Opinion ID: 1842904
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Exculpatory Evidence and Prosecutorial Misconduct

Text: Defense counsel filed several motions in the trial court relating to alleged prosecutorial misconduct. The only one warranting intervention by this court at this time is the motion for in camera inspection by the trial court of the prosecutor's file for mitigating evidence of defendant's mental illness or defect. The prosecutor, upon request, must furnish to the defense any evidence favorable to the accused that is material to guilt or punishment. Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). The prosecutor has not denied the existence of favorable information regarding defendant's mental illness, but has not disclosed the information considered not to be exculpatory. Moreover, defense counsel asserts that she fortuitously discovered a clinical psychologist consulted by the prosecutor who stated he could not testify as a prosecution witness because he believed defendant suffered from mental problems. Under these circumstances the trial court should conduct an in camera inspection of the prosecutor's file and should order disclosure of any information favorable to the accused that is material to the plea of insanity in the guilt phase or to the mitigating circumstance of mental illness or defect in the sentencing hearing.