State v. Parks

MORRIS, Judge.

Defendant, citing as error the failure of the trial court to require disclosure of the identity of the confidential informers involved in the purported 30 August 1974 meeting and drug transaction, maintains that disclosure was necessary for the effective presentation of his alibi defense and his related contention of misidentification.

The United States Supreme Court, though recognizing the government’s privilege of informant nondisclosure, noted the counterbalancing principle that disclosure is warranted where informant identity is “ . . . relevant and helpful to the defense of…