New laws aimed at giving defense attorneys and prosecutors the same information were supposed to ensure that defendants could analyze all of the evidence that prosecutors planned to use to convict them.
Criminal defense attorneys, however, say they are commonly denied requests for evidence and work performed by State Bureau of Investigation agents. Several lawyers say they have had to turn to judges at least a half-dozen times to force the SBI to hand over data.
Mecklenburg Superior Court Judge Yvonne MimsEvans subpoenaed SBI officials to explain why they wouldn't share information about data used to make their conclusions about DNA evidence in a Caldwell County murder case. She ordered agency officials to hand it over and scolded them: "This is not a game of marbles in which you get to hold all the marbles."
In 2004, the state legislature overhauled the law to allow defendants and their attorneys to get copies of evidence and analysis generated during a case. Typically, the information is passed from prosecutors to defense attorneys.
State Attorney General Roy Cooper, who oversees the SBI, helped get the new discovery law passed. SBI Director Robin Pendergraft said Thursday that she was unaware of her agency's resistance to providing information in any specific cases.
She added, though, that often criminal defense attorneys will use the requests to make things difficult for prosecutors and law enforcement officials. She said that sometimes their requests are beyond the scope of what the law requires her agency to provide.
"We don't mind providing that, but how much can you push out?" Pendergraft said.
Defense attorneys sometimes request raw material from the SBI so they can hire experts to inspect the work. This is when some lawyers say they get resistance.
Rep. Rick Glazier, a Fayetteville Democrat, said the state has an obligation to turn over discovery, particularly when it involves a critical capital case.
"Fighting over raw data discovery seems an inappropriate battle for the state to fight when someone's life is on the line," Glazier said.
Lisa Dubs, a lawyer from Hickory who primarily handles murder cases, has had to petition judges on four occasions to force the SBI to share information.
"It's like they don't believe the law exists," Dubs said. "That, or they are playing games."
Winston-Salem lawyer Kim Stevens also did battle with the SBI over records relating to DNA testing in a capital murder case in Moore County in 2006. Specifically, she wanted information about DNA profiles used to try to match her client to the scene so that another expert could review the SBI's conclusions. She petitioned the court four times before a judge ordered the SBI to produce the documents.
"This was about someone's life," Stevens said. "I don't know why they wouldn't want to be transparent."
