Opportunity to Examine Exculpatory Evidence

In State v. Sahlie, 90 S.D. 682, 687, 245 N.W.2d 476, 478-79 (1976), we stated that "due process cannot be satisfied unless the defendant is provided some opportunity to examine possible exculpatory evidence long enough before trial so as to have at least an opportunity to determine if such evidence is or is not exculpatory." The Sahlie holding was later modified to the extent that omission or belated disclosure was no longer, without exception, prejudicial error. State v. Reiman, 284 N.W.2d 860, 870 (SD 1979). Now, in order to find error, the defendant must establish that the belated disclosure of evidence was material to the issue of guilt, Reiman, 284 N.W.2d at 869, because if it was not material, it could not be violative of due process. Id. This rule applies to both inculpatory and exculpatory evidence.