A Milwaukee police officer has resigned after it emerged he was left off Milwaukee County's Brady list for nearly two years following an off-duty drunk-driving arrest in Wheaton, Illinois. The late addition forced the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office to circle back and notify people whose criminal cases had relied on his testimony, raising fresh questions about how local law enforcement tracks and shares concerns about an officer's credibility.
High-speed stop caught on camera
Body-camera footage from the April 2023 Wheaton traffic stop shows former Milwaukee Police Department officer Christopher De La Vega driving about 75 mph in a 35-mph zone, swerving into oncoming traffic and repeatedly denying he had been drinking during the stop. He could not complete multiple breathalyzer attempts and asked the arresting officer to shut off the camera. Milwaukee Police records show he was suspended the day after the arrest and later admitted to having a beer and cocktails. De La Vega ultimately pleaded guilty to reckless driving, while the DUI charge was dismissed, and he received a sentence of community service and alcohol counseling, according to TMJ4.
Brady list gaps and a shaky system
The county Brady list, designed to flag officers with credibility or integrity issues, is overseen by the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office but has been found to be inconsistent, incomplete and heavily dependent on police agencies to report problems on their own. A multi-outlet review uncovered errors, missing entries and a patchwork of local policies that leave prosecutors and defense attorneys unsure whether they are actually seeing the full picture. Those weaknesses help explain how De La Vega and other officers could go years before ending up in the database, as reported by Wisconsin Watch.
DA scrambles to notify defendants, officer walks away
Milwaukee County District Attorney Kent Lovern said the Milwaukee Police Department did not alert his office about De La Vega until last year. Prosecutors then notified six defendants and their attorneys in April 2025 that there was Brady material connected to the officer. "We want the process to work as perfectly as possible, and on occasion it does not, and when it does not, we have to address it," Lovern said. De La Vega resigned earlier this month and told reporters he left for personal reasons that he said were unrelated to the Brady listing or the investigation, according to TMJ4.
Cases under review and a credibility cloud
Defense attorneys warn that late Brady disclosures can undercut trials because jurors never hear information they might use to question an officer's credibility. Angel Johnson of the State Public Defender's Office has said prosecutors have an ethical duty to disclose Brady material so that defense lawyers and judges can properly evaluate an officer's testimony. The review by Wisconsin Watch highlights how inconsistent rules and uneven reporting can create exactly the kind of gap that left defendants and courts without information they may have needed, according to Wisconsin Watch.
Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman has defended the department's handling of the situation, saying the agency faces challenges moving information quickly across multiple internal investigations. At the same time, officials say the episode has renewed calls for clearer, countywide protocols for Brady reporting. Prosecutors are now reviewing cases in which De La Vega testified, and civil-rights advocates along with defense attorneys say they plan to keep pressure on local leaders to tighten the system so those disclosures happen when they are supposed to.
