(a) Upon motion of a defendant at any time after the filing of the indictment or information, and upon a showing that the items sought may be material to the preparation of his defense and that the request is reasonable, the court shall order the attorney for the state to permit the defendant to inspect and copy or photograph any relevant (1) written or recorded statements, admissions or confessions made by the defendant; (2) books, papers, documents or tangible objects obtained from or belonging to the defendant or obtained from others by seizure or process; (3) copies of records of any physical or mental examinations of the defendant; and (4) records of prior convictions of the defendant, or copies thereof, within the possession, custody or control of the state, the existence of which is known to the attorney for the state or to the defendant.
(b) An order of the court granting relief under subsection (a) of this section shall specify the time, place and manner of making the discovery and inspection permitted and may prescribe such terms and conditions as are just.
(c) A motion under subsection (a) of this section may be made only in a criminal case and shall include all relief sought under subsection (a) of this section. A subsequent motion may be made only upon a showing of cause why such motion would be in the interest of justice.
(d) Prior to the arraignment of any arrested person before the court to determine the existence of probable cause to believe such person committed the offense charged or to determine the conditions of such person's release pursuant to section 54-64a, the attorney for the state shall provide the arrested person or his counsel with a copy of any affidavit or report submitted to the court for the purpose of making such determination; except that the court may, upon motion of the attorney for the state and for good cause shown, limit the disclosure of any such affidavit or report, or portion thereof.
(1967, P.A. 706, S. 1, 2, 3; P.A. 78-289, S. 2; 78-290, S. 2; P.A. 91-242.)
History: P.A. 78-289 amended Subsec. (a) to delete provision allowing inspection, copying etc. of defendant's recorded testimony before a grand jury; P.A. 78-290 deleted provision in Subsec. (a) which had allowed inspection, copying etc. of exculpatory information or material; P.A. 91-242 added Subsec. (d) requiring the attorney for the state to provide the arrested person or his counsel with a copy of any affidavit or report submitted to the court for the purpose of determining probable cause or the conditions of release.
Cited. 158 C. 275; 159 C. 389. Examination in camera used to determine compliance. 166 C. 593. Cited. 187 C. 292; 190 C. 20; 200 C. 323; 229 C. 716.
Cited. 34 CA 58; judgment reversed, see 232 C. 537.
Section does not specifically require disclosure of name and address of the informant in trial of defendant charged with sale of marijuana. 28 CS 331. Cited. 33 CS 599; 42 CS 291.
Motion for further bill of particulars after plea of not guilty denied as untimely; preliminary motions in criminal case should be filed prior to plea unless grounds are not then known. 5 Conn. Cir. Ct. 269. Unless prosecutor is under some constitutional obligation, he need not allow defense complete and unqualified access to state's files. 6 Conn. Cir. Ct. 437.
Subsec. (a):
Subdiv. (1): Indiscriminate, wholesale, and blanket demands for “exculpatory” material under motion of discovery is not permissible; must be shown that evidence would have tendency to clear defendant. 29 CS 86.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
16
cases, 1969–2010 · leading case:
State v. Fielding, 994 A.2d 96 (Conn. 2010).
State v. Fielding, 994 A.2d 96 (Conn. 2010).
· cites it 3× “) General Statutes § 54-86a provides in relevant part: “(a) Upon motion of a defendant at any time after the filing of the indictment or information, and upon a showing that the items sought may be material to the preparation of his defense and that the request is reasonable,…”
State v. King, 445 A.2d 901 (Conn. 1982).
· cites it 2× “15 She states that at the time she made a pretrial motion for discovery pursuant to Practice Book §§741 and 745 and General Statutes § 54-86a, the toxicological tests had already been performed and, thus, it was physically impossible for her independently to examine the alleged…”
State v. Marshall, 353 A.2d 756 (Conn. 1974).
· cites it 4× “An exception was noted, the file was marked as the defendant's exhibit 6 for identification only and delivered to the custody of the clerk of the court to be sealed and only to be opened by the permission of the court.”
State v. Mitchell, 512 A.2d 140 (Conn. 1986).
· cites it 2× “See General Statutes §§ 54-86a and 54-86b. He argues, however, that by barring discovery motions altogether, § 54-46a (b) prevents disclosure of even exculpatory information within the control of the prosecution, thereby impairing his constitutional rights to due process and to…”
State v. Vennard, 270 A.2d 837 (Conn. 1970).
· cites it 2× “Rather than attempting to proceed under civil discovery rules, the defendant should have addressed a motion for production to the discretion of the court, which was the standard procedure in this state, at least until the passage in 1967 of General Statutes § 54-86a.”
State v. Carter, 640 A.2d 610 (Conn. App. Ct. 1994).
· cites it 2× “See General Statutes §§ 54-86a and 54-86e; Practice Book § 732 et seq.”
State v. Bowden, 272 A.2d 141 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1970).
· cites it 5× “In order for the court to grant this contested request, the defendant must make a proper showing that the items sought may be material to the preparation of his defense and that the request is reasonable.”
State v. McDermott, 458 A.2d 689 (Conn. 1983).
· cites it 2× “There is no indication that this request was complied with in writing although counsel for the state indicated that an open file policy was in effect pursuant to the provisions of General Statutes § 54-86a. The trial commenced on September 3, 1980 and was submitted to the jury…”
Gifford v. Freedom of Info. Comm'n, 617 A.2d 479 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1992).
· cites it 4× “Their rights are particularized in General Statutes §§ 54-86a, 54-86b, 54-86c and 54-86d.”
State v. Carnegie, 259 A.2d 628 (Conn. 1969).
“to 1968] § 54-86a), which provides for discovery in criminal cases.”
State v. Thergood, 363 A.2d 1121 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1976).
· cites it 3× “The defendant’s discovery motion referred to General Statutes § 54-86a which authorizes the court to “order the attorney for the state to permit the defendant to inspect and copy .”
State v. Marsh, 362 A.2d 523 (Conn. 1975).
“The written motion included the following: “Pursuant to Section 54-86a of the Connecticut G-eneral Statutes, Sections 168 and 468 of the Practice Book, Article 1, Section 8, of the Connecticut Constitution, and the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.