Legal Question in Criminal Law in Colorado

The Defendant is entitle to ALL DISCOVERY. Under rule 16 of the Rules of criminal procedure the DA must provide the defendant with any discovery that it has in its posession. In some cases they may have an obligation to provide discovery even if they never had it in their posession. Generally the Defense attorney or the defendant will file a Motion for Discovery with the DA, and put a copy on record with the court and the DA has to provide a copy of all the discovery that it has. It may not necessarily be free, but you at least have the right to have access to it. A motion for discovery is fairly simple. Most attorneys quote case law in their motions, but a simple request titled "Motion for Discovery," saying I want a copy of all discovery is generally enough to obligate them to complete the request.

A defendant should learn of all evidence that will be presented against them. However, the duty to provide discovery does not attach unless you request discovery. If you do not file a written request for discovery, you are not going to get it.