Research and Advice

I believe it was early last week when I found the link to this at the AoSHQ

“If I Just Talk To The Police I Can Clear This Up” — The Dangerous Delusion

I meant to post it earlier for those who didn’t see it, but sitting upright time wasn’t an option. Thankfully I had saved it. RTWT and then spread the word.

Then, over the weekend, I found out about this site

BradyCops.org

It’s not what you think.

In 1963, the United States Supreme Court made a landmark decision in Brady v. Maryland 373 U.S. 83. The decision’s main focus was regarding exculpatory evidence in criminal prosecutions. Exculpatory evidence is evidence that tends to be favorable to the criminal defendant.

In the Brady decision, the Supreme Court opined that the criminal prosecutor has an obligation to make a Brady disclosure where exculpatory evidence exist.

Brady disclosures are mandated if statements of witnesses or physical evidence conflicts with the prosecution’s witnesses, and when evidence exist that could allow the defense to impeach the credibility of a prosecution witness.

Sometimes, it is the police officer that has a history of dishonesty, which will mandate a Brady disclosure. These police officers with credibility problems are referred to as “Brady cops”.

Due to the Brady ruling, prosecutors are required to notify criminal defendants, and their attorneys, whenever a law enforcement officer involved in their case has a sustained record for knowingly lying in an official capacity.

Because of this mandated responsibility, of identifying “Brady cops” – many local prosecutors develop a list of Brady cops that they make available to defense attorneys, thus satisfying that section of the Brady ruling.

The prosecutors that do develop a Brady list will usually reach out to their local police agencies’ internal affairs sections requesting sustained internal affairs investigations that call into question the credibility of those identified police officers. Surprisingly, many prosecutors do NOT develop or maintain a Brady list within their jurisdiction. In failing to do so, it’s left to speculation on how these prosecutors fulfill their reporting obligations under the Brady ruling.

Therefore, BradyCops.Org has a two prong purpose. We intend to build a nationwide database which contains as many of these Brady lists as we can secure. Further, we (BradyCops.Org) will identify those prosecutorial jurisdictions that have NOT developed or maintained a Brady list.

It’s not something you need to check frequently, but mark an update schedule on your calendar. Remember the names in your area.