Test API Attachments w attachments

This request is being made jointly by a coalition of 40 news organizations including KQED, Bay Area News Group / Southern California News Group, Capital Public Radio, Southern California Public Radio and The Los Angeles Times, collectively known as the California Reporting Project.

January 1, 2020

Attn:
District Attorney’s Office

Dear District Attorney,

This is a public records request seeking records about employees of the district attorney as well as records in the possession of the district attorney regarding peace officers employed by any other agency.

As you know, this coalition of news organizations filed a request with your agency on Jan. 1, 2019, for records disclosable under Senate Bill 1421’s amendments regarding a five-year time period: 2014 to 2018. This request seeks similar records from 2019. Responses to this request must include any documents from investigations from previous years that concluded in 2019 and any incidents that occured in 2019 that are completed and disclosable.

Under the California Public Records Act § 6250 et seq., this coalition of organizations engaged in the dissemination of information to the public request access to and copies of the following information in electronic, searchable/sortable format, where applicable. Each element requested should be considered severable for purposes of invoking a time extension or exemption under either local or state law.

SUSTAINED FINDINGS:

Records from Jan. 1, 2019, to present of sustained findings1 that a peace officer -- including but not limited to employees of the district attorney’s office -- committed sexual assault2 or dishonesty-related misconduct3. District attorneys are required to maintain records of these kinds of misconduct relating to any peace officer in the county to fulfill obligations under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), and those records must be disclosed under Cal. Pen. 832.7(b) et. seq.

The response should reasonably include all applicable records specified by statute4, including but not limited to: all investigative reports; photographic, audio and video evidence; transcripts and recordings of interviews; all materials compiled and presented for review to the district attorney or to any person or body charged with determining whether to file criminal charges against an officer in connection with an incident, or whether the officer’s action was consistent with law and agency policy for purposes of discipline or administrative action, or what discipline to impose or corrective action to take; documents setting forth findings or recommended findings; and copies of disciplinary records relating to the incident, including any letters of intent to impose discipline, any documents reflecting modifications of discipline due to the Skelly or grievance process, and letters indicating final imposition of discipline or other documentation reflecting implementation of corrective action.

To the extent that the district attorney’s office maintains a list (i.e. a “Brady list”) of officers who may have credibility issues in testimony based on a record involving sustained findings of dishonesty, sexual assault or discipline relating to use-of-force, those entries of that record must also be disclosed.

USE OF FORCE: Employee of District Attorney

Records from Jan. 1, 2019 to present relating to the report, investigation, or findings of incidents in which the use of force by any peace officer employed by the district attorney’s office against a person resulted in death, or in great bodily injury5. This request also seeks records of incidents in which DA peace officers discharged firearms, regardless of whether any injury occurred.

The response should reasonably include all applicable records specified by statute6, including but not limited to: all investigative reports; photographic, audio and video evidence; transcripts and recordings of interviews; autopsy reports; all materials compiled and presented for review to the district attorney or to any person or body charged with determining whether to file criminal charges against an officer in connection with an incident, or whether the officer’s action was consistent with law and agency policy for purposes of discipline or administrative action, or what discipline to impose or corrective action to take; documents setting forth findings or recommended findings; and copies of disciplinary records relating to the incident, including any letters of intent to impose discipline, any documents reflecting modifications of discipline due to the Skelly or grievance process, and letters indicating final imposition of discipline or other documentation reflecting implementation of corrective action.

To avoid confusion, please identify any ongoing use of force investigations that are not yet disclosable but will be upon completion.

USE OF FORCE: Non-Employee Peace Officer

Decisional records from Jan. 1, 2019 to present created by the DA’s Office relating to the report, investigation, or findings of incidents in which the use of force by any peace officer, against a person resulted in death, or in great bodily injury5. This request also seeks decisional records regarding incidents in which peace officers discharged firearms, regardless of whether any injury occurred.

This response should include letters or reports issued by the DA that state the findings of all criminal investigations into peace officer uses of force, including shootings.
To avoid confusion, please identify any ongoing use of force investigations that are not yet disclosable but will be upon completion.

To the extent the records exist in electronic format, please provide them in that format.

We also draw your attention to Government Code section 6253.1, which requires a public agency to assist the public in making a focused and effective request by (1) identifying records and information responsive to the request, (2) describing the information technology and physical location in which the records exist, and (3) providing suggestions for overcoming any practical basis for denying access to the records or information sought. The purpose of this request is to obtain the above referenced documents. Please provide your full compliance with 6253.1 should the need arise.

To the extent that a portion of the information we have requested is not immediately available, we request that whatever documentation is immediately available be turned over first.

Please limit all communications regarding this request to email. Please do not telephone us regarding this matter.

For documents that could be provided in electronic, searchable format, where applicable: We can handle a variety of data formats, and we would be happy to correspond about this request to figure out what would be the easiest or best way to provide the requested records.

Please notify us via email if the responsive records are larger than 15 MB to make arrangements about how to best provide the records.

If this request is denied in whole or part, we ask that you justify all individual deletions/redactions or withheld records by reference to specific exemptions of the law. We will also expect you to release all segregable portions of otherwise exempt material.

Please contact us by email if you have any questions about this request. We look forward to receiving the required determination within 10 days.

1. “Sustained” finding as defined by Cal. PEN. Code § 832.8(b).
2. “Sexual Assault” as defined by Cal. PEN. Code § 832.7(b)(1)(B)(ii).
3. Misconduct as defined by Cal. PEN. Code § 832.7(b)(1)(C).
4. Cal. PEN. Code § 832.7 (b)(2).
5. Cal. PEN. Code § 832.7 (b)(ii).
6. Cal. PEN. Code § 832.7 (b)(2).