3.1 Once counsel has appeared or been appointed in a case, it shall be presumed that counsel is seeking those items discoverable under the applicable statutes of North Carolina and state and federal case law. No formal request for discovery under N.C.G.S. § 15A-902 or § 15A-903 need be made; the provision of this rule regarding discovery shall be deemed an order of the Court in each case. Provision of discovery by the State acts as an automatic request for reciprocal discovery from the defendant and no formal request for reciprocal discovery under N.C.G.S. § 15A-902 or § 15A-905 need be made; the provision of this rule regarding reciprocal discovery shall be deemed an order of the Court in each case. The Court, after motion by the opposing party or on its own motion, may impose sanctions for failure to provide discovery, reciprocal discovery, or continuing discovery or continuing reciprocal discovery as provided by law or anticipated by these rules. The responsible prosecutor shall have a continuing duty to disclose any additional discovery received by the State after initial disclosure to defense counsel.3.2 No later than four (4) weeks from the initiation date of a felony case, discovery applicable to the case shall be provided by the District Attorney to the attorney of record for the defendant. See N.C.G.S. § 15A-903. An attorney of record is defined as a duly licensed attorney who has either entered, in writing, a general appearance in the case, or has been appointed to represent the defendant in either the district or superior court.3.3 Reciprocal discovery, See N.C.G.S. § 15A-905, shall be provided by defense counsel to the State within four (4) weeks of defense counsel's receipt of discovery from the State.3.4 If a change of attorney occurs after the initiation date of a case, it shall be the responsibility of the newly retained or appointed attorney to immediately notify the State of the change in representation of the defendant. Should a change in defense counsel occur, it is the joint responsibility of both new and previous counsel to ensure that the discovery material is transferred from the previous counsel of record to the new counsel of record. Upon the request of the new attorney, the State shall assist the new attorney in confirming that he or she has received complete discovery from the previous attorney.3.5 Discovery material shall not be distributed by the State to counsel entering only a limited appearance through district court.3.6 The prosecutor assigned to a case shall be responsible for completing a "Discovery Disclosure Certificate (DDC)" for that case. (See a sample DDC attached as Exhibit A.) A completed and signed Discovery Disclosure Certificate shall accompany the discovery and shall be served upon the defense attorney of record in one of the following ways: (b) U.S. postal delivery, (c) delivery to the office of the defense attorney, (d) by depositing the discovery material into the defense attorney's mailbox located in the office of the Clerk of Superior Court or (e) by providing a digital copy through the Discovery Automation System (DAS) or other digital method approved by the Administrative Office of the Courts. A completed and signed DDC also shall be filed with the Clerk of Superior Court for placement in the court file.3.7 All discovery motions filed by defense counsel shall contain one of the following certification provisions and shall be signed by defense counsel: I, the undersigned attorney of record, do hereby certify to the court that prior to the filing of this motion I have thoroughly reviewed the discovery material supplied to me in this case by the office of the District Attorney.
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Signature of Attorney
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Date
OR
I, the undersigned attorney of record, do hereby certify to the Court that, as of this date more than four weeks have passed from the Initiation Date in this case, and that the District Attorney s office has failed to provide me with any discovery material in this case.
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Signature of Attorney
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Date
3.8 All reciprocal discovery motions filed by the District Attorney shall contain one of the following certification provisions and shall be signed by the prosecutor: I, the undersigned prosecutor of record, do hereby certify to the Court that prior to the filing of this motion I have thoroughly reviewed the reciprocal discovery material supplied to me in this case by the defense counsel.
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Signature of Attorney
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Date
OR
I, the undersigned prosecutor do hereby certify to the Court, that as of this date more than four weeks have passed from the date that the State provided discovery to the defendant in this case, and that defense counsel has failed to provide the State with any discovery material in this case.
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Signature of Attorney
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Date
N.C. R. Prac. Sup. & Dist. Ct. Civ. P. 3
Adopted April 8, 2022, effective 4/8/2022.