In a story that could make the cocaine-stealing story look like schoolyard drama, The Chronicle has a brilliant gem of an investigative piece today. Brace yourselves: "more than 80 San Francisco police officers have criminal histories or misconduct records that the Police Department withheld and prosecutors did not disclose to defense attorneys in cases in which officers testified, a failure that could put hundreds of felony convictions in jeopardy."
Though she has yet to make a public statement, District Attorney Kamala Harris' office is scrambling to "rectify problems."
Described by SF Appeal as a worrisome "Don't Tell, Don't Ask" policy, San Francisco police must volunteer criminal pasts to the DA's office. According to the Chronicle, the SFPD wasn't volunteering this crucial information, and the DA's office wasn't asking. Which: yikes. SF Weekly goes so far as to call this "an A-1, bomb-tossing corker of a story."
"This is huge," San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi explains to the Chronicle. "It will make the problems at the crime lab look like small potatoes."
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