IMPORTANT NOTICE ON
Confidentiality is, unfortunately, becoming an ever-increasing issue with PAQC complaints and investigations. The law states that these matters are to be confidential in the early stages and only made public if and when they lead to formal charges. Several complainants have chosen to publicize their complaints. Publicizing the filing of a complaint is not advisable for several reasons, which will be listed below. It is, however, illegal to publicly reveal any actions by or communications from the PAQC to the complainant or anyone else by the complainant, or anyone else.
No one can keep a complainant from publicly stating they have filed a complaint. There are several reasons a complainant should not do it.
1) Publicizing a complaint violates the spirit of the law and the foundational intentions;
2) Publicizing a complaint hampers the ability of the PAQC to conduct the investigation;
3) Publicizing a complaint fosters an adversarial relationship between the PAQC and the complainant, rather than a fact finding one;
4) Publicizing a complaint is fundamentally unfair to the accused;
5) The PAQC cannot control how third parties, either publicly or personally, may react to the publicizing of a complaint;
The PAQC investigates complaints to maintain the integrity of the profession. The PAQC does not “represent” complainants in an action against a prosecutor. Publicizing a complaint will not stop the PAQC from investigating. Publicizing a complaint will severely degrade our trust in the complainants themselves and will indicate we should be cautious in disclosing any further information to them or communicating with them unless statutorily required.
The entire statue is available on this website HERE and our complete rules are available on this website HERE.
Some important portions follow:
Rule 3.7. Confidentiality
A. Before Formal Charges.
All information regarding a disciplinary or incapacity matter of a prosecuting attorney shall be kept confidential by the Investigative Panel and Commission staff before formal charges are filed and served; provided, however, that if prior to filing formal charges the prosecuting attorney and the Investigative Panel agree to a satisfactory disposition of a disciplinary matter other than by a private admonition or deferred discipline agreement, a report of such disposition shall be publicly filed in the Supreme Court. See O.C.G.A. § 15-18-32 (j)(1).
B. After Filing and Service of Formal Charges.
(2) With respect to a disciplinary matter of a prosecuting attorney, once formal charges are filed and served, all pleadings and information shall be subjectto disclosure to the public, and all hearings and proceedings shall be open and available to the public, except to the extent that such pleadings and information or hearings and proceedings could be properly sealed or closed by a court as provided by law. See OCGA § 15-18-32 (j)(2).
COMMENTARY
[1] In the initial stages of the disciplinary case, confidentiality is necessary to protect a prosecuting attorney’s reputation from unfounded charges and to protect witnesses from possible recriminations while a claim is being investigated.
[2] Disclosing the existence of complaints that were considered and dismissed is unfair to the prosecuting attorney and undermines the work of the Commission. It is unfair to allow any adverse inferences to be drawn from the mere existence of a complaint when it was not substantial enough to state a possible ground for discipline. The Commission will have greater credibility if it does not release information about dismissed complaints under any circumstances. If the prosecuting attorney wishes to have such information disclosed, he or she may release the information.
[3] Once the formal charges have been filed and served upon the prosecuting attorney, the policy emphasis shifts from confidentiality to the public’s right to know. The integrity of the criminal justice system is better protected by an open public hearing than by a closed hearing. It is no longer possible to protect the identity of the witnesses because their identity must be disclosed through the discovery to which the respondent is entitled.
If the Complainant has chosen to disregard confidentiality to attempt to “try the case in the press”, the accused prosecuting attorney, who would normally not be aware of the existence of a complaint, let alone the identity of the complainant or the allegations, has the opportunity to waive the confidentiality if they so choose and defend themselves publicly.
Again, per the statute and rules:
Rule 3.7. Confidentiality
E. Exceptions.
Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Rule, information
Regarding a disciplinary or incapacity matter of a prosecuting attorney may be disclosed to the general public or to specific persons or agencies when:
(1) the privilege of confidentiality has been waived by the prosecuting attorney who was the subject of the Commission’s investigation;
Prosecuting attorneys who have become aware of a publicized complaint and choose to waive confidentiality may fill out a waiver HERE. Have it notarized and return to us by email along with a link or screenshots of the public disclosure of the complaint.