Massachusetts district attorneys warn new Rule 14 discovery requirements strain offices and risk case delays

Leaders of the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association told the Joint Committee on Ways and Means that a recent change in discovery rules — Rule 14 — requires prosecutors to provide discovery to defendants by the first pretrial conference and is imposing heavy operational burdens on DA offices.

DA representatives said offices already face large caseloads and that many trial‑level prosecutors carry hundreds of matters. Boston DA officials said the new rule produces nights and weekend work for assistant district attorneys and their staff as they rush to collate body‑worn camera footage, reports and digital records for timely disclosure. Several DAs said the change has increased the need for paralegals, IT support, and administrative staff, and they asked the legislature to consider staffing and salary improvements to retain prosecutors and victim‑witness advocates.

The DAs highlighted four specific staffing asks: raise the entry salary for assistant DAs (a request submitted in other testimony) to keep new hires in public service, boost victim‑witness advocate pay, increase administrators’ starting pay, and fund a proposed IT modernization (Damien replacement) with a $300,000 consultant line item to support a new case‑management system.

Several DAs pointed to the experience of New York, where similar early‑disclosure requirements coincided with sharp staff turnover and increases in case dismissals in certain high‑volume categories such as domestic violence. The association asked Ways and Means for an 8% budget increase for the DA offices to address staffing, IT chargebacks and the new workload.

Why it matters: Early disclosure is designed to protect defendants’ rights; however, prosecutors say implementing Rule 14 without more staffing/IT investment could reduce prosecutorial capacity and slow other parts of the system as offices scramble to meet the deadlines.