Several years ago, a local officer's employment was terminated. Rumor was that the cause was steroid use. No official notice was sent or given. A year later, officer was rehired. Again - no official statement to the misdemeanor prosecutor's office, he just appeared again.
Defense counsel is saying that there is a Brady disclosure issue here (and yes, I have read the case!) I don't see that rumor qualifies. If there was notice from the department it may be different. Do I have a duty to investigate the rumor? Just checking...!!
More prosecutor offices are developing a formalized method for receiving notice of issues with officers and distributing that information. For cases like yours, where there is a rumor, such a process would make it easier to simply call about the rumor and have it confirmed or denied.
Even if the rumor is confirmed, you still have to determine whether steroid use is somehow an impeachable bit of information. As an extraneous bad act, it doesn't qualify under the rules of evidence. But, depending on the case and the type of testimony to be provided, it might rise to the level of favorable information for the defendant.
Of course, you can always disclose and file a motion in limine, asking the judge to keep such information from being used improperly. That's likely the best practice in cases where there is some doubt about the meaning and credibility of the information.
