Subcommittee backs substitute for HB118 to broaden access to copies of discovery, adds dash-cam/body-worn camera language

The subcommittee voted to report a substituted and amended version of HB118, which would allow people accused in criminal cases to request copies of discovery materials — including photographs and, by amendment, dash-cam and body-worn camera footage — to aid defense preparation.

Sponsor Delegate Keese Gamora and supporters framed the bill as an access-to-justice measure for defendants who often cannot obtain copies of evidence without significant delay. Allison Powers of the Indigent Defense Commission and public defenders argued that giving counsel copies reduces barriers to representation and lowers the administrative burden of in-person copying. "Electronic discovery was what I signed up to speak in favor of," said Dwayne Baron, a public defender, who said the substitute still improves efficiency by providing copies.

Commonwealth's Attorney Nathan Green and other prosecutors warned that secure electronic transmission can impose costs on local prosecution offices and that sensitive victim materials require safeguards; counsel for the patron and OES agreed to carve out privacy protections in the substitute. Committee counsel also noted a constitutional concern: the substitute provides copies to counsel but may leave pro se defendants without a guaranteed copy, an issue acknowledged but not resolved at the subcommittee.

The committee adopted an amendment explicitly including dash-cam and body-worn footage in the list of discoverable materials and reported the substitute as amended by a recorded vote of 9 to 1.