Brady material

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Brady material consists of exculpatory or impeaching information that is material to the guilt or punishment of the defendant. The term comes from the U.S. Supreme Court case, Brady v. Maryland,^[1] in which the Supreme Court ruled that suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to a defendant who has requested it violates due process. Following Brady, the prosecutor must disclose evidence or information that would prove the innocence of the defendant. Evidence that would serve to reduce the defendant's sentence must also be disclosed by the prosecution.

[edit] Examples

• The prosecutor must disclose an agreement not to prosecute a witness in exchange for the witness's testimony.^[2]

• The prosecutor must disclose leniency (or preferential treatment) agreements made with witnesses in exchange for testimony.^[3]

• The prosecutor must disclose exculpatory evidence known only to the police. This imposes a duty on the prosecutor to review the police's investigatory files and disclose anything that tends to prove the innocence of the defendant.^[4]

• The prosecutor must disclose arrest photographs of the defendant when those photos do not match the victim's description.^[5]

[edit] Notes

1. ^ 373 U.S. 83 (1963)
2. ^ Giglio v. U.S., 405 U.S. 150 (1972).
3. ^ U.S. v. Sudikoff, 36 F.Supp. 2d 1196 (C.D. Cal. 1999); State v. Lindsey, 621 So. 2d 618 (La. Ct. App. 1993).
4. ^ Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419 (1995).
5. ^ Commonwealth v. Tucceri, 412 Mass. 401 (1992).