The District Attorney is a Cheater

My criminal case is listed in two days and the district attorney just gave my lawyer new discovery. Included in the discovery are 35 new pictures of the crime scene that the DA had the since the time of my arrest. Also, they gave my lawyer a video recording of me inside the police car on the day of my arrest where the police and I were talking about the case as I was being transported. They have had the video since the time of my arrest. The District Attorney never mentioned anywhere in the written discovery that I had ever given a statement. My lawyer is very upset about this. She told me the DA is a cheater. How can the DA cheat, aren't they supposed to be the honest ones? Is there a remedy?

The DA has a continuing duty under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure to give all discovery to the defense attorney before the trial starts. The DA cannot claim that the cops had it and never gave it to them.

The problem with the rule is the remedy. The judge has three choices: 1. if the trial has already begun and DA comes up with new discovery, the judge can grant a mistrial; 2. grant a continuance to the defense attorney; 3. preclude the DA from using the evidence in the case.

In the leading case in Pennsylvania on this issue, the case was about rape. The defense attorney opened with the theory that no seminal fluid was recovered from a certain blanket. During the break the DA had the blanket re-tested. Seminal fluid was found this time. The DA introduced the evidence in his case in chief. The defense attorney objected and asked for a mistrial. The judge denied that request and gave a curative instruction. The Superior Court disagreed and remanded.

In your instant question, I can't answer whether you want a continuance or if you want to have the new discovery precluded from the case. It is possible that the new evidence could help your case. You never know.

As far as the DA being a cheater, they are rare, but they exist and I have no comment.

Judge Only Bench Warrant & Contempt

I plead guilty to stealing a car in 1990. I was sentenced to 6-23 months in Philadelphia county, but my lawyer asked for a turn-in date so that I could have time to get my affairs in order. I was given 10 days to turn myself in. When the 10 days came, I went--literally. I got scared and fled. About 20 years later, I got picked up and I am sitting jail waiting to get the judge only bench warrant lifted. I am a different man then I was 20 years ago. I think I should be automatically paroled now, but my lawyer tells me that I need to get the bench warrant lifted first because she is worried that I will be held in contempt. I don't understand any of this. Why would I be held in contempt?

When you fail to appear in court, the judge can issue a bench warrant or a judge only bench warrant. A normal bench warrant means that when you are picked up on the bench warrant, you can get the bench warrant lifted by any judge or commissioner and continue on with either your sentence, probation, parole, or post bail on your case. If you have a judge only bench warrant, that means the judge wants to personally see you, and you must wait until the judge that issued the bench warrant holds a bench warrant hearing and lifts the warrant.

The judge has the power to hold you in contempt because you ignored the subpoena from the original court date. The judge can give you a sentence of up to 2 months and 29 days to 6 months. Remember that any sentence where the max is less then 24 months is controlled by the sentencing judge, so in effect, the judge in a contempt sentence can refuse your parole, thereby making your contempt sentence a flat 6 months.

If the judge that holds your judge only bench warrant is a moderate to liberal judge, that judge may not give you contempt on your judge only bench warrant if your lawyer makes a good arguement. Therefore, why ask for parole until AFTER the bench warrant is lifted. The last thing that you want to do is anger a good judge. After you wait about 1 or 2 months, file the parole petition and you will have a shot if in fact you did change your life over the 20 year period of time.