What are the requirements for federal criminal discovery?

Under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (FRCP), federal criminal discovery is the process by which each side in a criminal case can obtain information from the opposing side. Generally, the accused party has a right to obtain any non-privileged evidence held by the government that is material to either their guilt or innocence. The government on the other hand, has the right to obtain any documents or information that support their case. In order for a party to perform discovery, they must meet certain requirements. First, the materials requested must be relevant to the case. This means that any documents sought must be likely to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Second, the materials must be reasonably calculated to lead to a discoverable result. This presupposes that the materials sought are not overly broad and are narrowly tailored to the specific facts of the case. Lastly, the materials must not be privileged. This means that the materials sought must not be protected from disclosure by a state or federal law. In criminal discovery, it is important to remember that the government is required to disclose non-privileged documents to the accused that are material to the case. A party must comply with the federal discovery rules in order to make sure that they are receiving all of the evidence they need to make their case.

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What are the requirements for federal criminal discovery?

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