State v. Brown

This case involves a narrow issue: whether a criminal defendant has a constitutional right to compulsory process over a potential witness who he believes acted as an informant in his case, and whose testimony, he asserts, would be relevant and aid in his defense. For the reasons that follow, we uphold the judgment of the court of appeals.

In State v. Williams (1983), 4 Ohio St.3d 74, 4 OBR 196, 446 N.E.2d 779, we last addressed the issue of when the identity of a confidential informant must be disclosed to a criminal defendant. Quite simply, “[t]he identity of an informant must be revealed * *…