§3500 Demands for Production of Statements and Reports of Witnesses

Summary

In a federal criminal trial, the government must not let the defense see or get copies of a government witness’s statements until after that witness has given direct testimony. After the witness testifies, the defendant can ask the judge to order the government to turn over any of the witness’s statements that relate to what the witness said on the stand. If the whole statement is about the same topic, the judge will give it to the defendant. If the government says parts don’t match the witness’s testimony, the judge will look at the statement privately, remove the unrelated parts, and then give the rest to the defendant. If the government refuses to hand over what the judge orders, the judge must strike the witness’s testimony from the record, unless a mistrial is needed. The judge may pause the trial to let the defendant read and prepare with any produced statements, and if parts were kept back and the defendant objects, the full text must be saved for any appeal. A “statement” means one of three things: a written statement the witness signed or approved, a recorded or transcribed word-for-word account made at the time the witness spoke, or anything the witness said to a grand jury.