Section 7.2 Federal Constitution

• Library: Criminal Practice 2012 Supp

A. (§7.2) Federal Constitution

The United States Constitution has little to say directly about criminal discovery. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, however, requires a fair trial. United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 107 (1976). In Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87 (1963), the Supreme Court held that “the suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution.” The prosecution is under no obligation to routinely disclose its entire file, and a defendant will only...