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‘The prosecution is not entitled to disregard its discovery obligations because it believes it has a strong case,’ wrote Justice Maria Berkenkotter.
COLORADO, USA — The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday, by 4-3, agreed a Fremont County judge was within her authority to reduce a first-degree murder charge against a criminal defendant because the district attorney’s office was responsible for a pattern of withholding evidence across many cases in violation of its professional obligations.
Despite the split decision, all members of the court seemingly acknowledged the judges of the 11th Judicial District have grown fed up with how the district attorney’s office repeatedly failed to disclose evidence to defense attorneys. The rules of criminal procedure require prosecutors to do so within 21 days of a defendant’s first appearance.
Specifically, the Supreme Court cited 20 recent cases in which various judges and magistrates in the central Colorado jurisdiction called out the misconduct.
“The 20 cases illustrate, among other things, multiple significant discovery violations by the district attorney’s office; explicit warnings from various judges that a pattern of neglect was emerging or had emerged,” wrote Justice Maria E. Berkenkotter, “an apparent lack of oversight by the district attorney in the face of significant continuing discovery problems; and a pattern by the district attorney’s office of dismissing cases when faced with discovery sanctions.”
>Watch the video above that originally aired Nov. 2023.
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