WilmerHale Partner and former Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden participated in the panel "Evidence Disclosure in Criminal Cases"during the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' (NACDL) official release of its latest report, Material Indifference: How Courts Are Impeding Fair Disclosure In Criminal Cases. The report was released on November 17, 2014 during an event at the National Press Club in Washington DC, and is the result of a major study produced jointly with the VERITAS Initiative at Santa Clara University School of Law. Based on his experience as a defense attorney and former senior Justice Department official, Mr. Ogden contributed the foreword for the report.

Mr. Ogden joined the Honorable Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and NACDL President Theodore Simon on the panel to discuss the concept of "fair disclosure," which requires prosecutors to reveal evidence they have that would benefit a defendant.

"The authors of the report are to be commended for taking on a subject that is very significant and difficult," said Mr. Ogden during the discussion. "The subject is important because it relates to the most fundamental criminal justice issue of all—the guilt or innocence of the accused. No greater harm could be done by our criminal justice system than the conviction of innocent people."

The report's co-authors—VERITAS Initiative Director and Professor Kathleen "Cookie" Ridolfi, NACDL White Collar Crime Policy Counsel Tiffany M. Joslyn, and VERITAS Initiative Pro Bono Research Attorney Todd H. Fries—also participated in the panel to discuss their findings and recommendations.

Read the complete copy of the report. Watch the full C-SPAN coverage of the November 17 release event.