Code of Federal Regulations Title 49. Transportation § 49.5.83 Duty to disclose exculpatory evidence

It is the Department's policy that each responsible OA or component of OST will voluntarily follow in its civil enforcement actions the principle articulated in Brady v. Maryland,  8 in which the Supreme Court held that the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment requires disclosure of exculpatory evidence “material to guilt or punishment” known to the government but unknown to the defendant in criminal cases. Adopting the “Brady rule” and making affirmative disclosures of exculpatory evidence in all enforcement actions will contribute to the Department's goal of open and fair investigations and administrative enforcement proceedings. This policy requires the agency's adversarial personnel to disclose materially exculpatory evidence in the agency's possession to the representatives of the regulated entity whose conduct is the subject of the enforcement action. These affirmative disclosures should include any material evidence known to the Department's adversarial personnel that may be favorable to the regulated entity in the enforcement action—including evidence that tends to negate or diminish the party's responsibility for a violation or that could be relied upon to reduce the potential fine or other penalties. The regulated entity need not request such favorable information;  it should be disclosed as a matter of course. Agency counsel should recommend appropriate remedies to DOT decision makers where a Brady rule violation has occurred, using the factors identified by courts when applying the Brady rule in the criminal context.

 Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963).