Opinion ID: 2246164
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Disclosure and the public interest.

Text: The Inspector General argues that even if an absolute privilege does not exist, discovery of its records is against the public interest. The Inspector General asserts that if the identity of informants and the information gathered from them is not totally protected from disclosure, potential informants will be reluctant to speak, and if they do speak, they may be reluctant to give full, complete, and accurate information. The Inspector General also notes that its office has been granted extraordinarily broad investigative powers under Penal Code section 6126.5; therefore, discovery of Inspector General records might allow a person to get indirectly (i.e. from the Inspector General) confidential information that would be protected from discovery if it were sought directly from the source of information. A statute that makes information confidential expresses a strong public policy against disclosure, but it is still necessary to weigh the need for confidentiality against a particular party's interest in obtaining the information. Evidence Code section 1040, subdivision (b). The trial court found Ortega had shown good cause for the production of information that could impeach the credibility of the investigative officer. Under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the government has an obligation to turn over evidence in its possession that is sought in a discovery request by a defendant in a criminal prosecution if the evidence is both favorable to the defendant and material to guilt or punishment. ( Pennsylvania v. Ritchie, supra 480 U.S. at page 57, 107 S.Ct. 989). The weighing of the competing interests of the Inspector General and Ortega should be done by the court because the defendant's right to discover exculpatory evidence does not include a right to search through government records without supervision. ( Pennsylvania v. Ritchie, supra, at page 59, 107 S.Ct. 989.) Both Ortega's right to a fair trial and the Inspector General's interest in maintaining appropriate confidentiality of its records can be protected by the procedure outlined in the trial court's order; namely, the submission of Inspector General report No. 00148 and other specified records to the trial court for an in camera review. The trial court can then determine what information, if any, must be disclosed to Ortega to preserve his right to a fair trial. The Supreme Court in Pennsylvania v. Ritchie, supra, 480 U.S. 39, 107 S.Ct. 989, 94 L.Ed.2d 40, approved of this method of protecting the interests of both the defendant and the government when a subpoena for confidential records is served by the defendant on a government agency.