Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Police Misconduct records

Your California Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of withholding police disciplinary records from public view. If there were a lawsuit in which the records were directly relevant, that could be an exception.

Re: Police Misconduct records

If there is an active criminal case, a motion called a "Pitchess Motion" can be filed. If accepted by the Court, it will allow access to certain police personnel records, including some internal affairs documents. If there is no criminal case, such information can sometimes be obtained by a civil rights law suit or Freedom of Information Act law suit. Either way, it is going to require a law suit be brought against the police department.

Re: Police Misconduct records

Without any litigation, either civil or criminal, you can't go to the court and ask for the officer's personnel file. However, there are many ways to find out some of an officer's history. For example, a google search of the officer's name, a search of the public court records for prior litigation, you can do a Freedom of Information Act or, California Public Records Act request for information from the governmental agency that employs them about complaints related to lawsuits brought against them because of the officer's conduct.