Cooley, Baca's silence is stunning
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.
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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.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0711-lopez-aclu-20120711,0,639131.column
