After you arrest the suspect and obtain a post-Miranda statement, the next phase in the pursuit of justice is turning over evidence to the prosecutor, which is commonly called, "Discovery." The prosecutor cannot disclose evidence that he or she does not know exists. This means, the duty to disclose really falls upon us. For example, in a recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals case, the Court expressed in their opinion that it was inexcusable for law enforcement officers to withhold exculpatory evidence. In the 9th Circuit case, the Court denied the qualified immunity of a retired LASD gang investigator, who was sued personally by a convicted murderer that was ordered to be released from prison after serving 20 years in prison.
Needless to say, Brady violations are serious in nature because it will profoundly affect a law enforcement officer's career and cause the underlying case to be overturned. There is no dispute that we have an affirmative duty to disclose all material evidence that is favorable to the defense and that is possessed by the prosecution team. However, in order for you to comply with Brady, you must know what evidence to turn in. This class will breakdown each of the mandated categories for law enforcement officers and discuss in depth regarding our obligations. After this class, you will have a functional understanding of what Brady entails and be confident in your discovery stage of your path of justice.
Topics Covered Include:
- Duties of Prosecutors vs Police Officers
- Favorable Evidence
- Material Evidence
- Neutral or Inculpatory Evidence
- Conflicting or Inconsistent Statements
- Promises or Offers
- Confidential Informants
- Grant of Immunity
- Contradictory Evidence
- When Must Be Disclosed
- Failure to Disclose
- Defense Attorney's Obligation to Disclose
- Peace Officer Files (CA)
Operation Save OurSelves:
Throughout the United States, law enforcement officers are being physically harmed by criminals and attacked by the media at a historical rate. Even more alarming is the increasing number of police officers being relieved of duty, terminated, and even prosecuted for on-duty related incidents.
OPERATION Save OurSelves is designed to be an innovative method to arm law enforcement officers with the ultimate weapon: knowledge. The instructor is an experienced gang detective, who is also an attorney at law. The unique cop-lawyer dichotomy allows a qualified law enforcement officer teaching the legal concepts from a street cop's prospective.
OPERATION Save Ourselves has identified four major problematic areas that law enforcement officers encounter. (i) Starting from where police work is embarked, the streets; (ii) Then to the interrogation room where statements are obtained and evidence are gathered; (iii) transitioning to presenting evidence to the prosecutor (discovery), and (iv) finally ending with taking the case to the foundation of American jurisprudence, jury trials.
Purchase all 4 Operation Save OurSelves courses with the bundle option to save $30.00.