#80: Hiding the Evidence
Beth Schwarzapfel (photo: Kelly Creedon)
Prosecutors must disclose any evidence that goes against guilt or lessens punishment. The Constitution says so. But some state laws allow them to withhold the evidence until just before trial, so defendant have to make plea decisions without it. This skews the whole system, and is long overdue for change.
Our guest is staff writer Beth Schwartzapfel of the Marshall Project; she’s the author of two articles on this set of problems: