Los Angeles County prosecutors and sheriff's officials have for years concealed complaints about law enforcement misconduct and other important evidence from defendants in criminal cases, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by civil rights attorneys and legal scholars.
At a news conference announcing the suit, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California blasted the Sheriff's Department and district attorney's office for following policies he said played "fast and loose with evidence of innocence of those prosecuted."
The lawsuit cited several cases in which authorities allegedly failed to disclose information about misconduct complaints filed by inmates against deputies who were to be witnesses in criminal cases. Attorneys behind the lawsuit claimed that similar evidence might have been kept hidden in far more cases — possibly thousands — over the last decade.
"In Los Angeles County, we have a system of injustice for all criminal defendants," Mark Rosenbaum, chief counsel for the local ACLU, told reporters.
The Sheriff's Department and district attorney's office denied the allegations, saying the lawsuit mischaracterized how they decide what evidence is turned over.
"The lawsuit ... is a blatant attempt to mislead the public and the court," Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said in a statement. "This office is confident that our ... policy complies with the highest constitutional and statutory standards."
In addition to filing a lawsuit, the ACLU submitted a state bar complaint against Cooley and called for a civil grand jury investigation as well as the appointment of an independent counsel to review cases that have resulted in convictions since the controversial policies were adopted.
The lawsuit's claims go to the heart of the legal duty that prosecutors have to ensure defendants receive a fair trial by disclosing information favorable to the defense.
The broad outline of the district attorney's policy about what should be disclosed dates to 2002 and has been hailed by some as a model. But others, including many defense attorneys, have criticized its approach.
Tuesday's lawsuit contends that the district attorney's office violates the rights of inmates by preventing prosecutors from disclosing information about law enforcement misconduct complaints and other evidence unless there is "clear and convincing evidence" that the information is true. That is a higher burden than the "preponderance of evidence" standard required for police departments to discipline or fire officers. Prosecutors in other counties, such as Ventura, do not require such a high standard, the ACLU said.
The suit also claims that the district attorney's office improperly withholds evidence that involves ongoing investigations and requires prosecutors to decide for themselves what evidence would probably affect the outcome of the defendant's case.
Harry Caldwell, a professor at Pepperdine School of Law, examined a copy of the district attorney's policy at the request of The Times and suggested that prosecutors should be advised to more often ask judges whether certain evidence needs to be disclosed.
"Let the judge, that neutral, independent, detached magistrate, make the determination," said Caldwell, a former Riverside and Santa Barbara county prosecutor who now represents inmates on death row.
The lawsuit also takes aim at the way the Sheriff's Department keeps track of inmate complaints against deputies.
The suit cited testimony earlier this year by a sheriff's lieutenant who acknowledged that the department does not keep inmate complaints in the personnel files of the deputies accused of misconduct, requiring officials to hand-search thousands of documents to find complaints against specific jailers.
Jonathan Goodwin was one of four inmates cited in the lawsuit who claim they were beaten by deputies but then falsely accused of being the aggressors and charged with assault. Goodwin's attorney sought evidence of complaints against the deputies involved in the incident but was told none existed, the lawsuit said. Only when she contacted the ACLU did she discover that one of the deputies had been the subject of several excessive force complaints by inmates.
Goodwin was acquitted of assaulting deputies in May, according to the suit.
"I am lucky to be here rather than in state prison, but I am sure that there are lots of other people who are not so lucky," he told reporters.
Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said the department has yet to review the lawsuit but disputed the claim that inmates are beaten and then falsely accused of assault. Assistant County Counsel Roger Granbo declined to discuss the lawsuit's claims but said the Sheriff's Department complied with a subpoena from a defense attorney earlier this year seeking inmate complaints against specific deputies.
"There has never been an attempt by anyone in the Sheriff's Department to hide anything from anybody, especially the court," Granbo said.
Jack Leonard, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-conceal-evidence-20120711,0,5701676.story
jack.leonard@latimes.com

Reports that the Sheriff's Department and district attorney's office withhold evidence from lawyers representing inmates alleging brutality are met with silence or a dismissive comment.
If you're ever unfortunate enough to find yourself accused of assaulting a law enforcement officer, good luck. When it comes down to your word against the officer's, and there are no impartial witnesses, you may end up in a jumpsuit even if you're innocent.
But if you're an inmate accused of assaulting a jailer, you're in a considerably worse jam. And in the opinion of the ACLU of Southern California, your best chance of avoiding prosecution may be evidence that is routinely concealed by the L.A. County Sheriff's Department and the district attorney's office.
