Proposed Law Would Allow District Attorneys To Withhold Evidence

The U.S. Supreme Court long ago ruled prosecutors must produce evidence that potentially exonerates a Defendant; i.e. anything that is potentially beneficial to the Defendant's case. In 2004, the North Carolina Court clarified that District Attorneys must share everything in the file in all felony cases.

However, the North Carolina legislature has proposed a bill that would hold prosecutors responsible for giving defense counsel only what detectives have provided the prosecution; not what investigators might have withheld. This proposed amendment to the law is a substantial distinction. As Mark Rabil (co-director of the Innocence and Justice Clinic at Wake Forest University School of Law) notes, it provides District Attorneys a way to withhold evidence without legal / ethical responsibility. "The measure gives prosecutors a way to say, well, it was not in our file so we cannot be held responsible for turning this over." It's important to note that defense attorneys are not able to demand the production of law enforcement documentation, so the production from District Attorneys is crucial to the legal process.

The practical implications of this issue are obvious. Ask Greg Taylor or Darryl Hunt whether this issue is important; they each spent over 17 years in prison on fraudulent murder convictions. The Iredell County murder trial of Al Bellamy is also currently in jeopardy because the prosecution produced approximately 1,700 pages of discovery three weeks into the trial.