Case: Douglas v. Cooley

BS138170 | California state trial court

Filed Date: July 10, 2012

Case Ongoing

Clearinghouse coding complete

Case Summary

On July 10, 2012, a criminal defense lawyer in Los Angeles County filed a lawsuit under the U.S. Constitution and state law against the Los Angeles County Police and District Attorney in the Superior Court of California for Los Angeles County. The plaintiff is represented by a consortium of public interest organizations and scholars (including the ACLU of Southern California). The plaintiff requested declaratory and injunctive relief against the District Attorney (DA) and the Los Angeles Sheri…

On July 10, 2012, a criminal defense lawyer in Los Angeles County filed a lawsuit under the U.S. Constitution and state law against the Los Angeles County Police and District Attorney in the Superior Court of California for Los Angeles County. The plaintiff is represented by a consortium of public interest organizations and scholars (including the ACLU of Southern California). The plaintiff requested declaratory and injunctive relief against the District Attorney (DA) and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD), claiming that the two organizations systematically deny due process under the constitution to criminal defendants. Specifically, the plaintiff claims that a series of formal policies regarding evidence that would otherwise indicate the innocence of a defendant ("exculpatory evidence") is suppressed in violation of state law, the California constitution, and the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Between December 2010 and July 2011, three inmates in the Los Angeles Men's Central Jail had been charged with various crimes relating to assaults on corrections officers. In these cases, the defendant's attorney (the plaintiff) requested from the prosecution whether or not the officers involved in the assault had a history of having brutality complaints filed against them. According to state law, the LASD was required to keep a history of complaints as part of the officer's files for five years. In each of these three cases, the prosecution replied that there was no "discoverable information."

According to the plaintiff, several officers involved in these cases had a history of beating inmates, and a history of complaints being filed against them, and the convictions of these three criminal defendants are in doubt. The plaintiffs allege that this information was concealed as a result of a series of policies of both the District Attorney and the Sheriff's Department:

(1) The Sheriff's Department does not mark information for disclosure unless the reviewing deputy believes by 'clear and convincing evidence' that the information is true. The plaintiffs allege that this is a violation of Supreme Court precedent

(2) The Sheriff's Department records incidents of complaints about corrections' officers' violations in the complaining inmate's file, not the correction's officer's file. Plaintiff alleges this is a violation of California Penal Code § 832.5, which requires maintenance of the records in the officer's file for five years.

(3) The DA's office requests a prosecutor to confer with a special unit, and personally convince the compliance attorney that information is exculpatory by 'clear and convincing' evidence. Plaintiff alleges that this is a violation of California Penal Code § 1054.1, and the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution.

(4) The DA's office only discloses exculpatory material to the defense when it is included in the compliance unit's database. Because the compliance attorney must be convinced of the truth of the information, the plaintiff claims that this screening process leads to a systematic violation of the Due Process clause and the California Penal Code § 1054.1(e).

(5) It is the policy of the DA's office to suppress any exculpatory information that is part of another ongoing criminal or administrative investigation. Because the pendency of an investigation can be used as a way to shield exculpatory information from criminal defendants, the plaintiff claims this is a systemic violation of the Due Process Clause.

Following the lawsuit, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department implemented a new system of reporting and tracking complaints against deputies by employee number and name. LASD also manually reviewed inmate complaints from the past five years to ensure that relevant complaints were added to the database. Finally, LASD agreed to notify local defense attorneys about the new policy so attorneys whose clients have pending cases know that they can renew their requests and may receive information that had been withheld under the old policy. As a result, the ACLU dropped the charges against the LASD.

The ACLU then filed an amended complaint, which included claims against the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office for preventing or prohibiting disclosure of favorable evidence to criminal defendants. There is no further information available as of February 15, 2016.

Summary Authors

Blase Kearney (7/23/2012)

Anna Jones (2/15/2016)

Related Cases

Rosas v. Baca, Central District of California (2012)

People


Attorney for Plaintiff

Brennan, Michael J. (California)

Gluck, Benjamin (California)

Ogletree, Charles J. (District of Columbia)

Rosenbaum, Mark Dale (California)

Attorney for Defendant

Lui, Elwood G (California)

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Documents in the Clearinghouse

Document

BS138170

Writ of Mandate and Complaint for Injunctive Relief

July 9, 2012

July 9, 2012

Complaint

Resources

Docket

Last updated Feb. 21, 2024, 4:49 p.m.

ECF Number Description Date Link Date / Link

Petition Filed by null Proceedings Held

July 10, 2012

July 10, 2012

SUMMONS

July 10, 2012

July 10, 2012

VFRIFIED PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDATE AND COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE AND DECLARATORY RELIEF

July 10, 2012

July 10, 2012

Proof of Service (not Summons and Complaint)

July 11, 2012

July 11, 2012

PROOF OF SERVICE SUMMONS

July 11, 2012

July 11, 2012

Proof of Service (not Summons and Complaint) Filed by Jeffrey Douglas (Plaintiff)

