And not to pile on, but what is it with Judge Cannone who seems to act like she's completely void of any knowledge of the American Bar Association's basic rules of discovery which have long served as the staple and/or backbone for the State and Federal Discovery Rules where the buck stops with the District Attorney.
Pursuant to MA Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 14, and the ABA, this includes the collection of evidence from local and state police, Special Investigators, etc. where the rules of the prosecutor include collecting evidence from the police and
making timely disclosure to the defense of all evidence or information known to the prosecutor that tends to negate the guilt of the accused or mitigates the offense, and, in connection with sentencing, disclose to the defense and to the tribunal all unprivileged mitigating information known to the prosecutor, except when the prosecutor is relieved of this responsibility by a protective order of the tribunal;
Advocate | The prosecutor in a criminal case shall: (a) refrain from prosecuting a charge that the prosecutor knows is not supported by probable cause; (b) make reasonable efforts to assure that the accused has been advised of the right to, and the procedure for obtaining, counsel and has been...
www.americanbar.org
Instead of acknowledging that exculpatory evidence was retained in a cloud by a police officer, and not discovered timely to the defense, Cannone was more concerned about if/ when the defense filed a discovery request and/or a request for preservation of evidence in Norfolk County. Seriously? These are implied duties of the CW with or without the defense Motion! I truly commend the defense teams patience today.
(a) The prosecutor’s obligations
(1) The prosecution team
For the purposes of this rule, the prosecution team includes all persons under the prosecuting office’s direction and control, or persons who have participated in investigating or evaluating the case and either regularly report to the prosecuting office or have done so in the case. The prosecution team includes but is not limited to:
- (A) Personnel of police departments or other law enforcement agencies who were or are involved in the investigation of the case, before or after charges were issued, or were or are involved in the prosecution of the case;
- (B) Personnel of other governmental agencies who, in conjunction or collaboration with the prosecutor, were or are involved in the investigation or prosecution of the case;
- (C) Forensic analysts, crime laboratory personnel, and criminalists employed or retained by state or local government who were or are involved in the investigation or prosecution of the case;
- (D) Victim witness advocates and investigators employed by the prosecuting office; and
- (E) Members of joint state and federal law enforcement task forces who were or are involved in the investigation or prosecution of the case.
(2) The prosecutor’s duties to inform and inquire, collect and disclose, preserve and notify, and record
(A)
The prosecutor has a duty in each case to inform each member of the prosecution team whom the prosecutor has reason to believe may be in possession of items or information subject to this rule of the discovery and preservation obligations required by this rule, and to inquire of each such person as to the existence of any such items or information.
(B)
The prosecutor has a duty in each case to collect and to disclose to the defense all items and information required by this rule that are in the possession, custody, or control of the prosecutor, the prosecuting office, or any member of the prosecution team.
(C)
When the prosecutor learns of items or information subject to disclosure which cannot be promptly copied or made available for inspection by the defense, the prosecutor has a duty to promptly notify the defense of the existence, and if known the location, of those items or information, and to instruct an appropriate member of the prosecution team to preserve those items or information until they can be disclosed.
(D)
When the prosecutor learns of items subject to disclosure that have been destroyed, lost, altered, or which have otherwise become unavailable, or items or information subject to disclosure that a member of the team will not provide the prosecutor, the prosecutor has a duty to promptly notify the defense of the destruction, loss, alteration, or unavailability of the items or the refusal to provide the items or information.
(E)
The
judge may inquire of the prosecutor
what actions were taken to achieve compliance with this rule.
[..]
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