PRINTER'S NO. 1646
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
312
Session of
2018
INTRODUCED BY GREENLEAF, SCHWANK, MENSCH, VULAKOVICH AND LEACH,
APRIL 13, 2018
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, APRIL 13, 2018
A RESOLUTION
Urging the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to adopt rules to
clarify the duty of a prosecuting attorney to provide the
defendant with pretrial discovery and access to the
investigative case file and related non-work product
materials and the duty of a prosecuting attorney to disclose
exculpatory information and materials at any time when the
information and materials bear on the innocence of the
defendant.
WHEREAS, More than 250 individuals have been exonerated in
the United States on the strength of DNA evidence after serving
an average of 12 years in prison for crimes they did not commit;
and
WHEREAS, Twelve of those documented DNA exonerations involved
Pennsylvania inmates; and
WHEREAS, The number of exonerations since 1989 exceeds 2,000
nationally when cases with and without DNA evidence are combined
and 68 of those exonerations occurred in Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, The Commonwealth does not condone the punishment of
the innocent, and it is the public policy of the Commonwealth to
correct systemic causes of wrongful convictions such as
eyewitness misidentifications, false confessions to law
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enforcement, jailhouse informant testimony, flawed forensic
science and misconduct or mistakes made in good faith by law
enforcement or prosecutors; and
WHEREAS, The American Bar Association overwhelmingly approved
changes to Rule 3.8 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct
and the House of Delegates of the Pennsylvania Bar Association
has endorsed changes to the correlative rule in Pennsylvania;
and
WHEREAS, The changes to Rule 3.8 set forth the role of
prosecuting attorneys who learn of new credible evidence that
makes it reasonably likely that a convicted individual was not
in fact guilty of the crime; and
WHEREAS, The changes to Rule 3.8 would clarify that a
prosecuting attorney should remedy the conviction by making a
"disclosure of the evidence to the defendant, requesting that
the court appoint counsel for an unrepresented indigent
defendant, and, where appropriate, notifying the court that the
prosecutor has knowledge that the defendant did not commit the
offense of which the defendant was convicted"; and
WHEREAS, The changes to Rule 3.8 recognize that "a prosecutor
has the responsibility of a minister of justice and not simply
that of an advocate"; and
WHEREAS, The changes to Rule 3.8 do not impose new
requirements on prosecutors, rather the changes dispel vagueness
and uncertainty; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate urge the Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania to promulgate and enforce changes in the Rules of
Professional Conduct and the Rules of Criminal Procedure to
ensure a prosecuting attorney make available to the defendant
the complete files of the law enforcement agencies,
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investigative agencies and the prosecutor's office involved in
the investigation of the crime alleged to have been committed,
including the statements of the defendant, the statement of the
codefendant, witness statements, the investigating officer's
notes and the results of tests and examinations; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That the Senate urge the Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania to promulgate and enforce changes in the Rules of
Professional Conduct and the Rules of Criminal Procedure to
ensure a prosecuting attorney act not only as an advocate but
also as a minister of justice by disclosing to the defendant
materials and information, whether or not admissible in court,
and take other appropriate steps to remedy a conviction when the
prosecutor has knowledge that the defendant was wrongfully
convicted of the offense.
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