drastic sanctions available to the trial court, and the courts may be reluctant to exclude otherwise probative eviden ce on su ch grou nds ). Although the exclusion of evidence is authorized under R ule 4-263, Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, and most State court rules, as well as the ABA Criminal Justice Standards, because the exclusion of prosecution evidence as a discovery sanction m ay result in a windfall to the defense, exclusion of evidence should be ordere d only in e xtreme cases. See United States v. Rodriguez, 765 F.2d 1546, 15 57 (11th Cir. 1985); People v. Jenkins, 774 N.E.2d 716, 719 (N.Y. 20 02); State v. Respass, 770 A.2d 471, 487 (Co nn. 2001 ); Reid v. State , 372 N.E .2d 1149 , 1155 (Ind . 1978); State v. Jones, 498 P.2d 65, 69 (K an. 197 2). See also ABA Criminal Justice Standa rds, supra, Standard 11-7.1, Com men tary, p. 112 (noting that the exclusion of prosecution ev idence as a discovery sanction may result in a windfall for the defense ). Where remedial measures are warranted, a continuance is most ofte n the appropr iate r eme dy. See United States v. Euceda-Hernandez, 768 F.2d 130 7, 1312 (1 1th Cir. 198 5); Vanwa y v. State, 541 N.E.2d 523, 527 (Ind. 1989). See also, 2 N ANCY H OLLANDER, B ARBARA E. B ERGMAN, & M ELISSA S TEPHENSON, W HARTON S C RIMINAL P ROCEDURE § 12:18, p. 12-184 to 12-185 (14th ed. 2006) (noting that -15- in determining sanctions, after the court has considered any prejudice from the v iolation, it should determine the feasib ility of curing the p rejudice w ith a continuance ) ; C RIMINAL P ROCEDURE, supra at § 20.6(b), p. 934 (noting that the likely prejudice here ordinarily flows from the defense lacking sufficient time to digest and prepare either to meet or to use the previously undisclosed evidence . . . [and that] the preferred remedy, at least where the prosecution has acted in good faith, is to order immediate compliance with discovery requirements, and off er the defense a con tinuance ). Assuming, without deciding, that the State violated Rule 4-263 by failing to disclose Agent Purcell s information earlier, petitioner s claim lacks merit because he has not demonstrated that he suff ered any preju dice from the delay in rece iving the inf ormation. Defense counsel s only argument as to prejudice is that the State s case was primar ily a circumstantial evidence case and that petitioner s remark that God has forgiven me must have contributed to the jury s guilty verd ict, and wa s therefore n ot harmless error. That is not the type of prejudice contemplated by the prejudice requirement for a Rule 4-263 sanction. Petitioner ha s failed to de monstrate any prejudice he has suffered as a result of the delay in disclosure. Instead of addressing what prejudice, if any, [defendant] suffered, defense counsel simply elected to challenge the remedy that the district cour t propo sed. United States v. De La Rosa, 196 F .3d 712 , 716 (7 th Cir. 1 999). U nder R ule 4-2 63, a defendant is prejudiced only when he is unduly surprised and lacks a dequate o pportunity to prepare a defense, or when the violation substantially influences the jury. The prejudice that -16- is contem plated is the harm resulting from th e nond isclosur e. See ABA Criminal Justice Standa rds, supra, Standard 11-7.1, Commentary, p. 110-11. The Court of Special A ppeals add ressed disco very violation sanction s cogently in Jones v. State, 132 M d. App . 657, 75 3 A.2d 587 (2 000). Ju dge C harles E . Moylan , Jr., writing for a unanimous panel, discussed the notion of appropriate sanctions versus windfalls, stating as follows: In Ross v. State, 78 Md. App. 275, 286, 552 A.2d 1345 (1989), we discu ssed this sub ject of app ropriate sanc tions versus windfalls: Assuming that they should have been discovered pretrial, the appellant yearns for a sanction which is excessive. T he discov ery law is not an obstacle course that will yield a defendant the windfall of exclusion every time the State f ails to negotia te one of the hurdles. Its salu tary purpose is to prevent a defenda nt from be ing surprised . Its intention is to give a defendant the necessary time to prep are a fu ll and ad equate defen se. Although the purpose of discovery is to pre vent a defendant from being surprised and to give a defendant sufficient time to prepare a defense, defense counsel fr equently forego requesting the limited remedy that would serve those purposes because those pu rposes are not really what the defense hopes to achie ve. The defe nse, opportunistically, would rather exploit the State s error and gamble for a greater windfall. As Chief Judge Gilbert explained for this Court in Moore v. State, 84 Md. App. 165, 176, 578 A.2d 304 (1990), however, the double or nothing ga mble almost alwa ys yields nothing. -17- Jones, 132 Md. App. at 678, 753 A.2d at 598-99. As in the Jones case, where the defendant did not ask for a co ntinuance , in the instant ca se, petitioner d id not ask fo r a continuance because he did