Opinion ID: 1196411
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Duty of Police Officers versus Prosecutors

Text: The Inspectors argue, first, that Brady imposes a duty on prosecutors, but not on police officers, to disclose exculpatory evidence. We reject the Inspectors' argument. We have held that exculpatory evidence cannot be kept out of the hands of the defense just because the prosecutor does not have it, where an investigating agency does. That would undermine Brady by allowing the investigating agency to prevent production by keeping a report out of the prosecutor's hands until the agency decided the prosecutor ought to have it, and by allowing the prosecutor to tell the investigators not to give him certain materials unless he asked for them. United States v. Blanco, 392 F.3d 382, 388 (9th Cir.2004). The Inspectors' position also is untenable in light of the Supreme Court's admonition that  Brady suppression occurs when the government fails to turn over even evidence that is `known only to police investigators and not to the prosecutor.' Youngblood v. West Virginia, 547 U.S. 867, 869-70, 126 S.Ct. 2188, 165 L.Ed.2d 269 (2006) (per curiam) (quoting Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 438, 115 S.Ct. 1555, 131 L.Ed.2d 490 (1995)); see also, e.g., Newsome v. McCabe, 256 F.3d 747, 752-53 (7th Cir.2001) (stating that it was clearly established in 1979 and 1980 that police could not withhold exculpatory information about fingerprints and the conduct of a lineup from prosecutors). We accordingly reject this argument.