A. General Principles of Discovery
Discovery in a police misconduct case is of critical
importance. Quite often the verdict of a jury will depend on
which side has better command of the facts. Since the
police have generally completed their investigation and
written the reports before the attorney for the prospective
plaintiff has even been retained, the latter is usually playing
catch-up. Often, when the initial investigation efforts are
stifled by an official freeze, discovery may be the only
avenue open to grasp the true facts of the case.
Plaintiff’s attorney should pay attention to any
documents leaving his or her office. Very often documents
are mistakenly sent by one party to another that may have
great importance and may expose a serious weakness in the
case. Counsel should consider sealing off a portion of the
file to store such documents and give strict instructions to
those who handle the data.
