CALIFORNIA ATTORNEYS FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE
4929 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD, SUITE 688
LOS ANGLES, CA 90010
Phone 323-933-9414
Fax 323-933-9417February 10, 2000
LA DISTRICT ATTORNEY THWARTED IN BID TO DESTROY FILES CONTACT:ROBERT BERKE, LEAD ATTORNEY AND CACJ PAST PRESIDENT
310-917-5599 MARY BRODERICK, CACJ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 323-933-9414 For Immediate ReleaseLos Angeles: District Attorney Gil Garcetti has lost another round in his bid to destroy files in closed cases. In a unanimous opinion issued February 9, 2000, the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Two ruled that a taxpayer action brought by California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (CACJ) and other will go forward. California Attorneys for Criminal Justice et al v. County of Los Angeles et al. B125886. "The revelation that people were framed by police in the Rampart division makes it even more imperative that the DA preserve files in closed cases," said Robert Berke, lead plaintiff's attorney and CACJ Past President. "Gil Garcetti should be eager to maintain records which belong to the public, not looking to destroy them. This decision means that records in the DA's office belong to the taxpayers - not to the DA." The suit has its roots in the jailhouse snitch scandal of the late 1980"s and early 1990"s, when jailhouse informants were given special favors in return for manufacturing false "confessions" attributed to other inmates accused and in custody. One snitch, inmate Leslie White, demonstrated how he could phone from the jail and get police and other government agencies to give him information in pending cases - which he then used to falsely testify that other inmates had "confessed" to him. In 1988, pursuant to a stipulation, the Los Angeles Superior Court issued a protective order requiring that felony records dating to 1977 that may have involved jailhouse informants be preserved. In 1994, the DA announced that his office would start destroying felony case files more than 10 years old, but the protective order was extended several times. This suit was filed in November 1996. Founded in 1973, the 2400 member CACJ is the largest statewide criminal defense lawyers association in the country.
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