People v. Wallace, 76 N.Y.2d 953 (1990)

When the prosecution fails to exercise due care in preserving Rosario material and the defendant is prejudiced, the trial court must impose an appropriate sanction.

Summary

Wallace was convicted of criminal sale of a controlled substance. Undercover and arresting officers discarded notes containing the defendant’s description after the arrest. The Court of Appeals held that discarding these notes, which constituted Rosario material, prejudiced the defendant because they would have been helpful for cross-examining the officers on the identification issue. The court emphasized that while the specific sanction is discretionary, the failure to impose any sanction when the defendant is prejudiced is an abuse of discretion.

Facts

An undercover officer purchased drugs from the defendant and broadcasted a description over the police radio, which the arresting officer recorded. The undercover officer performed a post-arrest “drive-by” identification. The undercover officer made two subsequent drug purchases. Both officers discarded their written descriptions of the defendant after the arrest, but the undercover officer claimed to have incorporated the description into a “buy” report created later that evening.

Procedural History

The defendant was convicted of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree. The Court of Appeals reviewed the case after the lower courts affirmed the conviction, focusing on the issue of whether the discarding of the notes prejudiced the defendant.

Issue(s)

Whether the trial court erred in failing to impose any sanction for the officers’ discarding of notes containing a description of the defendant, when those notes constituted Rosario material and the defendant was prejudiced by their absence.

Holding

Yes, because the written descriptions would have been helpful to the defendant in cross-examining the officers on the critical issue of identification, and the People failed to exercise due care in preserving the Rosario material. The court must impose a sanction when prejudice occurs.

Court’s Reasoning

The Court of Appeals found that the discarded notes constituted Rosario material, and the People did not dispute this point or contend that the officers exercised due care in preserving them. The court limited its review to whether the defendant was prejudiced. The court reasoned that the written descriptions would have been helpful to the defendant in cross-examining the officers, especially given the importance of the identification issue. The undercover officer’s claim that he incorporated the description into his “buy” report did not alleviate the prejudice because there was no way to verify if the description in the report matched the lost notes, especially since the report was prepared after a confirmatory “drive-by” identification. The court cited People v. Martinez, 71 NY2d 937, 940, stating that “the [trial] court must impose an appropriate sanction” where the People fail to exercise due care in preserving Rosario material, and the defendant is prejudiced. While the specific sanction is discretionary (People v. Kelly, 62 NY2d 516, 521), it was an abuse of discretion to decline to impose any sanction. The court reversed the order and ordered a new trial.