In Brady v. Maryland, the United States Supreme Court held that prosecutors must provide exculpatory information to defense counsel, and in Giglio v. United States, it extended the holding to include information suggesting a witness may not be credible. Many law enforcement agencies and district attorneys’ offices have created Brady lists – lists of officers whose disciplinary or testimonial history must be disclosed if they are called to testify. But some lists and some protocols have been criticized as inadequate. This presentation will set forth the legal standards for what prosecutors must disclose about officer histories under Brady and Giglio, and what role civilian oversight professionals can play in improving police disclosure procedures and ensuring that defendants get information to which they are entitled. The panelists will discuss what steps civilian oversight agencies, based on an investigative model, can take to ensure that Brady or Giglio information uncovered in their investigations is disclosed, and what steps police commissions and review-focused and auditor/inspector general-focused civilian oversight agencies can take to ensure that law enforcement agencies are meeting their constitutional obligations.

On June 14, 2022 NACOLE welcomed Andrew Case, senior counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF and Mary Izadi, the constitutional policing advisor the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in California to discuss these issues.