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The district courts' self-executing criminal discovery standing order (effective May 1, 2021, applying in every criminal case unless otherwise ordered): the State's first-announcement-setting production (reports, statements, Art. 38.22 defendant statements, warrants, expert/lab reports, records, and all Brady/exculpatory material), the 20-days-before-trial production (404(b)/609/38.37 notice, witness lists, jail-call recordings, inspection of seized/physical evidence, impeachment convictions, benefit/leniency promises), the defense's 20-day expert-witness list, the on-the-record 'last best' plea-offer announcement at the pre-trial hearing, and expert voir-dire practice.
Texas > Collin County > the district courts hearing criminal cases — the self-executing criminal discovery order implementing the Michael Morton Act (CCP Art. 39.14) discovery regime; applies in every criminal case unless the presiding judge orders otherwise
SCOPE: adopted by the district judges presiding over criminal cases, "which shall apply in every criminal case unless otherwise ordered by the presiding judge, effective May 1, 2021"; it reaches all items in the possession, custody, or control of the State's attorney, investigating officers, other state agents, and state contractors; electronic duplicates may substitute for paper or physical copies. STATE — BY THE FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT SETTING: (1) copies or inspection of all police reports, witness statements, photographs, audio and video recordings, and other non-privileged material evidence; (2) all written or recorded defendant statements and Art. 38.22 confessions; (3) copies or disclosure of public records including search and arrest warrants with affidavits; (4) expert reports including autopsy and lab reports (contraband, substances, fluids, hairs, fingerprints, blood, ballistics, soil, fibers, paints); (5) business, medical, or governmental records to be introduced; (6) "All exculpatory, impeachment, or mitigating documents, items, or information that tends to negate the guilt of the defendant or that would tend to reduce the punishment." STATE — NO LATER THAN 20 DAYS BEFORE TRIAL: (1) written notice of intent to use prior-bad-acts and extraneous-offense evidence (TRE 404(b), 609; CCP Art. 38.37); (2) a supplementable written list of all anticipated trial witnesses including experts, with contact information; (3) all non-privileged audio of a jailed defendant's phone calls; (4) inspection of items seized from the defendant, codefendants, or accomplices, trial physical objects, documents/photos/charts, contraband and weapons, impeachment convictions, and all tangible physical evidence (latent prints, footprints, hairs, fibers, fingernail scrapings, body fluids, biological material, tire tracks, paint scrapings); (5) all promises of benefit or leniency to accomplices or prospective witnesses; (6) convictions and pending charges usable to impeach a named State witness; (7) jury/demonstrative aids are work product unless the defense shows a "particularized need." DEFENSE: "Counsel for the defendant is ORDERED to provide a list of expert witnesses to the state at least 20 days prior to trial." PLEA DEADLINE: no later than the formal pre-trial hearing (or a Court-approved separate admonishment hearing), "the state's 'last best' plea bargain offer shall be announced on the record, in the presence of the defendant and his/her counsel. If rejected by the defendant, a subsequent plea agreement will not be approved absent good cause shown." EXPERTS: expert-witness voir dire is generally held at trial.
Reviewer note: Operative provisions composed verbatim from the registered document (text layer); a self-executing discovery order binding the State in every criminal case; own-site copy at district-courts/documents/standingdiscoveryorderforcriminalcases.pdf; custody sha256 in the registry ledger (doc 550).
Tenth (10th) Court of Appeals — Standing Order No. 1, as registered in the statewide TOPICs local-rules registry (posted 01/01/2023). The operative requirements are quoted verbatim; the registered document is the controlling text.
Tenth (10th) Court of Appeals — Standing Order No. 2, as registered in the statewide TOPICs local-rules registry (posted 01/01/2023). The operative requirements are quoted verbatim; the registered document is the controlling text.