July 11, 2012

July 11, 2012

NOTICE OF TRIAL SETTING CONFERENCE & ATTACHED ORDERS THEREON

July 16, 2012

July 16, 2012

Notice of Trial Setting Conference and Attached Orders Thereon Filed by Clerk

July 16, 2012

July 16, 2012

NOTICE OF TRIAL SETTING CONFERENCE

July 23, 2012

July 23, 2012

Notice of Trial Setting Conference and Attached Orders Thereon Filed by Jeffrey Douglas (Plaintiff)

July 23, 2012

July 23, 2012

Amended Petition Filed by Jeffrey Douglas (Plaintiff)

Sept. 27, 2012

Sept. 27, 2012

PROOF OF SERVICE

Sept. 27, 2012

Sept. 27, 2012

AMENDED VERIFIED PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDATE AND COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE AND DECLARATORY RELIEF

Sept. 27, 2012

Sept. 27, 2012

Proof of Service (not Summons and Complaint) Filed by Jeffrey Douglas (Plaintiff)

Sept. 27, 2012

Sept. 27, 2012

Demurrer Filed by Steve Cooley (Defendant); Los Angeles County District Attorney's (Defendant)

Oct. 15, 2012

Oct. 15, 2012

Request for Judicial Notice Filed by Steve Cooley (Defendant); Los Angeles County District Attorney's (Defendant)

Oct. 15, 2012

Oct. 15, 2012

Declaration Filed by Steve Cooley (Defendant); Los Angeles County District Attorney's (Defendant)

Oct. 15, 2012

Oct. 15, 2012

RESPONDENTS/DEFENDANTS' NOTICE OF DEMURRER AND DEMURRER TO PETITIONER/PLAINTIFF'S AMENDED VERIFIED PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDATE AND COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE AND DECLARATORY RELIEF

Oct. 15, 2012

Oct. 15, 2012

DECLARATION OF BEONG-SOO KIM IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANTS' REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE IN SUPPORT OF DEMURRER

Oct. 15, 2012

Oct. 15, 2012

RESPONDENTS/DEFENDANTS' REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE IN SUPPORT OF DEMURRER

Oct. 15, 2012

Oct. 15, 2012

Minute Order

Oct. 18, 2012

Oct. 18, 2012

Trial Setting Conference - Held - Continued

Oct. 18, 2012

Oct. 18, 2012

Stipulation Filed by Jeffrey Douglas (Plaintiff)

Dec. 19, 2012

Dec. 19, 2012

STIPULATION TO RESCHEDULE HEARING ON DEFENDANTS DEMURRER

Dec. 19, 2012

Dec. 19, 2012

Minute Order

Jan. 3, 2013

Jan. 3, 2013

Court Order - Held

Jan. 3, 2013

Jan. 3, 2013

Notice of Hearing Filed by Jeffrey Douglas (Plaintiff)

Jan. 10, 2013

Jan. 10, 2013

NOTICE OF HEARING PER COURT ORDER

Jan. 10, 2013

Jan. 10, 2013

at 09:30 AM in Department 85 Hearing on Demurrer - without Motion to Strike (Hearing on Demurrer; Matter continued) -

Jan. 17, 2013

Jan. 17, 2013

Minute Order

Jan. 24, 2013

Jan. 24, 2013

Status Conference - Held - Continued

Jan. 24, 2013

Jan. 24, 2013

at 09:30 AM in Department 85 Hearing on Demurrer - without Motion to Strike (Hearing on Demurrer; Matter continued) -

Jan. 24, 2013

Jan. 24, 2013

Request for Dismissal Filed by Jeffrey Douglas (Plaintiff)

Feb. 26, 2013

Feb. 26, 2013

Notice of Entry of Dismissal & P/S Filed by Benjamin N. Gluck (Attorney)

Feb. 26, 2013

Feb. 26, 2013

REQUEST FOR DISMISSAL

Feb. 26, 2013

Feb. 26, 2013

NOTICE OF ENTRY OF DISMISSAL AND PROOF OF SERVICE

Feb. 26, 2013

Feb. 26, 2013

at 09:30 AM in Department 85 Status Conference (Status Conference; Off Calendar) -

Feb. 28, 2013

Feb. 28, 2013

Case Details

State / Territory: California

Case Type(s):

Criminal Justice (Other)

Key Dates

Filing Date: July 10, 2012

Case Ongoing: Yes

Plaintiffs

Plaintiff Description:

A criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles County

Plaintiff Type(s):

Private Plaintiff

Attorney Organizations:

ACLU of Southern California

Public Interest Lawyer: Yes

Filed Pro Se: No

Class Action Sought: No

Class Action Outcome: Not sought

Defendants

Los Angeles District Attorney (Los Angeles, Los Angeles), County

Los Angeles Police Department (Los Angeles, Los Angeles), County

Defendant Type(s):

Jurisdiction-wide

Case Details

Causes of Action:

State law

Constitutional Clause(s):

Due Process

Available Documents:

Complaint (any)

Outcome

Prevailing Party: None Yet / None

Nature of Relief:

None yet

Source of Relief:

None yet

Issues

General:

Incident/accident reporting & investigations

Records Disclosure

Policing:

False arrest

Jails, Prisons, Detention Centers, and Other Institutions:

Grievance procedures

Assault/abuse by staff (facilities)

Affected Sex or Gender:

Male

Type of Facility:

Government-run