In a move that could force prosecutors to drop hundreds of cases, Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy has asked city police to give her files on officers who are being investigated for lying or other offenses that could damage their credibility on the witness stand.
In a letter to Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, Jessamy points to a case in which a detective continued to testify in criminal cases four years after the department began investigating him for deceiving emergency dispatchers in a domestic violence case.
Prosecutors learned that Detective Charles Hagee admitted to the deceit only after a judge ordered parts of his internal affairs file released to a defense attorney. This spring, Jessamy banned Hagee from testifying in any of her prosecutors' cases.
"We have to get information that could impact an officer's credibility sooner rather than later," Jessamy said in an interview. "Four years after an incident is far too long. And once I get this information, I will determine whether we're going to continue to use him as a witness, and I'm not going to wait for the Police Department to complete its internal process."
Michael E. Davey, an attorney for the city police union, said Jessamy is creating an "unfair" system to punish police that bypasses the department's internal affairs unit and puts officers' "livelihoods and careers" on the line.
"And she's going to be the judge," Davey said. "It's the state's attorney that's going to make that call? Not a judge and not an independent person or tribunal?"
Jessamy's request comes after years of concerns from defense attorneys about the effectiveness of the Police Department's Internal Investigations Division and whether prosecutors are fully disclosing evidence before trial that could challenge an officer's credibility.
This month, Maryland's highest court strengthened statewide disclosure rules, requiring prosecutors to turn over to defense lawyers evidence of an officer's prior untruthful conduct before trial.
"We can't disclose what we don't know about," Jessamy said.
Jessamy has already banned 15 current or former officers from testifying, according to a so-called "do not call" list obtained by The Sun. A ban is nearly equivalent to a suspension because the officer can no longer make arrests that would require testimony in court.
