Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr is now reviewing evidence of whether a pair of San Jose police officers tried to cover up the drunken driving of a former cop, the Mercury News has learned.
Carr will determine if the two officers broke a law and should be charged with a crime.
The county's top prosecutor can decide to charge them, decline to charge or present the case to a grand jury to let it decide if charges are warranted. A decision may not come soon.
The office may wait until a pending drunk-driving charge being prosecuted by the state Attorney General's office against Sandra Woodall is complete, according to Assistant District Attorney David Tomkins, who is reviewing the case.
Woodall, a former San Jose police officer who now works as an investigator with the District Attorney's office, is charged with drunkenly smashing her Cadillac Escalade into two cars, causing minor injuries. The officers being investigated may be looking at criminal conspiracy or other charges because reports seem to show that they overlooked plentiful of evidence that Woodall was highly intoxicated. They did not test her blood alcohol level or even ask her whether she had been drinking.
No matter what Carr's decision, many will be watching closely to see how she handles the controversial case. The suspect in the DUI is her own employee. And Carr has been targeted by some critics who suspect that she is too close to the police department — something she strongly denies. Her husband and stepson are officers.
Tomkins said: " I routinely review allegations of criminal wrong-doing of police officers. I don't see this as being any different.'' The office has two pending felony cases against officers, including one - ironically — against Woodall's husband, who is charged with time sheet fraud.
Many in and out of law enforcement said Thursday that they thought Carr's office would fairly evaluate the case.
"I'm very confident we've done a thorough, professional and objective investigation," Assistant Police Chief Dan Katz said. "And we have full confidence the District Attorney's office in their review of the case.''
It was the police department brass that launched the criminal probe of their own officers, assigning two veteran investigators to gather evidence.
San Jose's Independent Police Auditor Police Barbara Attard said: "I have confidence the District Attorney will make the right decision to ensure public confidence in the criminal justice system and its fair application to persons regardless of their status or employment.''
The two officers at the heart of the controversial case — Sgt. Will Manion and Officer Patrick D'Arrigo — are on paid administrative leaves.
Attorney Craig Brown, who is representing the officers, said they are "good, honorable well- respected officers who absolutely would not have put themselves, their families and their careers at risk to cover up a suspected DUI for a former police officer.''
Brown emphasized the word "former" and added that neither officer were friends or even close with either Woodall or her husband.
The investigation stems from a multi-vehicle accident on March 25. Woodall hit two cars on Branham Lane and Pearl Avenue, police said. Woodall told medical responders she was just out of rehab, had consumed alcohol earlier in the evening and was so disoriented that she didn't know what year it was, according to reports and witnesses.
Both the paramedic and the EMT on the scene who treated Woodall noted the strong smell of alcohol on her breath. One reported that he told the officers that Woodall was drunk, something Brown said the officers "bitterly" dispute.
But neither Manion — the police supervisor on the scene — nor any of the other officers noted these things. And at one point, Manion seemed to the medical workers to be coaching Woodall to answer their questions, according to a police report. He later tried to prevent them from bringing her to a hospital, they alleged.
Brown said: "There are reasons to question the veracity and credibility at least one — if not both — of the paramedics."
Backed up by some other officers at the scene, Manion's account was that he had no evidence at the time that Woodall was drunk and he was trying to determine whether she could be brought to a hospital against her will. Some officers concluded that the collision could have been caused because Woodall was eating egg rolls from Jack in the Box while she was driving.
D'Arrigo, also at the crash scene, allegedly told the mother of one of the victims that too much time had passed to give Woodall a blood test. The woman thought she had spoken to the officer less than two hours after the accident.
The investigation into the case didn't proceed until after a resident complained to police commanders that no charges had been filed even though there was evidence Woodall was drunk. Carr then referred the case to the California Attorney General's Office.
That office filed felony drunken-driving charges against Woodall in early July. Woodall has pleaded not guilty. Her next scheduled court date is later this month.
http://www.pr.com/press-release/
