LANSING – Prosecutors would have to maintain any electronic recordings used in a trial as long as there are appeals left under a rule being considered by the Michigan Supreme Court.
Under the proposal, submitted by the State Bar of Michigan Representative Assembly, any electronic recordings made by a governmental agency not available during a retrial would be presumed adverse to the prosecution’s case (ADM File No. 2008-38).
Justice Maura Corrigan, joined by Justice Stephen Markman and Justice Robert Young Jr., argued the court should not have even published the rule for comment because the court does not have the authority to control recordkeeping by other agencies.
“(T)he rule effectively would require prosecutors to devise a method to obtain, permanently store, catalogue, and reproduce every audio or visual recording made by government agencies that could ever pertain to any case,” Ms. Corrigan said. “Such a court rule implicating the record retention practices of prosecutors and state agencies appears to violate the separation of powers required by our state constitution.”
The court is accepting comment on the proposal until November 1 to email [email protected]
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