WA prosecutors who withhold evidence rarely face discipline

Different standards 

Prosecutors vary widely in terms of what information they think they are required to share.

Randall Gaylord, the San Juan County prosecutor whose office handled Young’s theft case, said his office informs defense attorneys about officer misconduct if an officer has sustained disciplinary findings of dishonesty or untruthfulness — or, if a judge rules an officer was dishonest.

Because Maya wasn’t sanctioned specifically for lying or making a false statement, Gaylord said the deputy’s history of shoddy report writing, outbursts and poor work performance didn’t need to be disclosed.

“To be subject to disclosure, there should be a finding of dishonesty or falsehood,” Gaylord wrote in an email. 

King County, where Seattle is located, has a slightly broader definition of what should land an officer on the Brady list. But a good deal of officer misconduct still doesn’t make the cut.

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office generally puts cops on its Brady list when they have disciplinary findings of dishonesty, biased policing, criminal conduct or pending allegations of the same, said spokesperson Casey McNerthney.

“We are well aware of our obligations, and err on the side of disclosure,” wrote Dan Clark, the head of the criminal division of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, in an email to Crosscut.

Yet the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys recommends that prosecutors disclose even more. 

Prosecutors are obligated to turn over a wide range of information that could cause a jury to second-guess the state’s case; that can include allegations that didn’t lead to findings of misconduct, or behavior for which an officer was never formally disciplined, said Pam Loginsky, the prosecutor association’s staff attorney.

An officer making inaccurate statements under oath or in official reports also should be disclosed, Loginsky said, even if those falsehoods weren’t necessarily intentional.

The same goes for forensic lab failures, conflicting statements from witnesses or issues involving the mishandling of evidence, she added.

Gaylord said another reason he chose not to add Maya to San Juan County’s Brady list is because Maya resigned.

A new state law hinges on prosecutors keeping their Brady lists updated to ensure police agencies can find out whether officers were flagged as having credibility issues in past jobs.

Under the new law, police agencies must ask whether potential new hires are on the Brady list where they previously worked. 

Dhingra, the state senator, said that if prosecutors don’t add officers to county Brady lists simply because those officers resigned, it could create a loophole in the new law. 

Former officers can also be called on to testify in pending cases, making their disciplinary histories relevant even after they’ve left the force. 

Maya, for example, didn’t testify in Young’s trial until 10 months after he resigned. 

Maya didn’t respond to messages asking him to comment for this story.