The Supreme Judicial Court has approved revisions to Rule 14 of the Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure. Rule 14 regulates pretrial discovery for all criminal cases in district and superior courts.
Up to now, prosecutors were required to disclose all “exculpatory” evidence to defendants. Under the newly revised rule, the word “exculpatory” has been replaced with the much broader category of “Items and Information Favorable to the Defense.” The updated Rule 14 also gives numerous examples of evidence that falls into this category.
The new language of for Rule 14 is attached below. For “Items and Information Favorable to the Defense” see paragraph (2).