A Montgomery County Police officer who is being investigated for criminal perjury remains on duty with no restrictions, police officials said Tuesday.
"We do treat these allegations seriously. We have to let this process take place," Lt. Paul Starks, a police spokesman, said.
Officer II Dina Hoffman testified in April that she arrested a Rockville man for driving under the influence behind the wheel of a parked car. A recording from a security camera showed the man was lying down in the back seat, with his feet out the open passenger side door, when she approached him.
The Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office referred the case to the Howard County State's Attorney's Office because county prosecutors might be questioned, said Seth Zucker, a spokesman for the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office.
Howard County's State's Attorney's Office has been notified and is waiting to receive the case against Hoffman, its spokesman, Wayne Kirwan, said Tuesday.
Starks acknowledged that the department is concerned that Hoffman's testimony in other cases might be impugned as she continues on duty.
"In situations like that, there is always that concern," Starks said.
George Zaliev, 56, of Rockville, was arrested about 7:30 p.m. May 3, 2008, for DUI at the parking lot of Sarkissian Interiors at 8537 Atlas Drive in Gaithersburg. Police said a preliminary breath test showed a blood alcohol content of 0.15, nearly twice the legal limit.
At his Montgomery County District Court trial, Hoffman testified 11 times that she found Zaliev in the front driver's seat. She said she shook him awake and he was not cooperative in doing field sobriety tests.
Zaliev's attorney, Paul E. Mack of Columbia, used a laptop computer to show a video from a security camera at Sarkissian that recorded the arrest.
The footage shows Hoffman arrived and immediately walked up to Zaliev as he was lying in the back seat.
Hoffman, a three-year veteran, has not returned messages or requests for interviews.
After Judge Dennis A. McHugh viewed the tape, he ruled the arrest lacked probable cause. The judge found Zaliev not guilty.
"I've done enough of these that I know, without the video, it would have been my client's word against the officer's and I probably wouldn't have won," Mack said in an interview.
Mack contacted reporters after receiving a transcript of the trial.
By lying in the back seat of the car, Zaliev did nothing illegal and should not have been arrested, Mack said.
Zaliev, an upholsterer, was waiting in his friend's car for his friend to get off work and drive him home, Mack said.
In her testimony at the April 2 trial, Hoffman claimed she approached Zaliev on the left side of the car where he sat behind the wheel asleep. She described shaking his shoulder to wake him.
"He was just sitting in the front seat, kind of sitting there sleeping," Hoffman testified.
After the recording was played in the courtroom, Hoffman was asked whether she was wrong about Zaliev's position in the car.
"Yeah, I must have been," Hoffman testified. "My apologies. It's been over a year. I deal with a lot of these cases every day so my apologies."
But Hoffman then said Zaliev "must've admitted to me that he was driving the vehicle at some point."
If Zaliev had been convicted, he would have faced a maximum sentence of $1,000 fine and a year in jail.
"If it was determined there's perjury in this case, this is the kind of case that would undermine the authority of police and the perception of good officers out there doing their job," said Christopher Heffernan, chairman of the Maryland State Bar Association's litigation committee. "This would damage the police officers who are doing a good job out there to protect us. This is disturbing to everyone who looks up to the police and relies on them to protect us from the bad guys."
Emily White of the Montgomery County State's Attorney's office said the office did not know how many cases might have to be dropped or delayed because prosecution depends on Hoffman's testimony.
Hoffman has eight traffic cases pending and no criminal cases, Starks said. But Hoffman could be called as a witness in cases where she responded to a call from another officer.
Although allegations of perjury are not uncommon, it is very rare that such cases are ever brought to trial, and Heffernan said he could not remember any that involved police officers.
Asked whether Montgomery County Police had faced perjury allegations against an officer recently, Starks said he asked internal affairs to check through 2005 and found no cases.
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