Brief Fact Summary. Taylor took appeal after his trial judge refused to allow a witness, who had not been disclosed in pre-trial discovery, to testify.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. An accused does not have an unfettered right to have all witnesses admitted, when their testimony proves to be questionable.
Discovery sanctions serve the objectives of discovery by correcting for the adverse effects of discovery violations and deterring future discovery violations from occurring.
View Full Point of LawIssue. Whether refusal to allow an undisclosed witness to testify, after trial had began, violates a defendant’s constitutional right to obtain favorable testimony.
Held. Affirmed.
Dissent. Justice Brennan, for the dissent, maintains that the “compulsory process clause requires courts to conduct a searching substantive inquiry whenever the government seeks to exclude criminal defense evidence.” In this case, the Justice feels, that was not done, and the defendant should not be punished because his attorney did not disclose information pre-trial.
Discussion. Although the mistake that was committed was actually that of defendant’s attorney, when he failed to disclose the witness identity, all defendants cannot compel that all witnesses be heard, especially when their testimony is, at best, doubtful.