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Criminal Discovery in Virginia General District Court

Criminal Discovery in Virginia General District Court is unique. To start, when you have been charged with a crime, “discovery” is the process of obtaining information from the government that is relevant to your criminal charge(s) and the government’s case against you. In Virginia, the criminal discovery that you are entitled to by law depends on whether you are in General District Court or Circuit Court.

In General District Court, the law actually entitles you to shockingly little discovery. Specifically, Virginia Supreme Court Rule 7C:5 governs this area, and states as follows:

“Upon motion of an accused, the court must order the prosecuting attorney or representative of the Commonwealth to permit the accused to hear, inspect and copy or photograph the following information or material when the existence of such is known or becomes known to the prosecuting attorney or representative of the Commonwealth and such material or information is to be offered in evidence against the accused in a General District Court:

(1) any relevant written or recorded statements or confessions made by the accused, or copies thereof and the substance of any oral statements and confessions made by the accused to any law enforcement officer; and

(2) any criminal record of the accused.”

Thus, in General District Court, under Virginia law you are only entitled to your own statements or confessions, as well as your criminal record. Further, you are only entitled to this information when (a) the government will use this evidence in its case, and (b) you specifically make the request for this evidence in a motion.
While this rule offers little assistance to criminal defendants and their attorneys, quality criminal lawyers will use outside rules and law to obtain the additional information that may be helpful to the defense. As one example, Virginia Code § 16.1-69.25:1 states: “[u]pon request of either party, a judge of a district court may direct the filing of a written bill of particulars at any time before trial and within a period of time specified in the order so requiring.”
If you are charged with a crime, it’s important to protect yourself with an elite criminal attorney who is able to use the rules and laws to obtain all the information necessary to defend you in court.

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