Prosecutors are constitutionally obligated to disclose to the defense any evidence that could undermine the credibility of a government witness. …
That is important, in part, because judges and juries tend to trust cops’ testimony more than that of criminal defendants unless they have reasons to think otherwise. …
… But this system, meant to protect the public from dishonest and disreputable cops testifying without defendants or juries knowing about their past misdeeds, is not working as it is supposed to. Invisible Institute found county prosecutors across Illinois seem unaware of dozens of officers with histories of dishonesty or other Brady-relevant misconduct, allowing problematic officers to testify without making the required disclosures.
Those findings come from a first-of-its-kind database Invisible Institute compiled from Brady records after requesting them from more than one hundred prosecutors’ offices statewide.
Archived at web.archive.org/…/illinois-police-with-credibilit…