In U.S. federal criminal proceedings, a judge can order prosecutors to produce grand jury materials and evidence obtained through search warrants to defense attorneys for review.
November 06, 2025
high
procedural
Court authority to disclose otherwise secret investigative materials to defense counsel when the court deems review necessary for the defense or to address asserted irregularities.
Materials seized from third parties via search warrants can include potentially privileged information, and defense lawyers may seek access to those materials to identify privileged content or to challenge the government's use of the materials as evidence.
November 06, 2025
high
procedural
Defendants and their counsel may request review of seized materials to determine privilege issues and any improper evidentiary use.
Magistrate judges have authority during pretrial proceedings to question prosecutors about how data obtained under search warrants was handled, including whether potentially privileged materials were reviewed.
October 08, 2025
high
legal
Describes a routine judicial role in overseeing evidence handling and privilege concerns during criminal pretrial matters.
Search warrants that are based on inaccurate information resulting from an inadequate investigation can be legally unjustified and subject to later legal challenge or invalidation.
high
temporal
Legal standards for the validity of search warrants and subsequent judicial review.
Independent prosecutors can review law enforcement investigations and determine that search warrants were based on inaccurate information stemming from an inadequate investigation.
high
process
Prosecutorial review as a mechanism to assess the validity of warrants and the adequacy of underlying investigations.