 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Polston8/19/2004
ing[,] he knew or what he had gotten as far as statements went from the defendant.
The Court remembers . . . [that] the defendant was not in custody. He was not being questioned. Officer Wright simply advised the defendant that I believe that he told him that he was being indicted for -- the case was being submitted to the grand jury. The defendant made self-serving statements to Officer Wright spontaneously without any kind of prodding that he had never been to Flashback , that he had nothing to do with it and that was it. [The Defendant] never admitted anything. He said nothing damaging. Again, they were all self-serving statements.
Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 16 states:
(a) Disclosure of Evidence by the State.
(1) Information Subject to Disclosure.
(A) Statement of Defendant. Upon request of a defendant the State shall permit the defendant to inspect and copy or photograph: any relevant written or recorded statements made by the defendant, or copies thereof, within the possession, custody or control of the State, the existence of which is known, or by the exercise of due diligence may become known, to the district attorney general; the substance of any oral statement which the State intends to offer in evidence at the trial made by the defendant whether before or after arrest in response to interrogations by any person then known to the defendant to be a law enforcement officer; and recorded testimony of the defendant before a grand jury which relates to the offense charged. . . .
(d) Regulation of Discovery. . . .
(2) Failure to Comply with a Request. If at any time during the course of the proceedings it is brought to the attention of the court that a party has failed to comply with this rule, the court may order such party to permit the discovery or inspection, grant a continuance, or prohibit the party from introducing evidence not disclosed, or it may enter such other order as it deems just under the circumstances. . . .
Under Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 16, the State has an obligation to disclose any written or recorded statements made by the Defendant and prepared by law enforcement officers. State v. Moore, 703 S.W.2d 183, 185 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1985); see State v. Brown, 552 S.W.2d 383, 386 (Tenn. 1977). The State may withhold disclosure of a statement it does not intend to offer in evidence only if that statement is oral. State v. Hicks, 618 S.W.2d 510, 513 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1981). Otherwise, the defendant has what has been described as "virtually an absolute right" to disclosure. Id. at 513-14 (citation omitted). This Court has held that Rule 16 covers "not only written, recorded and transcribed verbatim statements by a criminal defendant, but also written `interpretation(s) or summar ' of statements made by the accused, or a memorandum of an interview `even though not verbatim and not signed' by the defendant." Id. at 514 (citation omitted); see State v. Delk, 692 S.W.2d 431, 436-37 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1985). In Delk, this Court held that a law enforcement agent's notes of an interview with the defendant constituted an "interpretation or summary" of the defendant's statement, and, under Hicks, were subject to full discovery by the defendant upon request. Delk, 692 S.W.2d at 436-37.
To enforce discovery violations under this rule, Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(d)(2) provides that if there has been noncompliance, the trial court may order the offending party to permit the discovery or inspection, grant a continuance, prohibit the introduction of the evidence not disclosed or enter such other order as the court deems just under the circumstances. "Thus, it is cl
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Tennessee DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|