Waples v. State

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
CATHERINE D. WAPLES, §
§ No. 201, 2017
Defendant Below, §
Appellant, § Court Below: Superior Court
§ of the State of Delaware
v. §
§ ID. No. 1608002838
THE STATE OF DELAWARE, §
§
Plaintiff Below, §
Appellee. §
Submitted: May 9, 2018
Decided: July 9, 2018
Before STRINE, Chief Justice; VAUGHN and SEITZ, Justices.
ORDER
On this 9th day of July 2018, upon consideration of the parties’ briefs and the
record on appeal, it appears to the Court that:
(1) Catherine D. Waples was convicted of two counts of Drug Dealing Plus
Aggravator by a Superior Court jury.1 The convictions stemmed from two sales of
crack cocaine she made to an undercover police officer. She makes two claims on
appeal. First, she contends that the Superior Court erred by not ordering the State
to disclose the identity of a confidential informant whose involvement in the case
was not disclosed by the State despite Waples having requested such disclosure in
1
In this case, the “Aggravator” was that the offenses occurred in a vehicle. 16 Del. C. § 4751A.
discovery requests. She also contends that the Superior Court erred by not granting
her at least a Flowers hearing and/or a new trial because of the State’s failure to
disclose the use of the informant.2 For the reasons which follow, we reject both
contentions and affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.
(2) The State alleged that the first drug sale occurred on June 22, 2016.
An undercover police officer called Waples by cell phone and arranged to buy $60
worth of crack cocaine. As agreed, the two met at the Dollar General in Laurel.
The undercover officer exited his vehicle and walked to a blue minivan occupied by
Waples. As he approached Waples’ vehicle, an individual named George White
stepped out of Waples’ vehicle and walked away. Waples told the undercover
officer to get in the back seat. There was a black male sitting in the front passenger
seat and two children in the back seat. The officer and Waples then exchanged the
cash and crack cocaine.
(3) The next day the undercover officer again contacted Waples to buy
crack cocaine. This time he said he wanted to buy $20 worth. The two agreed to
meet at the Hollybrook Apartment complex in Laurel. Within minutes the officer
arrived at the apartment complex. Waples arrived a short time later. As had
2
A Flowers hearing is an in camera proceeding in which a judge determines whether a confidential
informant has any information which would materially aid the defense. It derives its name from
the case of State v. Flowers, 316 A.2d 564 (Del. Super. Ct. 1973).
2
occurred the day before, when the officer approached Waples’ vehicle, George
White stepped out of Waples’ vehicle and walked away. Waples and the officer
then completed their transaction. This time there was no one else in Waples’
vehicle.
(4) Waples was subsequently arrested and charged with two counts of Drug
Dealing Plus Aggravator and two counts of Conspiracy in the Second Degree.
George White was a co-defendant. During pre-trial proceedings, Waples’ attorney
served a detailed request for discovery upon the State under Superior Court Criminal
Rule 16. The request asked the State to provide “[a] statement as to the involvement
of any confidential informant(s), if applicable.”3 Subsequently, Waples obtained
new counsel, and her new counsel also served a detailed request for discovery. The
second request appears to be substantially identical to the one served by her first
counsel. The second request also asked the State to provide “[a] statement as to the
involvement of any confidential informant(s), if applicable.”4 In its responses to
the requests for discovery, the State made no mention of a confidential informant.
Police reports were produced, but they made no mention of any confidential
informant.
(5) Trial commenced on February 27, 2017. On direct examination the
3
App. to Appellant’s Opening Br. at A-30.
4
Id. at A-35.
3
undercover officer who was the buyer in the two drug transactions, Detective Sean
Callaway of the Delaware State Police, described his purchases from Waples
consistently with the accounts set forth above. On cross-examination, Detective
Callaway was asked by defense counsel how he came to know Waples. He said he
was introduced to her. When asked by who, the State made the following objection
before the officer answered:
Your Honor, two objections here. It is irrelevant at this point of how
Detective Callaway became familiar with Ms. Waples. And should
counsel have been interested in that, that is something that should have
been brought up in a Flower’s motion prior to trial.5
The prosecutor’s objection overlooked the fact that defense counsel had no
knowledge of possible involvement of a confidential informant until the State’s
objection was made at trial.
(6) After a side bar, the trial judge overruled the objection. Detective
Callaway then answered as follows:
I was contacted by a past-proven reliable confidential informant who
advised me that Catherine Waples and George White were selling crack
cocaine in Laurel. I obtained a DELJIS photograph of Catherine
Waples and George White. I presented it to a past-proven reliable
confidential informant and that person said, yes, that is Catherine
Waples and George White who are selling crack cocaine in the Town
of Laurel, in and around the Town of Laurel. And then from there on
we did control buys through the CI. Then the CI also introduced me
to Cat and George.6
5
Id. at A-7.
6
Id. at A-9–A-10.
