Officer’s Full Personnel File Off-Limits to Judges

Judges trying to determine whether to admit evidence of misconduct by police officers testifying in court are not entitled to the officer’s entire personnel file, the state Supreme Court has ruled.

In a unanimous decision, the high court ruled this week that Santa Ana police officials did nothing inappropriate when they gave a judge only a portion of a jail guard’s personnel file before a trial that hinged on the officer’s testimony. The decision reinstates the conviction of a man accused of assaulting the guard.