not need one; he simply sought the windfall of exclusion. III. As he did in Thomas I, petitioner argues that the State did no t establish the necessary foundation to admit evidence of his refusal to submit to blood testing to establish consciousness of guilt. In Thomas I, we explained consciousness of guilt evidence as follows: A person s behavior after the commission of a crime may be admissible as circums tantial eviden ce from w hich guilt may be inferred. This category of circum stantial eviden ce is referred to as consc iousne ss of gu ilt. We observed in Snyder v . State, 361 Md. 580, 591, 762 A.2d 125, 131 (2000), that [i]f releva nt, circumstantial evidence regarding a defendant s conduct may be admissible under Md. Rule 5-403, not as conclusive evidence of guilt, but as a circumstance tending to show a consciousness of guilt. Condu ct typically argued to show co nsciousne ss of guilt includes flight after a crime, escape from confinement, use of a false name, and destruction or concealment of evidence. A person s post-crime behavior often is considered relevant to the question of guilt because the particular behavior provides clues to the person s state of mind . The reason wh y a person s post-crime state of mind m ay be relevant is because, as Professor Wigmore suggested, the commission of a crime can be expec ted to lea ve som e men tal traces on the c riminal. Thomas I, 372 Md. at 351 -52, 812 A.2d at 10 55-56 (some interna l citations omitted). -18- In Thomas I, we set out the evidentiary foundation which the State was required to satisfy in order to admit evidence of petitioner s consciousness of guilt. We stated as follows: The relevance of the evidence as circumstantial evidence of petitioner s guilt depends on whether the following four inferences can be dra wn: (1) fro m his resistan ce to the blo od test, a desire to conceal evidence; (2) from a desire to conceal evidence, a consciousness of guilt; (3) from a consciousness of guilt, a consciou sness of g uilt of the mu rder of M s. Mitchell; and (4) from a consciousness of guilt of the murder of Ms. Mitch ell, actua l guilt of the mu rder. Id. at 356, 8 12 A.2 d at 105 8. The third of these inferences was lacking in petitioner s initial trial. There was no evidence in the record that petitioner was aware that the blood test he resisted was connected to the murder of Ms. Mitchell. Id. at 356-57, 812 A.2d at 1058. We concluded that absent such evidence, the jury could not have drawn an inference that petitioner s resistance was con nected to a consc iousne ss of gu ilt of the c rime ch arged. Id. at 358, 812 A.2d at 1059. In the second trial, the State offered evidence sufficient to satisfy the third inference necessary to demonstrate consciousness of guilt. Detective Knowlan testified that he told petitioner the warran t and blood test were in refe rence to Beve rly Mitch ell s dea th. Knowlan s testimony provided a reasonable basis for the jury to find that petitioner was aware that the police wanted his blood sample in connection to the investigation of the -19- murder of Ms. M itchell. 10 We hold that in petitioner s second trial there was a sufficient foundation for the admission of the evidence. The evidence was relevant. As the Court of Special Appeals gleaned from our opinion in Thomas I: To be re levant, it is not necess ary that evidenc e of this nature conclusively establish guilt. The proper inquiry is whether the evidence could support an inference that the defendant s conduct demonstrates a consciousness of guilt. If so, the eviden ce is rele vant an d gene rally adm issible. Thomas, 168 M d. App. at 7 12, 899 A .2d at 188 (e mphasis in original) (internal citations omitted). Despite Detective Knowlan s expand ed testimon y, petitioner argue s that the trial court should still have found the consciousness of guilt evid ence inad missible. H is argume nt rests primarily on the first inference we noted in Thomas I: from his r esistance to the blood te st, a desire to conceal eviden ce. Petitioner claims that nume rous other factors could have explained his reluctance to submit to the testing. He states that his reaction would be the universal response of anyone taken to a police interrogation room and told they would be required to prov ide a blo od sam ple. Further, he p osits that his reac tion could have been due to religious objections or fear of needles, the sight of blood, pain, or possible infection. We find these arguments unconvincing. 