Lancaster v. State

In this appeal we examine the conflict between a criminal defendant’s constitutional right to a zealous defense and the State’s legitimate concern for the safety of its witnesses. We are asked to decide whether appellant Jovon Brian Lancaster was denied his constitutional rights to counsel and a fair trial by a pre-trial protective order that required defense counsel to delay disclosing to him until the day of trial the names, addresses, and statements of certain prosecution witnesses.

A jury in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County convicted Lancaster and his brother of two counts of…