[LSDailyNews] "Local citizens have the right to know", DA Terentiy Schwetz unveils Brady list for the public to see

[Los Santos Daily News]

NEWS • Local News

Written by Yunisa DELGADO-FLORES • June 11th, 2022 - 6:05AM

"Local citizens have the right to know", DA Terentiy Schwetz unveils Brady list for the public to see

 

Earlier this week, Terentiy Schwetz announced that the Los Santos County District Attorney Office's Brady list, a list of law enforcement officers in Los Santos County who aren't viewed as credible, will be remain public.

 

The Halls of Justice - Yunisa Delgado-Flores, June 11th 2022

 

 

 

The past few years saw the rise of movements and protests against the police system and its departments within the United States and across the world.

 

Following George Floyd’s death in Minnesota, caused by police officer Derek Chauvin who knelt on his neck for 9 minutes while arresting him — as well as after many other high-profile cases such as Breonne Taylor’s death during a “no-knock warrant” in Kentucky, and the handling of Ahmaud Arbery’s murder by Georgia’s Glynn County Police Department —, many called into question how accountable the police are in their communities and the extent of the powers that they hold.

 

One tool that prosecutors across the country have to help against the corrupt and abusive police officers within our communities are Brady Lists; a list of officers that have found to be unreliable and possibly malicious.

 

Following the ruling of Brady vs. Maryland, a case in the Supreme court where the prosecutors within Maryland were found to have suppressed evidence, and the case where the Brady list gets its namesake from, prosecutors must turn over all evidence that may exonerate the defendant.

 

This ruling, and subsequent rulings from cases such as Giglio and Jenks, also requires that prosecutors keep a track of law enforcement officers that may not be credible as witnesses.

 

In a press release issued by the Los Santos County District Attorney’s Office, they announced the DA’s Brady list's construction and publication. Unlike many other Brady lists in San Andreas and the rest of the United States, the LSDA's Brady list remains open for public viewing.

 

"I took office with the promise that the public would see more accountability from our law enforcement agencies and more control when law enforcement officers violate their oaths.” wrote Los Santos County’s District Attorney Terentiy Schwetz in their press release.

 

“Brady lists exist in many other jurisdictions in San Andreas, and with this we now have the opportunity to promote honesty and integrity from all peace officers. This will have a net benefit for the citizens of Los Santos County, and it goes a long way to fulfilling the mandate provided to us by the federal government to ensure all of our agencies are operating at their best."

 

 

The Los Santos County District Attorney’s office listed five reasons as to why a law enforcement officer may end up on their Brady list in their press release.

 

     If an officer has been found to have given a false statement, whether it is to their Internal Affairs department, to the district attorney’s office, or to Judicial or Executive entities, they shall be added to the DA’s Brady List.

 

In Baltimore, Maryland, WBAL-TV reported that Detective Robert Hankard was found guilty for planting narcotics and weapons on people that he later arrested earlier this year. He is currently being sued by someone he formerly arrested.

 

      If an officer has been found to obstruct the proceedings of a judicial entity, they shall be added to the LSDA’s Brady List. The DA wrote in their press release that obstruction includes coercion, violence, or abusing their status and position as a law enforcement officer as well as causing any delays in court proceedings or investigations conducted by judicial entities.

 

For example, if an officer were to delay giving a statement or purposefully prolong the process of supplying evidence in a case to delay proceedings, they will have been found to obstruct judicial entities.

 

Likewise, if an officer uses their status to coerce a witness to testify or a defendant to plead guilty, or if they physically threaten those to do the same, then they also will have been found to have obstructed a judicial entity and will be added to the Brady List.

 

     If an officer has been found to have withheld evidence from the court, especially evidence that exonerates a defendant or is crucial to the conviction of a criminal, then they shall be added to the Brady list.

 

The initial trial of Brady vs. Maryland dealt with how the state of Maryland withheld crucial evidence that may have exonerated Brady. Initially sentenced to death for murder, the Supreme Court ruled that Brady were to be given a new hearing due to how state prosecutors withheld a testimony given by his accomplice Donald Boblit that heard him confess to the murder.

 

Brady’s sentence was lessened to life imprisonment, where he was later paroled.

 

     If an officer has founded to act on behalf of a gang, or is shown to be associated or a member of a gang, they shall be added to the Brady list.

 

This also includes groups of officers that act to benefit themselves rather than the public.

 

     Finally, any law enforcement officer that has been found to be guilty of a violent misdemeanour charge, or is guilty of any felony, shall be put on the Brady list.

 

 

 

When a law enforcement officer enters the DA's Brady list their statements, past or future, won’t be considered as valid evidence, reported the DA. Likewise any use of force by officers on the list will be investigated by the LSDA following the internal investigations from within their department. Officers on the list shall also no longer be able to submit arrest warrants to the DA’s office.

 

Brady lists are often maintained by district attorney offices across the country, however many different agencies and organizations — both state and private — maintain their own.

 

One non-profit, named aptly Brady List, keeps a public record of officers whose credibility is questionable across the United States. The record is kept public and allows Law Enforcement Organizations, Prosecutors, and Peace Officer Standards and Training Departments to contribute.

