D.C. Code § 23-103

This is the official text of D.C. Code § 23-103, part of District of Columbia’s Code — part of the compiled statutory law of District of Columbia, published by the state as "Code." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

§ 23-103. Statements prior to sentence.

Official statutory text

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, before imposing sentence the court may disclose to the defendant’s counsel and to the prosecuting attorney, but not to one and not the other, all or part of any pre-sentencing report submitted to the court in the case. The court also prior to imposing sentence shall afford counsel an opportunity to speak on behalf of the defendant and shall address the defendant personally and ask him if he wishes to make a statement in his own behalf and to present any information in mitigation of punishment. At any time when the defendant or his counsel addresses the court on the sentence to be imposed, the prosecuting attorney shall, if he wishes, have an equivalent opportunity to address the court and to make a recommendation to the court on the sentence to be imposed and to present information in support of his recommendation. Such information as the defendant or his counsel or the prosecuting attorney may present shall at all times be subject to the applicable rules of mutual discovery.
(b) When a victim elects to file a victim impact statement pursuant to § 23-103 a, the court shall disclose the victim impact statement portion of the presentence report at a reasonable time prior to imposing sentence to the defendant’s counsel and to the prosecuting attorney.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in District of Columbia?

Find a District of Columbia lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.