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Judiciary Committee advances bill to standardize defense access to tangible evidence, limits body-cam use during viewings
Summary
A bill to standardize how criminal defense counsel may inspect physical evidence in police custody won committee approval after several negotiated amendments. Sponsors said the measure protects defense work product; law-enforcement groups pressed for limited recording authority to preserve chain-of-custody and officer safety.
House Bill 1114, sponsored by Rep. Michael Carter, would require law enforcement to make tangible evidence in criminal cases available for confidential inspection by defense counsel no later than 35 days before trial, subject to court-ordered protections and law-enforcement supervision to protect evidence integrity.
Rep. Michael Carter described the proposal as a practical measure to ensure defense counsel can investigate and prepare pretrial. “In order to effectively represent a criminal defendant, defense counsel must be able to view any tangible evidence held by law enforcement that is relevant to the case,” Rep. Carter told the committee.
What the bill would do
The bill instructs law enforcement to provide access to physical evidence and allows either party to seek a court-ordered protective protocol…
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