C.A. 4th;
G051942

The Fourth Appellate District affirmed judgments of conviction. The court held that the defendants had no right to discovery of a victim interview report prepared by codefendant's counsel.

Alan Hunter and James Paschall participated with five other men in a botched plan to rob a jewelry store. Robert Avery, who was armed with a gun, and Desmond Brown, who was unarmed, were both killed by the store manager and his assistant. Hunter and Paschall were both charged with first degree murder for Brown's death, under the provocative acts doctrine. Prior to trial, attorney Frank Bittar, counsel for codefendant Eddie Clark, Sr., arranged for his investigator to interview the employee who shot Brown. Bittar was also present during the interview and exchanged a few words with the employee in Arabic. Bittar later refused to share the interview report with counsel for Hunter and Paschall. The trial court upheld Bittar's refusal to disclose the report. At trial, both store employees testified that they shot Brown in response to Avery's acts of aggression towards them. The jury found both Hunter and Paschall guilty of murder.