State v. Chemuti and the Release of Law Enforcement Agency Recordings to District Court Defendants

The North Carolina Supreme Court in State v. Chemuti, __ N.C. __, 920 S.E.2d 810 (2025), clarified the interplay between the statutory provisions in G.S. 132-1.4A governing release of certain law enforcement agency recordings and a district court defendant’s constitutional right to compel the release of evidence necessary to present a complete defense. A defendant in a criminal case in superior court typically receives law enforcement agency recordings related to his or her case through discovery provided by the district attorney pursuant to Article 48 of the Criminal Procedure Act. Indeed, G.S. 132-1.4A, which generally requires a superior court order for release of covered law enforcement agency recordings, contains an exception requiring a custodial law enforcement agency to release a recording to a district attorney without a court order to “comply with discovery requirements in a criminal prosecution.” G.S. 132-1.4A(h)(ii). Once the recording is provided to the district attorney, the district attorney must then provide it to the defendant. G.S. 15A-903(a). Because the statutes requiring discovery apply only to cases within the original jurisdiction of the superior court (in other words, felonies and related misdemeanors), defendants in district court cases are not entitled to receive statutory discovery (though they are entitled to material exculpatory information under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), see State v. Marino, 229 N.C. App. 130, 136 (2013)). For that reason, defendants in criminal district court cases typically utilize a subpoena issued pursuant to G.S. 15A-802 to obtain documentary or video evidence related to the case [...]