Ruling Eases Use of Police Personnel Files for Defense

L A TIMES ^ | June 4, 2005 | Maura Dolan

[Ramonan]

Ruling in a Los Angeles case, the California Supreme Court made it easier Thursday for criminal defendants to obtain evidence of past misconduct by police.

In a 5-2 decision, the court said judges must order police to turn over any records of officer misconduct that could support allegations of improprieties in a defendant's case.

The decision is expected to lead to greater use of police personnel records, which include citizen complaints and discipline matters.

Once a judge reviews the pertinent records, he or she must give defense attorneys information that could help support their contentions of officer malfeasance.

Justice Janice Rogers Brown, who was joined by Justice Marvin Baxter, dissented. Brown said the ruling infringed on the privacy rights of officers, and she criticized the majority for compelling police records in the Los Angeles case based on "patently absurd" claims by a drug defendant.

In the case before the court, Los Angeles police arrested Donald Paul Warrick in 2002 on suspicion of possession of cocaine for sale. .

When the officers stopped and got out of their car, Warrick fled, discarding several off-white lumps that resembled rock cocaine, police said.

An officer retrieved 42 lumps from the ground, and two others arrested Warrick after a short pursuit.

Warrick pleaded not guilty to the drug charge, saying that someone else had dropped the cocaine. He said he had come downtown to purchase drugs, not to sell them, and alleged that police had lied when they said they saw him discarding the drugs.

The favorable decision nonetheless will have no practical effect for Warrick, who eventually pleaded guilty to possession for sale and was released for time served while the case was on appeal, Harvis said.

[Ramonan]

WHY--They do NOT want Justice Brown, and why recruitment is a "hard sell".