Difference between revisions of "Brady Material"
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==Brady Material== | ==Brady Material== | ||
| − | Brady Material is any evidence which, if believed, would be favorable to the defendant.<ref>United States v. Bagley, 427 U.S | + | Brady Material is any evidence which, if believed, would be favorable to the defendant.<ref>United States v. Bagley, 427 U.S. 97 (1976)</Ref>. |
It includes at least three types of evidence | It includes at least three types of evidence | ||
Revision as of 14:31, 12 August 2010
Background
In Brady v. Maryland [1] the United States Supreme Court concluded that a defendant was entitled to material and exculpatory material that the prosecution posssed. Because of this case, both public defenders and criminal justice officers refer to this as "Brady Material".
The court cited Solicitor General Judge Simon E. Sobeloff who put the idea as follows in an address before the Judicial Conference of the Fourth Circuit on June 29, 1954:
"The Solicitor General is not a neutral; he is an advocate, but an advocate for a client whose business is not merely to prevail in the instant case. My client's chief business is not to achieve victory, but to establish justice. We are constantly reminded of the now classic words penned by one of my illustrious predecessors, Frederick William Lehmann, that the Government wins its point when justice is done in its courts."[2]
Brady Material
Brady Material is any evidence which, if believed, would be favorable to the defendant.[3].
It includes at least three types of evidence
- Exculpatory Evidence - Evidence which would tend to make an affiramtive demonstration of the defendant's innocence or negate evidence of guilt.
- Mitigation Evidence - Evidence which would reduce the degree of guilt from one class of crimes to another (for instance, from 1st degree murder to voluntary manslaughter) or would in some other way reduce the defendant's sentence.
- Impeachment Evidence - Impeachment evidence is evidence that diminishes the credibility of a prosecution or defense witness.