 

Citizen Reporters, those who record misuse of power by law enforcement, also add to this non-profit’s list.

 

Most state-ran Brady lists however, whether maintained by prosecutors, law enforcement agencies, or other governmental departments, remain burdensome to access for members of the public. Access to them, if possible, is usually behind a freedom of information request. The proper procedure to submit a FOI request often is unclear within many governmental agencies.

 

The Los Santos County District Attorney however has made their list publicly available through this web-link.

 

 

The Brady list is seen as a valuable tool by attorneys. Rachel Pearson, the managing partner of Pearson Hastings LLP, described the list to be “imperative in defending clients as it challenges the testimony given by officers.”

 

Pearson also noted a possible negative of the Brady list, with how entries mark the end of the careers of law enforcement officers.

 

“The Brady list is a step forward for accountability from law enforcement agencies, it is a publicly available list that displays officers that have been proven to have disreputable conduct. Once a peace officer is placed on the Brady list - this is effectively the end of their career, of which is of course, a negative to this list.”, wrote Pearson in response to their views of the Brady list.

 

District Attorney Terentiy Schwetz stood by the decision to make the Brady list public for viewing. They wrote how one of the points that Schwetz wishes to focus on as the District Attorney is accountability.

“The District Attorney's Office under my tutelage is focused on accountability and transparency. Local citizens have the right to know when their public servants have lied under oath, and this is important to every single criminal case. Even as a prosecutor, my concern is for the rights of everyone coming through the court system, and that means playing fair.

 

“Nobody should lie to secure a conviction, nobody should withhold evidence, and definitely we shouldn't have people convicted of crimes who can arrest other people - that's just hypocritical.”

 

The Los Santos Daily News reached out for an interview with the Los Santos Police Protection League through emailing presidential candidate for the union officer John Grillo to see if the union had a statement. While a full interview as of yet hasn’t been scheduled, he wrote that “The Los Santos Police Protective League is devoted to protecting the rights, job security, labor laws, and all around well-being of its officers.”

 

 

 

 

When asked whether or not other agencies within Los Santos County, including the Los Santos Police Department, the Los Santos County Sheriff’s Department, the State Fire Marshal’s and the San Andreas Park Rangers, will contribute to the Brady list, District Attorney Terenity Shwetz wrote back that “All law enforcement entities in the state of San Andreas are expected to cooperate with the Brady List.

 

“If they don't provide the names, we will find them ourselves through public records, although we hope that the agencies will naturally cooperate with us since we are partners.”

 

The Los Santos Daily News reached out for a comment to the Los Santos Police Department and the Los Santos County Sheriff’s Department regarding their cooperation with the DA’s public Brady list, as well as any internal punishments seen to officers or deputies that have found to have violated the five offences listed by the DA’s office.  

 

Sheriff Joseph E. Cline wrote back to the Daily News. In response to a question regarding the LSSD’s cooperation with the DA’s Brady list, they wrote that

 

“The Department works very closely with the Los Santos County District Attorney's Office in cracking down on corruption and has numerous times in the past assisted the office in conjunctly working on corruption cases. The Department strives for fostering relations with the District Attorney's Office and will ensure that any department member who engages in acts listed under the Brady Disclosure conditions shall be put on the list.”

 

When asked about what internal punishments are issued to those who violate any of the acts listed in the DA’s press release, they noted how their “strives to instill compliance into employees and its system on the application of internal punishment is weighed by a system that measures both mitigating and aggravating factors of an incident.

 

“A department member being found to have been guilty of any of the listed actions for the Brady List shall be subject to disciplinary action from an internal suspension w/o pay to a dismissal from employment. These circumstances vary and each situation shall be evaluated by the Internal Affairs Bureau and the respective Executive Office to ensure compliance with both the law & internal policy.”

 

The same questions were sent to the Los Santos Police Department’s Chief of Staff Jacqueline Coburn, as directed by the LSPD’s Point of Contacts list available on their webpage, on June the 8th at approximately 11PM. As of this articles publishing date, they have not responded.

 

As it stands, there are two entries in the Brady list. The District Attorney’s office stated that they will not be looking at previous infractions committed by law enforcement officers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited June 20, 2022 by Los Santos Daily News
Pronoun fixing

[knppel]

Username: TheRealCarrySaunders

Comment: Take note of the very last sentence. What comes off as short leash and supervisory body is actually absolution by Schwetz for all misconduct that never got properly investigated and cleared up in the past.

Chapeau!

Edited June 11, 2022 by knppel

[Smith]

Username: DAVISJANITOR

Comment: Congratulations to the liberals in this state who continue to lessen the effective policing that can be done against violent criminals. The sworn men and women of this great state who put their lives on the lines are now effectively handcuffed in doing their jobs. 

 

The liberal DA's office, the liberal judges are ruining this great city and this great state and are continuing their war on the police. When will it end? It'll end when everyone is getting murdered by violent thugs.

 

Law Enforcement officers should engage in work slow downs and stop arresting people to show these people what will really happen when you defund and remove effective policing measures. 

 

LET THE CITY BURN.

[Los Santos Daily News]

((

In light of this ruling. the comments regarding Navarro and Ramirez's entries into the Brady list will be removed or edited.))