Facts
- Bertram Ellsworth Collie visited his estranged wife at her residence in Alameda County on July 6, 1978, while she and her daughter were in the home.
- After his wife refused his requests to drink and have sex, Collie bound her hands and feet and forcibly sodomized her, then taped her mouth, ransacked the bedroom, and locked the bedroom door when he left.
- The wife freed herself and discovered stove burners turned on but unlit; she turned them off.
- She then found a lighted candle surrounded by combustible material in the dining room and extinguished it.
- The daughter remained in her own bedroom and was unaware of the events until awakened by her mother.
- Collie testified the sexual conduct was consensual and claimed he left to visit a friend, Cynthia Morris, around the relevant time.
- Morris testified for the defense and acknowledged speaking with a defense investigator; the prosecution sought discovery of the investigator’s notes of that interview.
- Over defense objections based on privilege and work-product, the trial court ordered the notes produced, and the defense complied.
- A jury convicted Collie of attempted first degree murder of his wife, attempted second degree murder of his daughter, and forcible sodomy.
Issues
- Whether, absent explicit statutory authority, a trial court may compel the defense to disclose an investigator’s notes of a defense witness interview to the prosecution.
- Whether jury instructions on attempted second degree murder were erroneous because they permitted conviction without requiring a finding of specific intent to kill.
Decision
- The Supreme Court of California held the compelled disclosure of the defense investigator’s notes was error because compelled production of defense evidence is not permitted absent explicit legislative authorization.
- The court found the discovery error nonprejudicial on the affirmed counts and did not reverse on that basis.
- The court held the attempted second degree murder instructions were prejudicially erroneous because they allowed conviction without a finding that Collie specifically intended to kill his daughter.
- The court reversed the attempted second degree murder conviction (daughter).
- The court affirmed the convictions for attempted first degree murder (wife) and forcible sodomy.
Legal Principles
- Courts may not compel prosecutorial discovery of defense evidence (including investigator interview notes) absent explicit statutory authorization.
- Attempted murder requires a specific intent to kill; implied-malice concepts sufficient for completed second degree murder cannot substitute for intent to kill in an attempt prosecution.
- Instructions that permit an attempted murder conviction without requiring a jury finding of specific intent to kill are reversible error when the verdict may have rested on an improper theory.
Conclusion
The court rejected judicially created prosecution access to defense investigative materials without legislative authorization and reversed an attempted murder conviction because the jury was not required to find a specific intent to kill, while affirming the remaining convictions where the identified error did not warrant reversal.