S.F. cops' pasts could jeopardize convictions

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Source: San Francisco Chronicle

More than 80 San Francisco police officers have criminal histories or misconduct records that the Police Department withheld and prosecutors did not disclose to defense attorneys in cases in which officers testified, a failure that could put hundreds of felony convictions in jeopardy, The Chronicle has learned.

The potential fallout could be far more severe than that caused by the cocaine-skimming scandal at the San Francisco police drug lab, which prompted prosecutors to dismiss more than 600 narcotics cases, experts say.

"We are not potentially talking about possession of cocaine cases - we are potentially talking about very serious felonies," said Lael Rubin, a prosecutor with the Los Angeles County district attorney's office who oversees that county's disclosure process and leads training seminars on the subject for prosecutors in California.

"Depending on the nature of the failure to disclose (an officer's crimes) and the officer's role in the particular case, it could result in very serious cases being tossed out and serious offenders being released on the street," Rubin said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/04/MNJ71CTL6A.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

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Follow-up story from the Chronicle:

Public defender: Harris' conduct 'unethical'

(05-04) 18:49 PDT SAN FRANCISCO --

San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi accused District Attorney Kamala Harris on Tuesday of "unethical" conduct for not having researched the backgrounds of police officers whose criminal and misconduct histories were unknown to the defense in cases in which they testified.

Harris responded that Adachi's comments were "irresponsible" and that his assertion that hundreds of convictions could be jeopardized by the failure amounted to "wild speculation" and "playing politics with public safety."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/04/BAML1D99V3.DTL

There's so much hypocrisy in the world these days. The Catholic Church is always preaching about chastity and submission to God's Word, yet it lets pedophile priests off the hook.

The District Attorney upholds the law but gives a free pass who's gone through police academy and taken an oath to protect and serve. That's why cops can usually use excessive force and get away with it...even if it results in death. In San Francisco's case, it turned out that a lot of police officers who arrested suspects and were key witnesses and experts in such cases turned out to be criminals themselves.

The Republican Party stands for fiscal responsibility and traditional values, yet some of its leading voices have been caught either cheating on their wives or involved in gay loves. Also, two recent Republican presidents ran major budget deficits and pumped up the national debt.

Sigh.