The process in which the prosecution and defense reveal certain evidence is called discovery. This process ensures that both parties have access to relevant information and evidence before the trial, which promotes fairness and avoids surprises during the trial. The discovery includes the exchange of witness statements, physical and electronic evidence, and other materials. You may think that the discovery increases the chances that a defendant will win the trial, but this isn't necessarily true. Often, knowing more about the strengths of the prosecution's case will encourage the defendant to accept a plea agreement instead of taking their case to a jury.
This can contribute to the prosecution's efficiency objectives and guarantee a conviction for the prosecutor, which is normally considered a successful outcome. Nearly all criminal cases end in agreements with the guilty plea, and the transparency of the discovery process is probably part of the explanation. Therefore, the discovery can help both defendants and prosecutors. Prosecutors must disclose known material exculpatory evidence to the defendant.
Exculpatory evidence is evidence that tends to show that the defendant is not guilty. Failure to disclose exculpatory evidence may lead to the annulment of the conviction. Surprising evidence can produce great drama, but it leads to poor justice. Unlike prosecutors, defendants cannot ask law enforcement agencies to help them investigate and respond to evidence they first encounter at trial.
Therefore, all jurisdictions (each state and the federal government) have discovery rules that require prosecutors to disclose evidence to defendants before trial. To avoid surprises in the trial and to determine which of the witnesses to call to testify, the prosecutor talks to each witness to find out what they can say during the trial. While the Criminal Division oversees compliance with this requirement, it is an affirmative obligation of the U.The government does not need to hand over these files to the defense if they are not relevant to the defendant's case. If part of the defense involves the allegation that the police mishandled the situation, the defendant's lawyer may want to obtain the officer's personal records.
The view has now taken hold that early disclosure will promote fairer trials. If defense attorneys know in advance what to expect, they can better defend their clients. In situations where FBI laboratory tests have yielded conclusions that have no apparent evidentiary value, but the defense attorney intends to subpoena the examiner to testify, the United States Attorney (U.S. (Department of Justice) must inform the defense attorney of the FBI policy that it requires the defense attorney to pay the examiner's travel expenses.
The members of the prosecution team include federal, state and local law enforcement officers and other government officials who are involved in the investigation and prosecution of the criminal case against the defendant. If the electronic communication contains confidential information, the prosecutor should consider filing a request for a protection order, seeking approval from a supervisor to delay disclosure, making appropriate drafting, summarizing the content of an electronic communication in a letter instead of disclosing the electronic communication itself, or taking other safeguarding measures. Failure to comply with legal or institutional requirements for collecting and handling evidence, obtaining statements, recording communications and obtaining consent to search or record communications;. Procedures for disclosing potential dismissal information related to Department of Justice employees.
Of course, if a regulatory agency is not part of the prosecution team, but is conducting an administrative investigation or proceeding related to the same topic as a criminal investigation, prosecutors may very well want to ensure that those files are reviewed not only to locate information that can be discovered, but also to locate incriminating information that could move the criminal case forward. These are the minimum requirements, and the Department's discovery policies require that disclosure exceed these thresholds. In multidistrict investigations, involving both Deputy United States Attorneys and prosecutors from a litigating component of the Department or other Office of the United States Attorney (USAO), and in parallel criminal and civil proceedings, this definition will necessarily fit the circumstances. If a prosecutor chooses this path, the defense must be notified that the prosecutor is choosing to submit a discovery beyond what is required under the circumstances of the case, but does not commit to any discovery obligation beyond the discovery obligations established above.
