Discovery from the Trenches: The Future of Brady

Abstract

The so-called “due diligence” rule, which excuses prosecutors’ compliance with Brady v. Maryland if the defense could have obtained the exculpatory evidence on its own, is only a symptom of the greater problem ailing the American criminal justice system. The real problem is that prosecutors and defense counsel generally do a terrible job collaborating because of the basic nature of our adversarial system. To make Brady effective, not only must the due diligence rule be reconsidered, but both sides must be willing to cooperate in the truth-seeking mission of criminal trials.