When a felony case begins with a Felony Complaint, the defense has a specific set of discovery rights designed to provide basic transparency before the preliminary hearing. Under Rule 25.03(a), the State is required to disclose specific “possession-based” materials upon a written request (i.e., material in the possession of the prosecutor).

Here is the “Discovery” series of posts: (1) Overview; (2) Felony Complaint [this post]; (3) Felony Information; (4) Grand Jury Indictment; (5) Misdemeanor Information.

Materials available at this stage include:

1. any arrest reports that relate to the offense for which defendant is charged (including those of co-defendant/co-actors if applicable) [Rule 25.03(a)];
2. incident reports that relate to the offense for which defendant is charged (including those of co-defendant/co-actors if applicable) [Rule 25.03(a)];
3. investigative reports that relate to the offense for which defendant is charged (including those of co-defendant/co-actors if applicable) [Rule 25.03(a)];
4. written or recorded statements that relate to the offense for which defendant is charged (including those of co-defendant/co-actors if applicable) [Rule 25.03(a)];
5. documents that relate to the offense for which defendant is charged (including those of co-defendant/co-actors if applicable) [Rule 25.03(a)];
6. photographs that relate to the offense for which defendant is charged (including those of co-defendant/co-actors if applicable) [Rule 25.03(a)];
7. video [recordings] that relate to the offense for which defendant is charged (including those of co-defendant/co-actors if applicable) [Rule 25.03(a)];
8. electronic communications that relate to the offense for which defendant is charged (including those of co-defendant/co-actors if applicable) [Rule 25.03(a)]; and
9. electronic data that relate to the offense for which defendant is charged (including those of co-defendant/co-actors if applicable) [Rule 25.03(a)].

Exculpatory Evidence.

Even without a request, the prosecutor must turn over “any material or information that tends to negate the guilt of defendant for the charged offense, mitigate the degree of the offense charged, reduce the punishment of the offense charged, and any additional material or information that would be required to be disclosed to comply with Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972) and their progeny”  [Rule 25.03(g)].

Example of Discovery Request.

Here is a redacted example of a discovery request by the Defense for a felony complaint in Associate Circuit Court.

Deadline to respond.

The State must provide these materials within fourteen (14) days of the request being served under Rule 25.02