Rule 230. Disclosure of Testimony Before Investigating Grand Jury.
(A) Attorney for the Commonwealth:
Upon receipt of the certified transcript of the proceedings before the investigating grand jury, the court shall furnish a copy of the transcript to the attorney for the Commonwealth for use in the performance of official duties.
(B) Defendant in a Criminal Case:
(1) When a defendant in a criminal case has testified before an investigating grand jury concerning the subject matter of the charges against him or her, upon application of such defendant the court shall order that the defendant be furnished with a copy of the transcript of such testimony.
(2) When a witness in a criminal case has previously testified before an investigating grand jury concerning the subject matter of the charges against the defendant, upon application of such defendant the court shall order that the defendant be furnished with a copy of the transcript of such testimony; however, such testimony may be made available only after the direct testimony of that witness at trial.
(3) Upon appropriate motion of a defendant in a criminal case, the court shall order that the transcript of any testimony before an investigating grand jury that is exculpatory to the defendant, or any physical evidence presented to the grand jury that is exculpatory to the defendant, be made available to such defendant.
(C) Other Disclosures:
Upon appropriate motion, and after a hearing into relevancy, the court may order that a transcript of testimony before an investigating grand jury, or physical evidence before the investigating grand jury, may be released to another investigative agency, under such other conditions as the court may impose.
Comment It is intended that the ‘‘official duties’’ of the attorney for the Commonwealth may include reviewing investigating grand jury testimony with a prospective witness in a criminal case stemming from the investigation, when such testimony relates to the subject matter of the criminal case. It is not intended that a copy of such testimony be released to the prospective witness.
Subparagraph (B)(3) is intended to reflect the line of cases beginning with Brady v. Maryland, 373 U. S. 83 (1963), and the refinements of the Brady standards embodied in subsequent judicial decisions.
Official Note
Rule 263 adopted June 26, 1978, effective January 9, 1979; renumbered Rule 230 and amended March 1, 2000, effective April 1, 2001; amended September 21, 2012, effective November 1, 2012.
Committee Explanatory Reports:
Final Report explaining the March 1, 2000 reorganization and renumbering of the rules published with the Court’s Order at 30 Pa.B. 1478 (March 18, 2000).
Final Report explaining the September 21, 2012 correction of a typographical error in paragraph (B)(1) published with the Court’s Order at 42 Pa.B. 6251 (October 6, 2012).
Source The provisions of this Rule 230 amended September 21, 2012, effective November 1, 2012, 42 Pa.B. 6247. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (314387) and (264157).
No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.
This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Code full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.
