Officials in Chicago are failing to meet their legal obligations to turn over evidence that would be helpful to the defense, including information that calls into question the credibility of prosecution witnesses, such as police officers, according to a new investigation by the Invisible Institute and the Chicago Reader. With support from the Fund, Max Blaisdell, Sam Stecklow and Matt Chapman examined mechanisms for sharing this information (which is referred to as Brady disclosures, named for the U.S. Supreme Court case that requires authorities to turn over the information). They found that the prosecutor’s office in Cook County, Illinois, maintains two lists of police officers with credibility issues – but only makes one of the lists public. In a follow-up story this week, the team reported that 20 police officers in Chicago made hundreds of arrests after they were put on one of the lists because of their past misconduct.
Grantees document systemic Brady violations in Chicago – and reveal that 20 police officers made hundreds of arrests after being flagged for misconduct
