4.3 Review of the Commonwealth’s Evidence

• Library: Defense of Serious Traffic Cases in Virginia (Virginia CLE) (2020 Ed.)

4.3 REVIEW OF THE COMMONWEALTH'S EVIDENCE

4.301 Police Reports. The reports prepared by the arresting officer are readily available in most jurisdictions and are generally supplied voluntarily (that is, without the necessity of filing a written discovery motion) either from the investigating officer or from the commonwealth's attorney's office, at least for inspection by counsel, if not for copying. Often, arresting officers file reports with the clerks, especially in DUI cases. Most commonwealth's attorney's offices have an "open file" policy that makes formal discovery unnecessary except, potentially, to take advantage of the possible sanctions imposed for failure to disclose pursuant to discovery motions. The...