In US court, a deputy's misconduct made him a pariah. But his secrets were safe with California
LOS ANGELES - For years, James Peterson's secrets were safe in the courtrooms of Los Angeles.
The L.A. County sheriff's deputy, who trawled a stretch of the 5 Freeway for drug traffickers, often testified in the state court system about his arrests. No one knew to ask about his troubled past.
Then one of Peterson's cases landed in federal court.
Prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office delved into the deputy's personnel records for black marks that could call his credibility into question. They found records alleging dishonesty and other misconduct, and they turned the information over to attorneys defending two accused drug traffickers, according to court documents reviewed by The Times.
The case - along with several others built on Peterson's work - collapsed, and the deputy became a pariah in federal court.
The different treatment of Peterson's past in state and federal courts wasn't happenstance. It was just one example of how special privacy protections granted to California's police officers prevent defendants, prosecutors and jurors from learning about information that could undermine an officer's credibility. Those special privacy protections don't apply in federal court.
California is the only state in the nation that blocks prosecutors from directly accessing the personnel files of law enforcement witnesses. Defendants who want to find out about an officer's past must navigate a
