Pitchess Motion In Los Angeles Criminal Defense
A pitchess motion has to do with the general term would be discovery. But basically, what you're trying to do is you're saying there are law enforcement officers that are either percipient witnesses to my case or are going to hold some evidence in my case or have recovered some evidence that I don't feel have done a fair job.
California Senate Bill 1421 makes a Pitchess Motion unnecessary in some types of requests for information.
There are some questionable practices on their part. I think they're lying about something. There are all sorts of different angles as to why you're trying to do the pitchess motion.
What it is, you're saying, let me see the law enforcement's background. In other words, have they ever had any cases filed against them where someone has alleged that they planted evidence? Have they ever had any cases filed against them where somebody has alleged that they have fabricated a police report or done something dishonest?
So, that's what you seek when you do a pitchess motion. For example, a law enforcement officer is a percipient witness who sees what happened and is trying to claim that the defendant did something they didn't do.
Now, you're in a position to challenge. You can confidently tell them, that's not true, and they're going to say it is true. So, how can you challenge them? A pitchess motion starts to get some footwork and groundwork on challenging a police officer, putting you in control of your defense.
A person can testify and say, I didn't do that. This person is lying, and then you try to bring forth other evidence that shows they've lied before, and that shows it's a common practice, and then you can try to challenge them as a witness in a case.
Filing a Pitchess Motion Under California Evidence Codes 1043 and 1045
So, a pitchess motion is something that is strategically filed with the court. The court will hear the motion. You have to submit a motion. You have to submit a declaration. One of the biggest things in a pitchess motion is making an issue out of it, and actively engaging in your defense.
You can't just say, I'd like to see what's there because maybe I can find something good that will help the client. No, it doesn't work that way. You have actually to say something like, my defendant is saying that what this police officer said in the police report is not true, and it bears on a material issue in the case.
Now, you're in business because the judge is going to say they're trying to challenge the officer on a material issue. The judge will then decide whether to grant the motion, allowing you to access the officer's background information.
Now the officer can be challenged if you can find some good stuff related to the pitchess motion, and what ends up happening is – let's say your pitches motion is granted. Now you're going to be given any information there is that's relevant to your inquiry. This information can be crucial in building your defense or challenging the credibility of the police.
You can now take that information and send an investigator out to try to find witnesses who might help the defense – who might have information that bears on the credibility of the police – who might have information the police have lied before – fabricated a police report.
So, if you can do that, and if you can do so successfully, now you start to be able to challenge the police and this pitchess motion is a very effective tool to do that.
Who will come and defend the pitchess motion is a good question in Los Angeles. The City Attorney's office in LA guards the police's record. So, they're going to send a representative.
They object to every pitchess motion. They come in and say no, you shouldn't be able to get the police officer's record. It's not relevant. They come in with all kinds of crazy arguments. But listen, if you have a good argument and it's the right case for a pitchess motion, you have to sit down and discuss it with a criminal defense attorney that's been doing it for a long time.
I've been doing this since from last twenty-five years. I've done hundreds of pitchess motions. If you have the angle, your defense attorney is going to be able to get the pitchess motion, and sometimes you do the pitchess motion and you don't get anything.
Other times, you do the pitchess motion and get something, but then you investigate it and still can't find anything. So, it depends on what is out there to get and how it relates to your case in evaluating whether or not a pitchess motion is the right thing to do.
For me, if the police are witnesses, if there are questions, if your client says they lied – other times pitchess motions are great is when the police claim they see something they didn't, and then they're able to get a search warrant, or they're able to search the person or stop their car.
You can do the pitchess motion and say they've lied about this. We have another witness right here who says they lied about the probable cause necessary to search their home or car.
So, it's also an effective way to challenge motions in Los Angeles. You only do it in some cases. Sometimes, clients ask me to do it, and I tell them the police have nothing to do with whether or not they will be proven guilty or innocent. The police didn't seize any evidence that will be used against you, so we're not going to do a pitchess motion.
It doesn't make sense. It has to make sense and the way you figure out whether a pitchess motion makes sense in your criminal case in Los Angles is to sit down with your attorney. Be honest with them. Tell them what you're thinking and then let the attorney make the decisions and make the moves necessary to properly defend your case, making you an integral part of the defense team.
