LCO No. 2473 1 of 3
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 402
February Session, 2020
LCO No. 2473
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E DISCLOSURE OF EVIDENCE TO A
DEFENDANT IN A CRIMINAL CASE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 54-86c of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2020): 2
(a) Not later than thirty days after any defendant enters a plea of not 3
guilty in a criminal case and in accordance with subsection (d) of this 4
section, if applicable, the state's attorney, assistant state's attorney or 5
deputy assistant state's attorney in charge of the case shall disclose any 6
exculpatory information or material which he or she may have with 7
respect to the defendant whether or not a request has been made 8
therefor. If prior to or during the trial of the case, the prosecutorial 9
official discovers additional information or material which is 10
exculpatory, he or she shall promptly disclose the information or 11
material to the defendant. 12
(b) Any state's attorney, assistant state's attorney or deputy assistant 13
state's attorney may request an ex parte in camera hearing before a 14
judge, who shall not be the same judge who presides at the hearing of 15 Raised Bill No. 402
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the criminal case if the case is tried to the court, to determine whether 16
any material or information is exculpatory. 17
(c) Each peace officer, as defined in subdivision (9) of section 53a-3, 18
shall disclose in writing any [exculpatory] information or material 19
which he or she may have with respect to any criminal investigation, 20
including police or uniform arrest reports, all recorded statements, 21
whether oral or written, of all witnesses and codefendants, investigating 22
officers' notes, the results of tests and examinations and any other 23
evidence obtained during the criminal investigation to the prosecutorial 24
official in charge of such case. The head of the law enforcement agency 25
or political subdivision of the state employing a peace officer involved 26
in a criminal investigation shall provide in a timely manner to the 27
prosecutorial official in charge of the case: (1) An itemized list of all 28
information or material that has been disclosed pursuant to this section, 29
and (2) a written acknowledgment that, to the best of the head of such 30
agency's or political subdivision's knowledge and after reasonable 31
inquiry, each peace officer employed by such agency or political 32
subdivision has disclosed all information or material that he or she may 33
have with respect to the criminal investigation. If prior to or during the 34
trial of the case, a peace officer discovers additional information or 35
material related to the case, he or she shall promptly disclose the 36
information or material to the prosecutorial official in charge of such 37
case. 38
(d) In the case of any defendant charged with a felony offense who is 39
offered a plea agreement by a prosecutorial official, the prosecutorial 40
official shall, prior to any deadline for the defendant to accept or reject 41
such offer, provide the defendant with all available information or 42
material that would be discoverable prior to a trial, unless the defendant 43
has waived his or her right to such information or material. 44
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2020 54-86c
Raised Bill No. 402
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Statement of Purpose:
To ensure that evidence is disclosed to a defendant in a criminal case in
a timely manner.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]