Opinion 17-140

November 13, 2017

Dear :

         This responds to your inquiry (17-140) asking several questions about your ethical obligations in the event a prosecutor fails to provide certain Brady material in future criminal cases involving a particular police officer where the prosecutor has disclosed Brady material in the past.

         The Committee does not answer hypothetical or speculative questions and, therefore, must decline to respond. In the event these or other possible scenarios do occur in the future and you have questions regarding your ethical obligations, please feel free to contact us again.¹

                                                 Very truly yours,

                                                 George D. Marlow, Assoc. Justice

                                                 Appellate Div., First Dep’t (Ret.)

                                                 Committee Co-Chair

                                                 Hon. Margaret T. Walsh

                                                 Family Court Judge

                                                 Acting Justice, Supreme Court

                                                 Committee Co-Chair

____________________

¹The Committee cannot comment on a prosecutor’s disclosure obligations, a legal issue that may have possible constitutional dimensions (see Judiciary Law §212[2][l];

 22 NYCRR 101.1; see generally e.g. Giglio v United States, 405 US 150 [1972]; Brady v Maryland, 373 US 83 [1963]; People v Steadman, 82 NY2d 1 [1993]).