§ 46-15-322 — Disclosure By Prosecution

46-15-322 . Disclosure by prosecution. (1) Upon request, the prosecutor shall make available to the defendant for examination and reproduction the following material and information within the prosecutor's possession or control:
(a) the names, addresses, and statements of all persons whom the prosecutor may call as witnesses in the case in chief;
(b) all written or oral statements of the defendant and of any person who will be tried with the defendant;
(c) all written reports or statements of experts who have personally examined the defendant or any evidence in the particular case, together with the results of physical examinations, scientific tests, experiments, or comparisons;
(d) all papers, documents, photographs, or tangible objects that the prosecutor may use at trial or that were obtained from or purportedly belong to the defendant; and
(e) all material or information that tends to mitigate or negate the defendant's guilt as to the offense charged or that would tend to reduce the defendant's potential sentence.
(2) At the same time, the prosecutor shall inform the defendant of, and make available to the defendant for examination and reproduction, any written or recorded material or information within the prosecutor's control regarding:
(a) whether there has been any electronic surveillance of any conversations to which the defendant was a party;
(b) whether an investigative subpoena has been executed in connection with the case; and
(c) whether the case has involved an informant and, if so, the informant's identity if the defendant is entitled to know either or both of these facts under Rule 502 of the Montana Rules of Evidence and 46-15-324 (3).
(3) The prosecutor may impose reasonable conditions, including an appropriate stipulation concerning chain of custody, to protect physical evidence produced under subsection (1)(d).
(4) The prosecutor's obligation of disclosure extends to material and information in the possession or control of members of the prosecutor's staff and of any other persons who have participated in the investigation or evaluation of the case.
(5) Upon motion showing that the defendant has substantial need in the preparation of the case for additional material or information not otherwise provided for and that the defendant is unable, without undue hardship, to obtain the substantial equivalent by other means, the court, in its discretion, may order any person to make it available to the defendant. The court may, upon the request of any person affected by the order, vacate or modify the order if compliance would be unreasonable or oppressive. The prosecutor may not be required to prepare or disclose summaries of witnesses' testimony.
(6) The prosecutor shall furnish to the defendant no later than 5 days before trial or at a later time as the court may for good cause permit, together with their statements, a list of the names and addresses of all persons whom the prosecutor intends to call as rebuttal witnesses to evidence of good character or the defenses of alibi, compulsion, entrapment, justifiable use of force, or mistaken identity or the defense that the defendant did not have a particular state of mind that is an element of the offense charged.

Legislative History

En. Sec. 2, Ch. 202, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 137, Ch. 800, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 33, Ch. 262, L. 1993.