RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina State Bar panel is scheduled to discuss again a proposal to require prosecutors to disclose evidence of innocence obtained after a conviction.
The State Bar’s ethics committee is expected to vote Tuesday on the full draft proposal after reaching general agreement on language in July.
Existing rules and law already address evidence obtained before and during a trial. The American Bar Association says just 14 states have a rule about prosecutors and post-conviction evidence of innocence.
The ABA recommends that the state approve such a rule.
The five-member subcommittee also has agreed in principle that any attorney who discovers post-conviction evidence of innocence must turn over that evidence as long as it doesn’t breach attorney-client privilege or substantially harm the client’s interest.