WilmerHale Partner and former Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden participated
in the panel "Evidence Disclosure in Criminal Cases"
during the National Association of
Criminal Defense Lawyers' (NACDL) official release of its
latest report, Material Indifference: How
Courts Are Impeding Fair Disclosure In Criminal Cases. The
report was released during an event at the National Press Club in
Washington DC on November 17, 2014, and is the result of a major
study produced jointly with the VERITAS Initiative at Santa Clara
University School of Law. Based on his experience as a defense
attorney and former senior Justice Department official, Mr. Ogden
contributed the foreword for the report.
Mr. Ogden joined the Honorable Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge for the
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and NACDL President Theodore Simon
on the panel to discuss the concept of "fair disclosure,"
which requires prosecutors to reveal evidence they have that would
benefit a defendant.
"The authors of the report are to be commended for taking on
a subject that is very significant and difficult," said
Mr. Ogden during the discussion. "The subject is important
because it relates to the most fundamental criminal justice issue
of all—the guilt or innocence of the accused. No greater harm
could be done by our criminal justice system than the conviction of
innocent people."
The report's co-authors—VERITAS Initiative Director and
Professor Kathleen "Cookie" Ridolfi, NACDL White Collar
Crime Policy Counsel Tiffany M. Joslyn, and VERITAS Initiative Pro
Bono Research Attorney Todd H. Fries—also participated in the
panel to discuss their findings and recommendations.
Read the complete copy of the
report. Watch the full C-SPAN coverage of
the November 17 release event.
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