Why we need access to police misconduct records in Delaware

In Part IV of a series of essays from the Delaware Call, they explore the need for defense counsel to access police misconduct records. Currently the Delaware Law-Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights (LEOBOR) protects these records as evidence. As they suggest in Part IV: The Solution, “Police are often the sole or the most important witnesses in a criminal trial. Their honesty matters. Their credibility matters. How they handle evidence matters. How they stop people and search their homes matters. Who they decide to routinely stop and search matters. Whether they use excessive force matters.”

Under LEOBOR, criminal defense attorneys aren’t able to access police misconduct records, in some instances this can be incredibly critical information and while in rare instances, the Court has granted some requests for these records, in the past 27 years, there have only been a handful.

“LEOBOR’s restrictions provide a special and unique cloak of privacy for law-enforcement in the trial process. Juries are entitled to know whether the officer testifying under oath has a history of relevant misconduct, just like any other witness who testifies.”

As they state, a fair criminal justice system demands that all parties have access to the same information. “Defense attorneys play an important role in protecting the Constitution and should have the same access when someone’s liberty is at stake.”

Read the full essay here