In Re: People v. Tippet, Joseph

Summary

The court discharged the rule to show cause and upheld the district court’s decision to reduce Tippet’s first-degree murder charge to second-degree murder as a deterrent discovery sanction. It held that the prosecution’s recurring and significant discovery violations, the resulting prejudice, and the failure of prior sanctions to correct the problem made the charge reduction a permissible exercise of discretion. The court also held that the district court possessed authority to reduce a charge because that remedy is lesser than dismissal.