State v. Hardy
State v. Hardy
Opinion of the Court
We grant the State’s application to consider the propriety of orders issued by the district court, and affirmed by the court of appeal, which directed the prosecution to preserve and protect already collected biologic evidence, relative to this case, and prohibited the “undertaking or completing” by the prosecution of any further collection, examination, review, or testing of the biologic evidence, without prior notice to the defense and without allowing an opportunity for the defense to “appear at, witness and record such undertakings.” For the reasons that follow, we vacate the district court orders.
After the defendant’s genetic profile was linked to evidence in the May 20, 1993 aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape of C.H., via an FBI Combined DNA Index System (“CODIS”) “hit,”
Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 719 provides that, upon motion of the defendant, the court shall order the district attorney to permit or authorize the defendant to inspect and copy, photograph, or otherwise reproduce any results or reports, or copies thereof, of a physical or
In the instant case, the prosecution’s offer to provide the defense with one-half of the biologic specimen collected from the defendant, for independent testing, satisfied the requirements of LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 719, and there was no showing by the defendant that he was entitled to discovery beyond that authorized by LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 719. To the extent that the defendant expressed an interest in discovering the LSPCL’s testing methods and procedures, he is limited, by the Code of Criminal Procedure’s discovery provisions, to requesting discovery of any existing written or recorded books, papers, documents, photographs, and/or other tangible objects, such as texts or manuals, subject to the limitations set forth in LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 928. See LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 918;
Accordingly, we conclude that the district court erred in issuing its March 30, 2012 and September 26, 2012 orders in favor of the defendant, which placed limitations on the prosecution’s DNA testing of biologic samples; therefore, we hereby vacate those orders and remand for further proceedings in accordance with the foregoing.
. See LSA-R.S. 15:601 etseq.
. Article 918 provides:
Subject to the limitation of Article 723, and except as otherwise prohibited by law, on motion of the defendant, the court shall order the district attorney to permit or authorize the defendant, or an expert working with the defendant, to inspect, copy, examine, test scientifically, photograph, or otherwise reproduce books, papers, documents, photographs, tangible objects, buildings, places, or copies or portions thereof that are within the possession, custody, or control of the state, and that:
(1) are favorable to the defendant and that are material and relevant to the issue of guilt or punishment, or
(2) are intended for use by the state as evidence at the trial, or
(3)were obtained from or belong to the defendant.
The court may determine whether evidence is subject to the provisions of Paragraph (1) hereof by in camera inspection.
. Article 923 provides:
Except as provided in Articles 716, 718, 721, and 722, this Chapter does not authorize the discovery or inspection of reports, memoranda or other internal state documents made by the district attorney or by agents of the state in connection with the investigation or prosecution of the case; or of statements made by witnesses or prospective witnesses, other than the defendant, to the district attorney, or to agents of the state.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.