Title: Defendants are entitled to a fair trial and due process
Headings: Defendants are entitled to a fair trial and due process
SCM NEWS & OPINIONS
Defendants are entitled to a fair trial and due process

Content: Indeed, if the consequence of a violation had some actual teeth, if judges actually referred to State bar associations the violations, and sanctioned them for such misconduct, withholding exculpatory evidence would become much rarer. Usually, a defendant never finds out the prosecution cheated. There is very little oversight. And in my experience, supervisors have the backs of line prosecutors when violations occur. Rule 3.8 of Rules of Professional Conduct (Utah’s, and these are based on uniform professional standards), provides that “The prosecutor in a criminal case shall . . . [ m]ake timely disclosure to the defense of all evidence of information known to the prosecutor that tends to negate the guilty of the accused or mitigates the offense . . . “ So it’s a mistrial. Prosecutors go home at the end of the day while certain defendants often remain in custody. Huge waste of resources. The case will likely be retried.