When a San Diego police officer recently gave testimony that was at odds with video footage from his body-worn camera, a defense lawyer cried foul.

The City Attorney’s Office, which discovered the video, quickly acted to ask the court to vacate a homeless man’s conviction and dismiss the ticket that charged him with living in his vehicle at a public park.

But defense attorney Coleen Cusack wants more. She wants that officer charged with perjury and put on a list.

The “Brady index” lists regional police officers and expert witnesses whose credibility is shot. The City Attorney and District Attorney put them on the list because they have been caught lying on the stand in prior cases or a host of other bad behavior such as filing false reports, showing bias or leniency, or having a history of drug or alcohol abuse.


The list is top secret, because of the highly confidential nature of police officer personnel files. Prosecutors here barely admit the Brady index exists.

When asked just the number of people on it — not their names - DA’s spokesman Steve Walker said that isn’t public, based on a legal review.

The Brady name comes from a 1963 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brady v Maryland that a prosecutor has a duty to disclose to the defense all material evidence held by the prosecutor’s office that is favorable to the defense.

Subsequent court rulings and policies have broadened the concept to include anything a prosecutor knows that may impeach the credibility of an officer or expert witness. Defense lawyers are entitled to ask the court for access to that information. Then if that same officer goes on the witness stand again, he or she can be asked about relevant misconduct.


The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office has a committee of prosecutors that meets monthly to review whether a certain officer should be added or removed from the list.

Cusack wants Officer Colin Governski on the list because he testified in 2016 that he’d seen Tony Diaz sleeping in his pickup camper the year before. Diaz fought the ticket, testifying that he’d only parked at Bahia Point Park to use the restroom, and he was coming out of the facility when Governski saw him.

Diaz lost his case, but appealed. When the appeal went to the City Attorney for a response, a prosecutor discovered that Governski not only had camera footage not seen in court, but it showed Diaz walking from the restroom, not sleeping.

Cusak says every case that relies on testimony from Governski for a conviction should be dismissed. As a side note, the city of San Diego paid another homeless man $15,000 earlier this year to settle a lawsuit alleging harassment and multiple improper arrests by Governski.


Whether he is ever placed on the Brady list is something we may never know.