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Wyatt v. City Of Pearl5/27/2004
the court's discovery rule as stating only the party requesting the discovery can determine its relevance.
10. Uniform Circuit and County Court Practice Rule 9.04 states in pertinent parts:
G. Upon a showing of cause, the court may at any time order that specified disclosures be restricted or deferred, or make such other order as is appropriate, provided that all material and information to which a party is entitled must be disclosed in time to permit the party's attorney to make beneficial use thereof.
...
In the event there are matters arguably within the scope of a party's discovery request or an order for discovery, and the opposing party is of the opinion that the requesting party is not entitled to discovery of same, the opposing party shall, as soon as is reasonably practicable, file with the clerk of the court a written statement describing the nature of the information or the materials at issue as fully as is reasonably possible without disclosure of same and stating the grounds for objection to disclosure. Subject to the limitations otherwise provided in these rules, determinations such as whether the matters requested in discovery are relevant to the case, exculpatory, possible instruments of impeachment, and the like, may be made only by the party requesting or to receive the discovery.
I. If at any time prior to trial it is brought to the attention of the court that a party has failed to comply with an applicable discovery rule or an order issued pursuant thereto, the court may order such party to permit the discovery of material and information not previously disclosed, grant a continuance, or enter such other order as it deems just under the circumstances.
(emphasis added). The prosecution did violate the rules of discovery in this instance *284 by not providing the documents requested or instead filing an objection with the court. However, this Court has ruled that a violation of Rule 9.04 is considered harmless error unless it affirmatively appears from the entire record that the violation caused a miscarriage of justice. Payton v. State, --- So.2d ----, 2003 WL 22510533, *13 (Miss.2003) (citing Buckhalter v. State, 480 So.2d 1128, 1128 (Miss.1985); Prewitt v. State, 755 So.2d 537, 540-41 (Miss.Ct.App.1999)).
11. Furthermore, this Court has held that the decision to grant or deny a motion for a continuance is within the sound discretion of the trial court, and this Court will not reverse unless it can be shown to have resulted in manifest injustice. Payton, 2003 WL 22510533, 13 (citing Hatcher v. Fleeman, 617 So.2d 634, 639 (Miss.1993)). Here, the prosecution did turn over all of the discovery requested except for the manuals. Included in that discovery were the calibration and maintenance documents, indicating that the breath test instrument had been properly maintained. Therefore, this Court concludes that the manuals requested would not have changed the outcome of the case and the discovery error was harmless.
CONCLUSION
12. We conclude that the trial court's declaration that the Intoxilyzer 5000 operational manuals were not relevant to Wyatt's defense was error, but the error was harmless. Therefore, we affirm the judgment of the Rankin County Circuit Court.
13. CONVICTION OF DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE, FIRST OFFENSE, AFFIRMED.
Page 1 2 Mississippi DUI Attorneys
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