Brady v Mmyland (1963) Giglio v. United States (1972 ..., Lecture notes of Law

Download Brady v Mmyland (1963) Giglio v. United States (1972 ... and more Lecture notes Law in PDF only on Docsity! OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF POLICE THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM POLICY AND PROCEDURE MANUAL Subject: DOCUMENTATION, PRESERVATION AND DISCLOSURE OF EVIDENCE FOR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION Policy Number 214 Effective Date October 1, 2016 Revision Date April 8, 2019 Reevaluation Date Annually Number of Pages 3 Reference Standards UT System Office of General Counsel Brady v Mmyland (1963) Giglio v. United States (1972) Michael Morton Act of2013 Chapter 39, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Rescinds or Amends Policy Number I. PURPOSE The purpose of this policy is to ensure that University of Texas System Police (UTSP) personnel are in compliance with the landmark decisions Brady v Mmyland (1963), Giglio v. United States (1972) and related cases and state laws including the Michael Morton Act o/2013, which revised the criminal discovery process in Chapter 39 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. This policy explains the general duties and procedures. II. POLICY UTSP officers and testifying employees shall fully document, preserve, and disclose, as required, all evidence that is gathered and prepared for criminal investigations. Complete rep011s, including potentially exculpatory information and witness credibility information will be provided to prosecutors in a timely manner. It is the role and responsibility of prosecutors and not that of depaitment employees to reach conclusions regarding what will be disclosed to a criminal defendant in the discovery process. Depaitment employees shall not, by either action or inaction, withhold material related to a case from a prosecutor responsible for that case. This policy should be read in conjunction with any applicable policy(ies) issued by the County Attorney or District Attorney of the county(ies) in which the institution police depat1ment is located and implemented in coordination with those offices. This policy was created using the discovery policies of the Texas Depaitment of Public Safety which has been identified by the Texas District and County Attorneys' Association as a model policy for police agencies. III. DEFINITIONS A. Exculpatory Information- includes what is commonly called "Brady Material" as well as information that must be disclosed under Code ofCriminal Procedure Chapter 39. "Brady Material" is evidence in the government's possession that is favorable to the accused and that is material to either guilt or punishment, including evidence that may impact the credibility of a prosecution witness, including law enforcement officers. ODOP Policy #214, Page 2 B. Chapter 39 Information - a broader category of information than Brady Material. It is evidence that is material to any matter involved in a criminal action that is in the possession, custody, or control of the institution police department or the department's investigating officers. C. Witness credibility information (commonly referred to as "impeachment" evidence or "Giglio/Kyles Information") - evidence that can be used to examine the veracity of the witnesses testifying on behalf of the government including cooperating civilians, informants, and investigating law enforcement officers and employees. This includes disciplinary history or sanctions of law enforcement officers and employees who are called upon to testify on behalf of the prosecution. IV. DUTY TO DOCUMENT AND PRESERVE REPORTS, NOTES AND EVIDENCE A. Institution police depatiment personnel who prepare evidence for criminal proceedings shall completely document activities and preserve information and tangible things gathered in the course of an investigation. Documents such as field notes, working papers and electronic communications shall be preserved as pati of the case file. B. Any state record that is Chapter 39 Information must be retained for at least the minimum period provided for in the UT System Police Records Retention Schedule or guided by state archival records retentions requirements and may not be destroyed until a case is completely concluded even if beyond the scheduled retention. If it is unclear whether an institution police department record that is eligible for destruction under the UT System Police Record Retention Schedule or state guidelines is still required to be retained under this policy as Chapter 39 Information in a pending case, the institution police department will either continue to retain the record until the case is concluded or coordinate with the prosecutor to detennine if the record may be destroyed. V. DUTY TO DOCUMENT EXCULPATORY INFORMATION AND WITNESS CREDIBILITY INFORMATION A. Exculpatory information discovered during investigation shall be clearly documented in institution police depatiment repo1is. The duty to document exculpatory information is comprehensive. The duty to document extends to any investigative activity regarding a specific investigation even if the investigator is not directly assigned to the specific investigative case. B. Witness credibility information shall be documented. This is typically any information that may indicate that a civilian witness has a motivation other than civic duty to provide evidence to the officer. The following are examples of witness credibility information that must be documented: l. payments or assistance given to informants or witnesses; 2. offers or discussions regarding reducing charges against a witness in exchange for information or testimony or discussions of payments or other assistance; 3. offers or discussions relating to not charging the witness with a crime in exchange for testimony or information. VI. DUTY TO DISCLOSE TO PROSECUTOR A. Institution police depatiment employees who provide testimonial or documentaty evidence for criminal prosecutions shall timely disclose all documents, reports, notes, and tangible things that were gathered or created for the case including Chapter 39 Information, exculpatory information and witness credibility information. Disclosures shall be made in the manner directed by the prosecutor.