Ada County Prosecutor Reveals Brady Material

Remember how I was complaining (ok - whining) about "How Come Prosecutors Don't Get Brady?" (SCOIDBlog April 28, 2009) Well, to my surprise and delight there was some Brady/Giglio material in this morning's mail courtesy of the Ada County Prosecuting Attorney.

"It has come to our attention that Detective Mike Babbit has separated from employment with the Garden City Police Department. An internal investigation revealed that Detective Babbit made false statements in a police report during a pending investigation. That investigation was not submitted to the prosecutor's office for review. Detective Babbit indicated in that police report that he had followed up on certain investigative leads in that case when in fact he had not pursued those leads. He then closed out that case as inactive. That case has been reassigned to another detective."

In July, the prosecutors sent out this disclosure.

"It has come to our attention that Officer Tony White has separated from employment from the Boise Police Department. The Boise Police Department has issued sustained departmental policy violations against Tony White for non-conformance to laws and conduct unbecoming an officer. The sustained violations are based upon an internal investigation, which disclosed sufficient evidence to conclude that Officer White failed to register his vehicle in Idaho as required by law, failed to timely pay sales tax on the vehicle, and attempted to protect the asset from seizure during an IRS audit. During the proceeding regarding the internal investigation, Officer White gave inconsistent statements."

All those other defendants who have Mr. Babbit or Mr. White involved in their cases should receive a similar disclosure. Also, those who don't practice in Ada Co., please be on the lookout for new hires at your local police department as these two may be looking for a new situation.

Kudos to the prosecutors who followed the Constitution in these cases.