City of Los Angeles v. Superior Court

Defendant Jeremy Brandon, who was charged with sexually molesting a seven-year-old boy, sought discovery of certain information in the personnel records of the two arresting officers. The trial court reviewed the materials in chambers and, as relevant here, ordered the disclosure of a citizen complaint filed against one of the officers 10 years before the arrest in this case. Although Evidence Code section 1045, subdivision (b)(1) expressly precludes discovery of citizen complaints “occurring more than five years before” the accused’s criminal act, the Court of Appeal upheld the trial court’s order as necessary to protect defendant’s federal constitutional right to a fair trial. (Italics added.)

We reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

I. Facts and Procedural Background

On February 1, 2000, two Los Angeles police officers arrested defendant for the sexual molestation of a seven-year-old child that had occurred earlier that day. The district attorney charged defendant with lewd conduct on a child under age 14 (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a)) and with failing to register as a sex offender (id., § 290, subd. (g)(2)), a requirement imposed as a consequence of…

I agree with the majority that the 1990 complaint against Officer C. does not meet the materiality standard set forth in Brady v. Maryland (1963) 373 U.S. 83 [ 83 S.Ct. 1194 , 10 L.Ed.2d 215 ] (Brady) (maj. opn., ante, at pp. 15-16), but I reject the conclusion (id. at pp. 14-15) that a pretrial discovery motion pursuant to Pitchess v. Superior Court (1974) 11 Cal.3d 531 [ 113 Cal.Rptr. 897 , 522 P.2d 305 ] (Pitchess) and Evidence Code section 1043, subdivision (b), permits the trial court to search through confidential police personnel records for Brady material.

The majority relies on Pennsylvania v. Ritchie (1987) 480 U.S. 39 [ 107 S.Ct. 989 , 94 L.Ed.2d 40 ] (Ritchie). (Maj. opn., ante, at pp. 14-15.) That case involved confidential records that were not available to the prosecution, and hence the prosecution had no means to meet its Brady obligation with respect to those records. (Ritchie, at p. 57 [ 107 S.Ct. at p. 1001 ].) In that context, the high court approved a procedure, based on Pennsylvania law, whereby the trial court reviewed the records in chambers for Brady material. (Ritchie, at pp. 58-61 [107 S.Ct. at pp. 1001-1003].) The majority is correct that peace officer…

The court today upholds two related portions of the statutory scheme that governs the discovery of citizen complaints against peace officers: (1) Evidence Code section 1045, subdivision (b)(1), which prohibits the disclosure of citizen complaints older than five years; and (2) Penal Code section 832.5, subdivision (b), which requires that citizen complaints “be retained for a period of at least five years” and, as interpreted today, allows for the destruction of such documents immediately after this five-year period. I respectfully dissent. I believe that the per se prohibition against disclosure of relevant citizen complaints simply because they are a day older than five years is arbitrary and violates due process. I also believe that the state-sponsored systematic destruction of relevant evidence runs afoul of both Davis v. Alaska (1974) 415 U.S. 308 [ 94 S.Ct. 1105 , 39 *19 L.Ed.2d 347 ] (Davis) and California v. Trombetta (1984) 467 U.S. 479 [ 104 S.Ct. 2528 , 81 L.Ed.2d 413 ] (Trombetta). Finally, I believe that the majority’s attempt to harmonize the Pitchess scheme with a prosecutor’s obligation to disclose exculpatory evidence under Brady v. Maryland (1963) 373 U.S. 83 […

Richard Leonard for Real Party in Interest.

Michael P. Judge, Public Defender, Albert J. Menaster and Mark G. Harvis, Deputy Public Defenders, for Los Angeles County Public Defender as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Real Party in Interest.

KENNARD, J.

Defendant Jeremy Brandon, who was charged with sexually molesting a seven-year-old boy, sought discovery of certain information in the personnel records of the two arresting officers. The trial court reviewed the materials in chambers and, as relevant here, ordered the disclosure of a citizen complaint filed against one of the officers 10 years before the arrest in this case. Although Evidence Code section 1045, subdivision (b)(1) expressly precludes discovery of citizen complaints "occurring more than five years before" the accused's criminal act, the Court of Appeal upheld the trial court's order as necessary to protect defendant's federal constitutional right to a fair trial. (Italics added.)

We reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

On February 1, 2000, two Los Angeles police officers arrested defendant for the sexual molestation of a seven-year-old child that had occurred earlier that day. The district attorney charged…