Geoffrey S. Sheldon

Sheldon's firm specializes in public sector employment law, focusing on defense and handling everything from collective bargaining to litigation to law enforcement issues.

As chair of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore's public safety practice group, Sheldon does a lot of work involving the Public Safety Officers' Procedural Bill of Rights Act and the Firefighters Procedural Bill of Rights Act.

"It is hard for managers and supervisors to navigate those laws and hold some of their employees accountable, and that's what we help them with," said Sheldon, who's been handling this work for about 20 years.

He is often on the receiving end of public records cases brought by media organizations.

"California is in a minority group of states that have special legislation to grant peace officer personnel records extra confidentiality provisions," Sheldon said.

In criminal court, parties must bring a Pitchess motion to see an officer's personnel records. A superior court judge holds an in camera hearing to decide what is relevant to the particular case. Pitchess v. Superior Court, 11 Cal.3d 531 (Cal. 1974).

"That's been the law for several decades now," Sheldon said.

A recent legislative change has exempted certain categories of records from a Pitchess motion, such as cases involving use of force resulting in harm or death, shootings, sexual misconduct and dishonesty in an administrative matter.

"There has been a lot of litigation on whether SB 1421 is retroactive or not," he said.

In one matter that went before the state Supreme Court last month, Sheldon represented the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department after the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs filed suit to stop the department from creating a Brady list of misconduct records. Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs v. Superior Court (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department), S243855.

A trial court judge ruled the sheriff's department could respond to requests on a case by case basis, rather than sending the whole list. The union took it to the appellate court, which found names couldn't be disclosed absent a court order following a Pitchess motion.

"Even if the prosecutor asks the sheriff's department, it doesn't have to answer the question," Sheldon said.

Now Sheldon is awaiting the state high court's decision, which will surely have significant impact on the operations of law enforcement agencies and prosecuting offices who use Brady lists.

-- Justin Kloczko