Misconduct by the Government…But Not Prejudicial?

Posted Saturday, October 21, 2017 by Andrew Charles Huff

Our State Supreme Court just ruled the Government disclosing their Toxicologist witness the morning of trial was misconduct, but had not prejudiced the defendant in this case.
The Court noted the prosecution had disclosed the names of nine toxicologists from the lab five months prior to trial, narrowing this list down to three the day before trial and to one the morning of trial. The Court reasoned that counsel had had ample time to prepare to cross-examine all nine toxicologists and all nine would have provided substantively similar testimony. No actual prejudice was found in this case.

However, the Court did show their displeasure that the prosecutor tried to minimize their discovery obligations and this appeared to be the standard operating procedure for the state toxicology lab.State v. Salgado-Mendoza: