Judge Andrew Engel
Lemma was charged with official misconduct and obstructing governmental administration. He moved to dismiss both charges arguing the misdemeanor information was defective. The complaint alleged Lemma was a police officer and detective and failed to report that an arrested robbery suspect was already incarcerated at the time of the alleged robbery. Prosecutors argued that by failing to act on the exculpatory information, Lemma knowingly refrained from performing a duty to disclose such material, inherent in the nature of his office. The court noted criminal responsibility for official misconduct would lie only where the duty one failed to perform was imposed by law, or clearly inherent in the nature of his office. It stated if Lemma had a Brady obligation, it did not require him to disclose exculpatory information immediately upon his discovery of it, thus was not an act to which a duty of performance was imposed by law. Also, while Lemma’s silence demonstrated callousness, it was not the same as "conscious objective" to affect the administration of justice. The court found neither charge was legally sufficient and dismissed the misdemeanor information.
