Defendant made a sufficient showing to get access to procedural and policy manuals relative to his search claim to prepare for suppression motion. United States v. Charles, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102918 (W.D. La. December 9, 2008):<\/p>\n
It is undisputed that the policy and procedure manuals requested are not “investigative files in an ongoing criminal investigation,” as the Fifth Circuit recognizes the contours of the law enforcement privilege. In the absence of controlling authority, the undersigned will not recognize an expansion of the law enforcement privilege to include documents or manuals containing law enforcement policies and procedures. Therefore, the undersigned finds that the requested policy and procedure documents and manuals may not be withheld on the basis of the law enforcement privilege.<\/p>\n
The government’s assertion that the manuals are irrelevant in a suppression hearing is also without merit. In U.S. v. Doe, 801 F.Supp. 1562 (E.D.Tex. 1992), cited by defendant, the policies of the police department regarding inventory searches was critical during a suppression hearing to whether or not the government would have inevitably discovered the evidence sought to be suppressed. Similarly, in the case at hand, where the credibility of the defendant and police officers must necessarily be assessed, the court can well envision that the occurrence of certain actions may be denied as against, or asserted and affirmed as in accordance with, departmental policy and procedure. Therefore, the undersigned finds that the subpoenaed policy and procedure manuals are relevant and necessary for effective representation by counsel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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