10 As we noted in Thomas I, Detective Knowlan could have testified that petitioner was advise d that the eviden ce soug ht was in conn ection w ith the M itchell m urder. Thomas I, 372 M d. at 357 n.5 , 812 A.2d at 1059 n.5 . He simp ly did not do so in the origina l trial. -20- We agree with the explicatio n of the C ourt of Sp ecial Appeals, which stated as follows: Federal courts have also held that resistance to police requests for evidence could support an inference of consciousness of guilt. See United States v. Jackson, 886 F.2d 838, 846 (7th Cir. 1989) (stating that evidence of the defendant s refusal to furnish writing exemplars, like evidence of flight and concealment, is probative of consciousness of guilt ); United States v. Terry, 702 F.2d 299, 31 3-14 (2d Cir. 1983) (holding that evidence that defendants refused to permit investigators to obtain palm prints was admissible to show consciousness of guilt). Appellant courts in sister states have held that eviden ce of the re fusal to provide a blo od samp le is admissible to support an inference of consciousness o f guilt. [People v. Farnam, 47 P.3d 988, 1022 (Cal. 2002)] (stating that evidence that the defendant initially resisted providing blood and hair samples, despite a court order that he do so, was admissible to show consc iousness of guilt); [People v. Edwards, 609 N.E.2d 962, 966 (Ill. App. Ct. 1993)] (stating that Defendant s initial refusal to submit to blood testing has some tendency to indicate a consciousn ess of guilt and is therefore relevan t and ge nerally ad missible ). Thomas, 168 Md. App. at 710, 899 A.2d at 186-87. So long as the proper foundation is laid, consciousness of guilt evidence may be relevant and admissible. Simply because there is a possibility that there exists some innocent, or alternate, explanation for the conduct does not mean that the proffered evidence is per se inadmissible. If it was the positio n of petitioner that he feared needles, or that the drawing of blood violated some religious belief he h eld, or any othe r innocent e xplanation for his con duct, it was incumbent upon him to generate that issue. He had the opportunity at trial to offer alternative theories explaining his resistance to the blood test, and the record is co mpletely -21- devoid of any su ch evid ence. See 2 J AMES H. C HADBOURN, W IGMORE ON E VIDENCE § 276(e), p. 130 (Chadb ourn rev. 1 979) (stating that the acc used ma y always endea vor to destroy the adverse significance of his conduct by facts which indicate it to be equally or more consistent with such other hypothesis than that of a cons ciousness o f guilt ). The State is not required to anticipate a ny or all conce ivable innocent explanations for a party s refusal to submit to a b lood test, and its failure to do so is not a basis to e xclude the evid ence. See id. at § 276(b), p. 129 (stating that the prosecution cannot be expected to negative beforehand all con ceivable innocent exp lanations [for consciou sness of guilt] ). Petitioner argues that even if the evidence is relevant and admissible, the prejudicial effect of the evid ence outw eighed its pro bative value, and theref ore, the evid ence sho uld have been excluded. We disagree. The admission of evidence is committed to the sound discretion of the trial court and will not be reversed unless there is a clear ab use of discretio n. Kelly v. State , 392 Md. 511, 530, 898 A.2d 41 9, 430 (20 06); Merzba cher v. State , 346 Md. 391, 404-05, 697 A.2d 432, 439 (1997). We stated in Merzba cher v. State , as follows: At the outset, we note that the admiss ion of evid ence is committed to the considerable and sound discretion of the trial court. In that regard , all relevant ev idence is ge nerally admissible. A corollary to that rule is that irrelevant evidence is not admissible. To be relevant, evidence must tend to establish or refute a fact at issue in the case. Once a finding of relevancy has been made, w e are generally loath to reverse a trial court unless the evidence is plainly inadm issible under a sp ecific rule or principle of law or there is a clear showing of an abuse of discretion. -22- Noneth eless, as we said in Williams [v. State, 342 Md. 724, 737, 679 A.2d 1106, 1113 (1996) overruled on other grounds, Wenge rt v. State, 364 Md. 76, 89 n.4, 771 A.2d 389, 396 n.4 (2001)]: [a] finding by the trial judge that a particular piece of evidence is relevant, however, does not mean that evidence is automa tically admissible. Even relevant evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. As with the trial court s relevancy de termination , a decision to admit relevant evidence over an objection that the evidence is unfairly prejud icial will not be reversed absent an ab use of discretion. Merzbacher, 346 Md. at 404-05, 697 A.2d at 439 (emphasis in original) (some internal citations omitted). The trial judge considered the evidence and ruled it admissible. We agree with the Court of Special Appeals conclusion that any possible prejudicial effect of appellant s struggle to avoid the drawing of blood did not so clearly outweigh the probative value of the evid ence so as to render the c ircuit court s admission of the evidence an abuse of discretion. Thomas, 168 Md. A pp. at 713, 899 A .2d at 189. We find no error. JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS AF FIRMED. COSTS IN THIS COURT AND THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS TO BE PAID BY PETITIONER. -23-

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