Personnel records sought for officer charged with shooting son


HERKIMER (AP) -- Prosecutors want to view the personnel records of a former Rochester police officer charged in the fatal shooting of his 38-year-old son in an Adirondack motel last summer.
The Observer-Dispatch of Utica reports that Herkimer County prosecutors have asked a judge for permission to view 59-year-old Michael Leach's files from his 26-year career with the Rochester Police Department.
Leach was a rookie officer when he fatally shot a teenage girl who reportedly was carrying a knife while fleeing her abusive boyfriend. He was cleared of any wrongdoing and retired as a captain in 2001.
He was a part-time officer with the Perry Police Department in Wyoming County when authorities say he shot his son Matthew inside their Old Forge motel room after mistaking him for an intruder.Leach was charged with second-degree murder.