AR: Prosecutor also didn’t know for a year that an HBO documentary crew was present at search; no discovery violation on SW materials

About a year after the execution of the search warrant, the parties learned that an HBO documentary crew recording Meth Storm was along for the search. Citing Layne v. Wilson and Brady, the defense sought access to the video and out takes. By then, however, there were no out takes available. There was no discovery violation of the information about the search simply because the Prosecuting Attorney and the state didn’t have access to the materials, and the circuit court couldn’t order production of what they didn’t have. Harmon v. State, 2019 Ark. App. 572, 2019 Ark. App. LEXIS 614 (Dec. 4, 2019).

The search warrant did not lack particularity because the warrant’s phrase “any/all unnamed evidence related to the death of the victim” was preceded by a list of items, all of which were expressly tied to the specific crimes of aggravated murder, murder, and voluntary manslaughter. Thus, the search warrant did not authorize a wide-ranging, exploratory search for evidence of any crime. State v. Campbell, 2019-Ohio-5004, 2019 Ohio App. LEXIS 5077 (6th Dist. Dec. 6, 2019).*