NCJ Number
175587
Date Published
1996
Length
290 pages
Annotation
This volume presents the standards on criminal justice discovery adopted by the American Bar Association House of Delegates in August 1994 after 3 years of review and the association's standards on trial by jury that resulted from an effort initiated in 1991 and lasting more than 2 years.
Abstract
The discovery standards have been significantly revised to reflect developments in the law since the previous revision in 1978, particularly the trend toward imposing expanded pretrial discovery obligations on the prosecution and the defense in criminal cases. The standards essentially call for full disclosure of information in the possession of the prosecution, subject to its right to protect the safety of witnesses and privileged information and a limited obligation to generate discoverable material. The most significant change from the previous revision is in the overall approach; the same mandatory discovery rules are applied in all cases. Specific topics include general principles, discovery obligations of the prosecution and defense, special discovery procedures, the timing and manner of disclosure, depositions, and general provisions governing discovery. The standards on trial by jury cover the right to trial by jury, jury selection, conduct of the trial, judicial relations with the jury, jury instructions, jury deliberations, and the return of the verdict. This third edition includes new standards to address jury trial problems and concerns that have arisen since the promulgation of the previous edition. Footnotes