Title: In Re: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: SC12-2235
State: Florida
Issuer: Florida Supreme Court
Date: December 20, 2012

Supreme Court of Florida 
 
 
____________ 
 
No. SC12-2235 
____________ 
 
 
IN RE:  AMENDMENTS TO FLORIDA RULE 
OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE 3.220. 
 
[May 23, 2013] 
 
PER CURIAM. 
In the December 20, 2012, opinion in this case, the Court adopted an out-of-
cycle amendment to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.220(b) (Prosecutor’s 
Discovery Obligation).  The amendment was proposed by the Criminal Procedure 
Rules Committee (Committee) in order to conform the rule to section 92.561, 
Florida Statutes (2012),1 which prohibits the reproduction of child pornography in 
a criminal case.  See In re Amendments to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 
3.220, 105 So. 3d 1275 (Fla. 2012).   After considering the comment addressing 
the amendment recently filed by criminal defense attorney Michael A. Catalano, 
the Court further amends rule 3.220(b) to better conform to the statute.2 
                                         
 
1.  See Ch. 2011–220, §4, Laws of Fla. (creating § 92.561, Fla. Stat.). 
 
2.  We have jurisdiction.  See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const. 
 
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Before the Court amended rule 3.220 in December, subdivision (b)(1) of the 
rule provided, in pertinent part, that “[w]ithin 15 days after service of the Notice of 
Discovery, the prosecutor shall . . . permit the defendant to inspect, copy, test, and 
photograph” specified information and material in the state’s possession or control, 
which could include property or material that cannot be reproduced under section 
92.561.  The Court amended subdivision (b)(1), as proposed, to further provide 
that “any property or material that portrays sexual performance by a child or 
constitutes child pornography may not be copied, photographed, duplicated, or 
otherwise reproduced[.]”  Id. at 1276.  The Court allowed interested persons sixty 
days from the date of the opinion to comment on the amendment.  Id.   
After considering the one comment filed, and reviewing the requirements of 
section 92.561, we further amend subdivision (b)(1) to add language providing “so 
long as the state attorney makes the property or material reasonably available to the 
defendant or the defendant’s attorney” after the previously added language 
prohibiting the reproduction of child pornography.  With this addition, the rule 
more closely comports with the statute which requires property or material used in 
a criminal proceeding that portrays sexual performance by a child or constitutes 
child pornography to remain in the care, custody, and control of a law enforcement 
agency, the state attorney, or the court and requires the court to deny a request by 
the defendant to reproduce such property or material “so long as the state attorney 
 
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makes the property or material reasonably available to the defendant.”  See 
§ 92.561(1), (2), Fla. Stat. (2012). 
Accordingly, we amend Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.220(b) as 
reflected in the appendix to this opinion.  New language is underscored.  The 
amendment shall become effective immediately upon the release of this opinion.   
It is so ordered. 
 
POLSTON, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, CANADY, LABARGA, and PERRY, 
JJ., concur. 
QUINCE, J., concurs in result only. 
 
THE FILING OF A MOTION FOR REHEARING SHALL NOT ALTER THE 
EFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE AMENDMENTS.  
 
 
Original Proceeding – The Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure Committee 
 
Mark Caliel, Chair, Criminal Procedure Rules Committee, Jacksonville, Florida, 
John F. Harkness, Jr., Executive Director, and Heather Telfer, Staff Liaison, The 
Florida Bar, Tallahassee, Florida, 
 
 
for Petitioner 
 
 
Michael A. Catalano, Miami, Florida, 
 
 
Responding with comments 
 
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APPENDIX 
RULE 3.220. 
DISCOVERY 
(a) 
[No Change] 
(b) 
Prosecutor’s Discovery Obligation. 
(1) 
Within 15 days after service of the Notice of Discovery, the 
prosecutor shall serve a written Discovery Exhibit which shall disclose to the 
defendant and permit the defendant to inspect, copy, test, and photograph the 
following information and material within the state’s possession or control, except 
that any property or material that portrays sexual performance by a child or 
constitutes child pornography may not be copied, photographed, duplicated, or 
otherwise reproduced so long as the state attorney makes the property or material 
reasonably available to the defendant or the defendant’s attorney: 
(A) – (L) 
[No Change] 
(2) – (4) 
[No Change] 
(c) – (o) 
[No Change] 
Committee Notes 
[No Change] 
 
Court Commentary 
[No Change]