Evidence in Montgomery County Criminal Cases

During a criminal case in Maryland, the government does give a defendant access to all of the information they have. The State is required to give access to this evidence under what is called the Brady Rule. That is the rule requiring the government to provide the defense with any evidence which is both exculpatory and incriminating in nature, meaning evidence which tends to prove you are guilty or innocent of particular charge. Any information they have revealed as part of the investigation that might prove you did not commit a particular crime, they are required to show you as it pertains to criminal charges. Once the State turns over their evidence, your Montgomery County criminal defense lawyer will be better able to help you build a strong case.

What Is Brady Information

Brady information is named after a case where one of the parties had the last name Brady. It is important that the government gives all of the information associated with a particular case to the defense so that the defense has an adequate opportunity to prepare and defend against those charges. The government is required to submit the information they are going to use for criminal prosecution, and even information in many cases that they are not going to use for criminal prosecution, to allow the defense to adequately prepare so that there are no surprises. It is required and can be grounds for dismissal if the government does not comply with that rule.

Brady Information Issues Montgomery County Criminal Lawyers Face

One issue defense attorneys in Montgomery County face is lack of familiarity with the Brady rules. The prosecution might not turn over information as required, without being pushed to do so. Oftentimes, many seasoned defense attorneys will file a request for discovery, not make any further request or inquiries into that discovery, and await the government’s response. The government’s response may not be timely and additional motions to compel discovery may have been filed but not properly responded to by the government. When that happens, the government can face sanctions including a dismissal of the charges, which could be extremely favorable to the defense attorney’s client.

How Montgomery County Cases Can Impact Defense Investigations

Aspects of the case that would change the nature of defense investigations might be information uncovered during the course of an investigation telling a Montgomery County criminal defense lawyer how wide or narrow an investigation should be. Usually, an investigation will start in the same way across the board. Defense attorneys will try talking to as many witnesses and gather as much information as possible in order to determine an appropriate strategy for the defense. How it evolves from there will really depend on what the initial stage of the investigation revealed and how the criminal defense lawyer in Montgomery County decides to direct their investigator to his next set of information.

Important Resources for Defense Lawyers

Usually, defense attorneys have access to a series of investigators and other professionals whose job is to investigate these kinds of cases. Montgomery County criminal defense attorneys often work with people who are former police detectives or people with extensive experience investigating criminal cases and who understand specialized fields. Those people include fingerprint analysts, blood analysts, DNA analysts, or experts in other areas like alcohol concentration levels, who help a lawyer investigate the information presented and often allow them to uncover additional information which might be helpful in representing their clients.