The Westchester County District Attorney’s office handed over disciplinary disclosure forms for three New Rochelle police officers, then told Freedom of Information Law requesters that no Brady or Giglio records existed for those same officers. The head-spinning contradiction, laid out in a weekend report, is now fueling questions about whether prosecutors had those files in time for earlier grand juries and trials.
Talk of the Sound reported Saturday that it filed FOIL requests in May seeking information on how the DA handled officers Sean Kane, Alec McKenna and Michael Vaccaro. According to Talk of the Sound, the DA’s FOIL office answered last Tuesday with a head-scratcher of a response: a written denial stating that "no responsive records exist" for the officers’ Brady or Giglio status, paired with a secure link that actually contained CO-2 disclosure documents.
What the DA produced
The reporting notes that the packet of disciplinary material included CO-2 forms, along with cover sheets and disclosure documents that prosecutors use to flag possible credibility problems with law enforcement witnesses. The CO-2 for McKenna is dated Sept. 7, 2023, Kane’s is dated Oct. 10, 2023, and the Vaccaro file lists 17 separate disciplinary entries plus a decertification effective Sept. 1, 2023. As detailed by Talk of the Sound, those dates are central to the question of what the DA’s office had in its possession, and when.
Why the timing matters
The dates on those cover sheets can be a roadmap to when prosecutors obtained the underlying records, a crucial detail for defense lawyers and judges trying to sort out discovery disputes. Officer Alec McKenna was the subject of a November 2020 grand jury review following the June 2020 shooting of Kamal Flowers. That grand jury declined to indict, according to CBS New York. Separately, New Rochelle’s own public statements show that Sean Kane was demoted earlier this year and later left the department for a job in Putnam County, making the existence or absence of his DA file a live issue for decisions tied to a December 2024 grand jury.
Vaccaro's file and state decertification
Records given to reporters depict Michael Vaccaro as the focus of repeated internal investigations and discipline over more than a decade. Coverage by News 12 Westchester describes numerous letters of reprimand, suspensions and a 2021 criminal trial that grew out of an off-duty incident. The CO-2 materials now produced to the press also record a state decertification effective Sept. 1, 2023. News 12 and other outlets provide the backstory on the criminal case and the disciplinary track record that the CO-2s now summarize in shorthand form.
Legal implications
New York’s discovery law, Criminal Procedure Law 245.20, requires prosecutors to give the defense "all evidence and information" that could be used to impeach a testifying witness. Courts have treated that duty as covering the underlying disciplinary records themselves, not just summary sheets. Recent rulings and legal commentary warn that delayed or selective disclosure of these materials can spark challenges under the constitutional standards from Brady and Giglio, which obligate prosecutors to turn over exculpatory and impeachment evidence. Violations can lead judges to suppress testimony or revisit trial readiness certifications. For more detail, see a New York court explanation of CPL 245.20 and the Supreme Court opinions in Brady v. Maryland and Giglio v. United States, along with a recent state court discussion available here.
What’s next
The reporter who obtained the CO-2 materials says it has appealed the DA’s "no-records" determinations and filed fresh FOIL requests seeking the 1K files and administrative logs that would show when the DA’s office first received particular disciplinary documents. The DA’s FOIL unit has refused to turn over internal attorney communications about how the records were collected, citing work-product protections. For now, the outcome of the appeals and the pending FOIL requests will decide how much more of the DA’s internal paper trail sees the light of day.
