Reformer

A week before voters will elect his replacement and after more than two decades in office, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman recently circulated a memo ...

“This is about (whether) we can trust the results coming out of that office.” The county attorney’s office, he said, should be transparent about what prompted Freeman to announce “elementary procedural requirements.” If misconduct occurs, it must be reported to deputy county attorneys and the office “Brady team” to review and determine whether to flag incidents in their system. Former Hennepin County public defender Abigail Cerra said she commends Freeman for taking up the issue, but she sees “glaring holes” in the policy he outlined. As part of their introduction to the office, all new prosecutors will be trained on their ethical obligations, including the disclosure of Brady and Giglio information, and trained at least annually after that, Freeman said. Rice said it’s hard to find accurate information about the office’s compliance with Brady. Defense attorneys want a list of officers with a history of misconduct and lying in court, sometimes called a Brady list. The Supreme Court ruled in a 1972 case, Giglio v. [report](https://mn.gov/mdhr/assets/Investigation%20into%20the%20City%20of%20Minneapolis%20and%20the%20Minneapolis%20Police%20Department_tcm1061-526417.pdf) released in April which said his prosecutors do not turn over Brady material, despite a constitutional requirement to do so. Attorneys, paralegals, law clerks and support staff will be required to report “concerning conduct” — such as dishonesty, mishandling evidence, and excessive force — to their manager. Maryland](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/373/83/case.html), in which the court ruled prosecutors must hand over evidence that’s favorable to the defense. For example, evidence that a police officer has lied in court or has a history of brutalizing citizens.