Brady-Giglio, What You Need to Know.

      With recent events happening in our city and around the area a new term to most of us has been Brady-Giglio.  What is it and why is it important?

       Both terms stem from court cases.  Brady v. Maryland and Giglio v. United States.  

     In the Brady case the Supreme Court ruled that any information or evidence that the prosecuting attorney knows when he is dealing with a case MUST be turned over to the defense attorney(s).  It zeroed in, but does not limit that information to, exculpating the accused or possibly reducing a penalty.  (Remember the movie, My Cousin Vinny?) 

     Giglio, on the other had, deals with the credibility of a witness, namely a law enforcement officer.  The list includes law enforcement officers who have credibility problems.  They might include misuse of force, criminal convictions, dishonesty, or mishandling of evidence, etc.  Officers have areas of their jobs where they are required to swear under oath that information is true, such as probable cause affidavits, dispositions, and actual testimony in a court setting.  

     A Giglio violation happens when a prosecutor doesn't pass information along to the defense about an officer's credibility especially when that officer has issues of bias or impairment to the defendant. Credibility is also a concern and needs to be passed along.  

     It is vital for officers of the law to avoid at all costs situations that might bring about issues where a credibility problem might come up.  Officers MUST be above reproach.  They should understand that they are under constant scrutiny and act accordingly.  While most officers are not elected, like sheriffs, they still represent the citizens they work for and should treat every situation accordingly.  They should work and act like someone is always watching, and they are.  Fair or not, his includes on and off duty.

     Lists of offending officers can and should be maintained by each law enforcement agency and each prosecutor.  Once an officer is included on the Brady-Giglio list they can NEVER be removed, so the list follows officers from one county to another.

     The Brady-Giglio list was designed to be a death penalty for an officer's career.  Once an officer violates the sacred rules of honesty and good conduct he should never work as an officer again.  It's one thing to make a mistake, it's another to be dishonest or out of control.  These are not mistakes, these are character and integrity issues and should not be tolerated.