What evidence?
Past complaints of brutality by the very deputies you're accused of assaulting. Such information is often unknown to the judge, the jury, the defendant or his lawyer. And, as one defense lawyer put it, you're at a huge disadvantage because "you don't know what you don't know."
On Tuesday morning, the ACLU's chief local counsel, Mark Rosenbaum, announced the filing of a civil rights lawsuit against Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley and Sheriff Lee Baca, alleging that they've deliberately concealed evidence of deputy assaults from defense attorneys. Outside lawyers working with the ACLU on the case include law professors from USC and Harvard.
And the official response from downtown?
Cooley's office called the lawsuit a "blatant attempt to mislead the public and the court," and a Baca spokesman did not respond to my queries. One would hope that in the days to come, they'll have a little more to say, because the allegation here is that they've corrupted the system by denying some defendants the chance for a fair trial.
Look, the L.A. County inmate population includes a lot of hard-core thugs, gangsters and knuckleheads, and being a guard in a dungeon like Men's Central Jail is no picnic. But if you've been following The Times' coverage the last 18 months or so, you know that some of the thugs are wearing badges.
Just last week, a captain in the Sheriff's Department testified about a culture of brutality in which excessive force was tolerated and protected, with one supervisor allegedly warning deputies that when it was time for a tuneup, they should avoid hitting inmates in the face because the damage would be too obvious. And, as reported previously, jailhouse beatings have been witnessed by clergy and civilian jail monitors.
All of which is scandalous enough. But on Tuesday, Rosenbaum blasted what he called "blatantly illegal policies" of withholding information that could be of benefit to accused inmates, and he said requests for such information often go nowhere because "that information has been buried."
"It mocks our entire system of fair trial," Rosenbaum said.
The courts will eventually sort out whether Rosenbaum's allegations have merit. But in the meantime, the ACLU presented a compelling witness. Jonathan Goodwin, a former inmate, appeared at the news conference to say he was assaulted at Men's Central Jail in 2010 by six or seven deputies, only to find himself on trial for assault against the very deputies who jumped him.
Goodwin, who was locked up for violating parole after serving three years for robbery, described a minor disagreement with a guard in December 2010 over the way his food tray was shoved into his cell. Goodwin said he was later ordered out of his cell, pepper-sprayed, jumped by "six or seven" deputies, punched and kicked.
He said he did not resist, much less land any blows, and yet, five weeks later, he was charged by the district attorney with assault.
Goodwin said his lawyer tried to get information about prior complaints against the deputies involved, but he struck out. Only after a call by his attorney to the ACLU did his attorney discover that there had been allegations of similar incidents involving some of the same deputies.
Based in part on that information, Goodwin — who was told he could serve 17 years if convicted — was acquitted of the charges against him.
"I am lucky to be here rather than in state prison, but I am sure that there are lots of other people who are not so lucky," Goodwin said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, attorney Tracy Grayson told me by phone that he represents a client, Arthur Townsend, who stands accused of assault against jailhouse guards.
"We really didn't get anything," he said of his attempts to obtain information about whether there were prior complaints about those deputies. Only after contacting the ACLU, which has been compiling information on accused officers, did Grayson get evidence that might help his client's cause at trial.
"In my opinion, they're playing a lot of games," Grayson said of sheriff's officials, telling me he is often kept waiting for two or three hours when he tries to visit his client in jail.
Benjamin Gluck, a lawyer with Bird, Marella, worked on the ACLU-supported lawsuit. He said Tuesday that "for any justice system to merit the name, those who enforce the law must themselves obey it." But Cooley, he said, was disregarding a legal obligation to share information — known as exculpatory evidence — that can benefit the defense or harm the prosecution in criminal cases.
Gluck said Cooley's policy, clearly stated on the D.A.'s website, gives prosecutors broad discretion on whether or not to share certain information. Other jurisdictions, Gluck said, including the Ventura County district attorney's office, have rejected L.A. County's interpretation of the law and have adopted standards that would potentially allow for more information to be released to the defense.
Still unknown is how many inmates stand wrongly accused, or how many took pleas and have served time because they saw no chance of proving their innocence.
As you may know, Jackie Lacey and Alan Jackson are in a runoff to succeed Cooley. If they'd like to weigh in on the issue, they know where to find me.
Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0711-lopez-aclu-20120711,0,639131.column
steve.lopez@latimes.com