Attorneys push for rule to release police reports

Defense lawyers say open discovery will minimize wrongful convictions.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Defense attorneys are making a new push for Ohio to join a majority of states that require prosecutors to turn over police reports and witness statements in criminal cases — a policy the chief justice of Ohio’s Supreme Court supports.

Ohio Criminal Rule 16 now allows prosecutors to withhold those documents and other records from criminal defense attorneys. Efforts to amend that rule have surfaced before, most recently two years ago when an Ohio Supreme Court commission proposed a change that would require the sharing of such information — referred to as “open discovery.” But the court could not come up with the four-vote majority needed to approve filing the amendment with the General Assembly.

The Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is renewing efforts to get Rule 16 changed and hopes an upcoming vote by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judges will help.

“We hope that once that goes through, it will prompt other holdouts to do the same and help lead to statewide reform,” said Ian Friedman, president of the defense lawyers group. “Open discovery will help minimize wrongful convictions due to undisclosed evidence and save unnecessary taxing of public resources.”

Cuyahoga County judges in Cleveland held a preliminary vote last month on changing their local rules to require open discovery. With 75 percent of the judges present, the preliminary vote to approve the change was unanimous, and the court has put it out for public comment before taking a final vote Nov. 11, said Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Stuart Friedman.

“In civil practice, lawyers wouldn’t think of going to court without knowing what was in evidence, and in criminal court you have a person’s freedom and sometimes a life at stake,” said Judge Friedman, who supports open discovery. “The more you can get full discovery and get it early on, the more likely attorneys can get clients who may be in denial to plead guilty and avoid wasting time.”