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Rule 16A – Discovery by the State

May 13, 2021 | Criminal Procedure, Maine

(a) Automatic Discovery. Notice of Intention to Introduce Expert Testimony as to the Defendant’s Mental State. If a defendant intends to introduce expert testimony as to the defendant’s mental state, the defendant shall, at least 7 days before the date set for the dispositional conference under Rule 18 or at such later time as the court may direct, serve a notice of such intention upon the attorney for the State and file a copy with the clerk of the Unified Criminal Docket. Mental state testimony includes culpable state of mind, mental disease or defect, belief as to self-defense, or any other mental state or condition of the defendant bearing upon the issue of criminal liability. The court may for cause shown allow late filing of the notice; if it does so, it may grant additional time to the parties to prepare for trial or may make such further order as may be appropriate. The notice is not admissible against the defendant.
(b) Discovery Upon Request.

(1)Dispositional or Trial Documents and Tangible Objects. Upon the written request of the attorney for the State, the defendant shall, at least 14 days before the date set for the dispositional conference under Rule 18, permit the attorney for the State to inspect and copy or photograph or have reasonable tests made upon any book, paper, document, electronically stored information, photograph (including a motion picture and videotape), or tangible object that is within the defendant’s possession or control and that the defendant intends to introduce as evidence in any proceeding.
(2)Expert Witnesses. Upon the written request of the attorney for the State, the defendant shall, at least 14 days before the date set for the dispositional conference under Rule 18, furnish the following to the attorney for the State:

(A) A statement containing the name and address of any expert witness whom the defendant intends to call in any proceeding; and
(B) A copy of any report or statement of an expert, including a report or results of physical or mental examinations and of scientific tests, experiments, or comparisons, that is within the defendant’s possession or control and that the defendant intends to introduce as evidence in any proceeding.
(3)Notice of Alibi. Not later than 14 days before the date set for jury selection, the attorney for the State may serve upon the defendant or the defendant’s attorney a demand that the defendant serve a notice of alibi if the defendant intends to rely on such defense at the trial. The demand shall state the time and place that the attorney for the State proposes to establish at the trial as the time and place where the defendant participated in or committed the crime. If such a demand has been served, and if the defendant intends to rely on the defense of alibi, not more than 7 days after service of such demand, the defendant shall serve upon the attorney for the State and file a notice of alibi that states the place where the defendant claims to have been at the time stated in the demand and the names and addresses of the witnesses upon whom the defendant intends to rely to establish such alibi. Within 7 days thereafter, the attorney for the State shall file and serve the names and addresses of the witnesses upon whom the State intends to rely to establish the defendant’s presence at the time and place stated in the demand.

If the defendant fails to serve and file a notice of alibi after service of a demand, the court may take appropriate action. If the attorney for the State fails to serve and file a notice of witnesses, the court shall order compliance. The fact that a witness’s name is on a notice furnished under this subdivision and that the witness is not called shall not be commented upon at trial.

(4)Exception:Work Product. Disclosure shall not be required of legal research or of records, correspondence, reports, or memoranda to the extent they contain the mental impressions, conclusions, opinions, or legal theories of the attorney for the defendant.
(5)Continuing Duty to Disclose. If matter that would have been furnished to the attorney for the State under this subdivision comes within the control of the attorney for the defendant after the attorney for the State has had access to similar matter, the attorney for the defendant shall promptly so inform the attorney for the State.
(6)Protective Order. Upon motion of the defendant, and for good cause shown, the court may make any order that justice requires.
(c) Discovery Pursuant to Court Order.

(1)Order for Preparation of Report by Expert Witness. If an expert witness whom the defendant intends to call in any proceeding has not prepared a report of examination or tests, the court, upon motion, may order that the expert prepare and the defendant serve a report stating the subject matter on which the expert is expected to testify, the substance of the facts to which the expert is expected to testify, and a summary of the expert’s opinions and the grounds for each opinion.
(2)Order Permitting Discovery of the Person of the Defendant.

(A) Upon motion and notice the court may order a defendant to

(i) Appear in a line-up;
(ii) Speak for identification by witnesses to a crime;
(iii) Be fingerprinted, palm printed, or foot printed;
(iv) Pose for photographs;
(v) Try on articles of clothing;
(vi) Permit the taking of specimens of material under the defendant’s fingernails;
(vii) Permit the taking of samples of the defendant’s biological materials, including but not limited to, blood, hair, saliva, fingernail clippings and materials obtainable by swab;
(viii) Provide specimens of the defendant’s handwriting; and
(ix) Submit to a reasonable physical or medical inspection of the defendant’s body.
(B) Reasonable notice of the time and place of any personal appearance of the defendant required for the foregoing purposes shall be given by the attorney for the State to the defendant and the defendant’s attorney. Provision may be made for appearances for such purposes in an order by the court admitting the defendant to bail or providing for the defendant’s release.
(C) Definition. For purposes of this Rule, a defendant is a person against whom a criminal pleading has been filed.
(d) Sanctions for Noncompliance. If the defendant fails to comply with this Rule, the court on motion of the attorney for the State or on its own motion may take appropriate action, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: requiring the defendant to comply; granting the attorney for the State additional time or a continuance; relieving the attorney for the State from making a disclosure required by Rule 16; prohibiting the defendant from introducing specified evidence; and charging the attorney for the defendant with contempt of court.

Me. R. Uni. Crim. P. 16A

Last amended effective November 2, 2016.