Showing. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this Section and §§ 70.20 and 70.30, upon noticed motion by the defendant and a showing of materiality to the preparation of his defense and that the request is reasonable, the court in its discretion may order the prosecuting attorney to disclose to the defendant's attorney any relevant material and information not covered by § 70.10. (b) The court may deny the disclosure authorized by this Section if it finds that there is substantial risk to any person of physical harm, intimidation, bribery, economic reprisals or unnecessary annoyance or embarrassment, resulting from such disclosure, which outweighs any usefulness of the disclosure to the defense. NOTE: Section 70.15 is new. It is based on ABA, Project on Standards for Criminal Justice Discovery and Procedure Before Trial § 2.5 (Approved draft 1970). While it is believed that the mandatory discovery provided by § 70.10 will be adequate in virtually every case, that section is not intended to preclude other discovery upon a proper showing. See, e.g., § 70.50 (deposition of third person for discovery purposes). Accordingly, this Section makes clear that the court has authority to order additional discovery upon a proper showing by the defendant and subject to appropriate controls for the protection of third persons.
COURT DECISIONS: SUPER.CT. 1981 Section 70.15 imposes a requirement of materiality upon the defendant before discovery will be permitted under this Section. Since the defendant has failed to show why the requested material is material, the motion for discovery is denied. People v. Yamat, Cr. #15F-81. SUPER.CT. 1981. This case lists those items which may be discovered by a defendant from the Government in criminal proceedings. People v. Castro, Cr. #52F-81.