Brady v. Maryland Material in the United States District Courts: Rules, Orders, and Policies: Report to the Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules of the Judicial Conference of the United States

In April 2007, the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules asked the Federal Judicial Center to update its 2004 report on local rules of the U.S. district courts, state laws, and state court rules that address the disclosure principles contained in Brady v. Maryland. Brady requires that prosecutors fully disclose to the accused all exculpatory evidence in the prosecutors’ possession. Subsequent Supreme Court decisions have elaborated the Brady obligations to include the duty to disclose (1) impeachment evidence, (2) favorable evidence in the absence of a request by the accused, and (3) “favorable evidence known to the others acting on the government’s behalf in the case including the police.” When it requested the 2004 report, the committee’s interest was in learning whether federal district courts and state courts have adopted any formal rules or standards that provide prosecutors with specific guidance on discharging their Brady obligations. Specifically, the committee wanted to know whether the U.S. district and state courts’ relevant authorities (1) codify the Brady rule, (2) set specific deadlines for when Brady material must be disclosed, or (3) require Brady material to be disclosed automatically or only on request. In addition, the Center sought information regarding policies in two areas: (1) due diligence obligations of the government to locate and disclose Brady material favorable to the defendant, and (2) sanctions for the government’s failure to comply specifically with Brady disclosure obligations. That research resulted in a report titled Treatment of Brady v. Maryland Material in United States District and State Courts’ Rules, Orders, and Policies. This 2007 report has two sections and five appendices. Section I presents a general introduction to the report, along with a summary of our findings. Section II describes the federal district court local rules, orders, and policies that address Brady material. Appendix A contains the committee’s proposed amendment to Rule 16. Appendix B is a compendium of federal material that served as the basis for this report. Appendix C provides examples of individual judge orders addressing Brady disclosures. Appendix D contains the U.S. Attorney’s Manual, section 9-5.000, Issues Related to Trials and Other Court Proceedings, which covers the Department of Justice’s policy regarding disclosure of exculpatory and impeachment information. Appendix E includes the state court portion of the 2004 Brady report.