4
(7) Defense counsel then asked Detective Callaway to identify the
confidential informant. That brought another objection from the State, and after a
side bar discussion the trial judge ruled that the witness was not required to reveal
the identity of the informant.
(8) After the State rested, the trial judge granted a motion for judgment of
acquittal as to the conspiracy counts. Waples then proceeded with her defense.
During opening statements, her counsel had discussed the defense of alibi. He
stated that on the 22nd and 23rd of June 2016, Waples was at Indian Rocks Beach,
Florida on vacation with her boyfriend, his two sisters, and her three children. That
defense fell apart when the State revealed during trial that it had documentation that
Waples appeared in an Alderman’s Court here in Delaware on June 23. Her second
defense was presented through the testimony of George White. He testified that he
was introduced to Detective Callaway by a friend, Tony Farlow. According to his
testimony, he and Farlow conducted the two transactions for which Waples was on
trial. He further testified that a woman named Gloria Hoody was present when the
transactions occurred, although she did not directly participate in the transactions.
He testified that Waples was not present on either occasion. Waples also testified
and denied selling drugs to Detective Callaway.
(9) After the jury convicted Waples of the two counts of Drug Dealing Plus
5
Aggravator, Waples filed a Motion for Judgment of Acquittal, or in the Alternative,
Flowers Hearing and New Trial. In the motion, she argued that the State’s failure
to disclose the involvement of the confidential informant prior to trial was a clear
discovery violation under Superior Court Criminal Rule 16; that the State’s Rule 16
discovery violation precluded her from filing a pre-trial Flowers motion in an effort
to discover the informant’s role in the investigation; and that the informant would
have divulged that Waples was coerced by Mr. White into committing one or both
of the drug transactions and/or that the informant misidentified Gloria Hoody as
Catherine Waples.
(10) The trial judge denied Waples’ motion. He gave three reasons for
doing so. The first was that the “confidential informant, number one, did not
witness those deliveries; number two, did not participate in those deliveries; and,
number three, was not a party to those deliveries. Thus, under Flowers, the
defendant is not entitled to know the confidential informant’s name.”7 The second
reason given by the trial judge was that Detective Callaway “saw the defendant twice
when she delivered cocaine to him. Detective Callaway testified to that at the
defendant’s trial and identified the defendant in court as the person who twice
delivered cocaine to him. Thus, there is no reasonable argument regarding
7
Ex. A. to Appellant’s Opening Br.
6
misidentification.”8 The third reason given was that Waples testified at trial and
denied she had delivered drugs to Detective Callaway. The trial judge reasoned,
“[i]f George White tried to coerce the defendant into delivering the drugs to
Detective Callaway, then the defendant surely knew that and could have raised it as
a defense at trial, but chose not to do so.”9
(11) We review a trial judge’s evidentiary rulings for an abuse of
discretion.10 If we determine the trial judge abused their discretion then we must
decide whether that error rises to the level of prejudice so significant that it denied
Waples a fair trial.11 Similarly, we review a trial judge’s ruling on a Motion for a
New Trial for an abuse of discretion.12 We overturn discretionary rulings if they
are based upon unreasonable or capricious grounds.13
(12) Waples argues generally on appeal that the State’s failure to disclose
the involvement of the confidential informant deprived her of the right and ability to
investigate the factual circumstances surrounding the State’s use of the informant in
order to determine if a Flowers motion was warranted, i.e., whether the informant
would have been able to give testimony that would materially aid her defense.
8
Id.
9
Id.
10
Horsey v. State, 2006 WL 196438, at *1 (Del. Jan. 24, 2006).
11
Id.
12
Id. at *3.
13
Id.
7
(13) Under the Delaware Uniform Rules of Evidence 509, the State has a
privilege to refuse to disclose the identity of a confidential informant, unless it
“appears in a criminal case that an informer may be able to give testimony which
would materially aid the defense.” 14 Testimony that would materially aid the
defense in this case would consist of testimony that Waples was not present at the
scene of the two transactions, was misidentified as Gloria Hoody, or at least did not
participate in the transactions. The trial judge found, however, based upon the
testimony of Detective Callaway, that the transactions were direct sales from Waples
to Detective Callaway, that Detective Callaway clearly and unambiguously
identified Waples as the seller, and that the confidential informant did not witness
the transactions, did not participate in the transactions, and was not a party to the
transactions. These findings are supported by the record and eliminate any
reasonable possibility that the informant had any testimony that would materially
aid the defense. We also agree with the trial judge that Waples’ late coercion theory
is defeated by her own testimony at trial. Since there is no likelihood that the
informant had testimony that would aid Waples, she has suffered no prejudice from
the State’s nondisclosure of the informant; and her appeal, therefore, fails.15
14
D.R.E. 509(c)(2).
15
This result is consistent with State v. Flowers, 316 A.2d 564 (Del. Super. Ct. 1973). Under
that case, no Flowers hearing is warranted if the informant is used only to establish probable cause.
8
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the Superior
Court is AFFIRMED.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ James T. Vaughn, Jr.
Justice
9