Courtroom Names Criminal Discovery Panel

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Courtroom Names Criminal Discovery Panel
Courtroom names criminal discovery study panel

The Supreme Courtroom of Virginia has named a 23-member committee to consider proposed changes to the rule for criminal discovery.

The committee is chaired by Loudoun County Circuit Decide Thomas D. Horne, who also has chaired panels studying judicial boundaries and judicial workloads.

The court’s study panel follows a call for reform this year from an Indigent Defense Task Force established by the Virginia Condition Bar. That report was criticized as one-sided by prosecutors, who abandoned the study effort with complaints that the task force was dominated by defense attorneys.

At issue is whether prosecutors should have to allow access to routine police reports, among other matters. Currently, Rule 3A:11 provides access only to scientific reports prepared for legislation enforcement.

The court’s recently appointed committee includes prosecutors and defense attorneys, alongside with five judges, two attorney-legislators, two legislation professors, and reps of the lawyer general’s office, the condition police, local police chiefs, sheriffs, the condition crime lab, and a target-witness program. Also on board is VSB Ethics Counsel James M. McCauley.

The courtroom did not provide information about a timeline for making suggestions or whether the committee will solicit additional comments from the community. The task force suggestion was two times place out for comments and produced scores of responses both times.

The following are members of the committee:
•Circuit Decide Thomas D. Horne, Chair
•Del. Robert B. Bell, R-Charlottesville
•Virginia Courtroom of Appeals Decide Rossie D. Alston, Jr.
•Circuit Decide Marjorie T. Arrington
•Circuit Decide Randy I. Bellows
•Circuit Decide Michael L. Moore
•Sen. Richard H. Stuart, R-Montross
•Roanoke attorney Thomas J. Bondurant Jr.
•Richmond Commonwealth’s Lawyer Michael N. Herring
•Leesburg Deputy Community Defender Bonnie Hoffman
•Lynchburg Commonwealth’s Lawyer Michael R. Doucette
•Floyd County Commonwealth’s Lawyer Stephanie Murray Shortt
•Senior Asst. Lawyer General Virginia B. Theisen
•Washington & Lee University legislation Prof. David I. Bruck
•Virginia M. Coscia, Director of the Fredericksburg Target Witness Assistance Program
•Sara N. Poole, Office of Authorized Affairs, Department of Condition Police
•Stephanie Merritt, Department Counsel, Department of Forensic Science
•University of Richmond legislation Prof. John G. Douglass
•Douglas A. Ramseur, Capital Defender for the Southeastern Area
•Leesburg attorney Alex N. Levay
•Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy J. Longo, Sr.
•VSB Ethics Counsel James McCauley
•Washington County Sheriff’s Major Jack Davidson