ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala on Tuesday released her office’s Brady list that includes officers who may have credibility issues when it comes to testifying on behalf of the state.
Last year, Ayala announced that her office would develop an enhanced Brady policy to identify potentially problematic witnesses with the goal of making sure court testimony is as truthful and reliable as possible.
The list includes law enforcement officers from the Orlando Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the Kissimmee Police Department, among others.
The school resource officer caught on video yanking a girl’s head is included in the document, as is an officer who was arrested on a DUI charge in 2018.
“Having confidence in the testimony upon which we build our cases is of utmost importance to my office and the justice we seek on a daily basis,” Ayala said in a news release. “We process hundreds of thousands of criminal cases annually and our prosecutors rely heavily on the truthful and reliable testimony by those in law enforcement and other personnel who either witness or investigate crimes.”
A Brady committee, made up of the director of conviction integrity, the chief investigator, two felony bureau chiefs and the chief assistant state attorney, has been meeting monthly since June 2019 to determine whose names should be on the list.
If someone is added, their place of employment is notified.
The Brady committee begins a review of an officer or expert when that person is relieved of duty, under investigation from criminal conduct or accused of any other misconduct. Those who are on the list are not forbidden from testifying but prosecutors should proceed with caution if they plan on calling upon someone on the list.
“We recognize that our office should be held to the highest ethical standards possible, which is why we are releasing our initial Brady list today,” Ayala said in a news release. “It is imperative that we are committed to prosecutorial accountability and as such seek to continue to build community trust. We will not minimize or make excuses when recurring witnesses engage in criminal behavior or other misconduct such as dishonesty, deceit, or improper bias that may jeopardize a prosecution.”
The Fraternal Order of Police suggested that the Brady committee should have members outside of the state attorney’s office publish criteria used to establish the list and provide due process for those who are placed on the list.
Below is the Brady list provided by Ayala’s office:
Orange-Osceola Brady list by Adrienne on Scribd