The alleged victim in a criminal case against a former city police officer hired a lawyer to defend her credibility in light of comments from the officer's defense attorney last week.
The Stamford woman last week also reported a suspicious object in her mailbox, leading the bomb squad to come to her home, police said. Demolitions experts used a robot to take a three-inch tinfoil ball from her mailbox. It contained burnt match heads, police spokesman Lt. Sean Cooney said.
The object did not contain any explosive material and could not have hurt anyone, Cooney said. But now police are investigating whether it was random vandalism or related to the case against the former officer.
"We have to explore that possibility," Cooney said.
Mark Sherman, a Stamford criminal defense attorney, will represent the woman, who alleges her ex-boyfriend, former Stamford police officer Donald Greer, threatened her. The woman told police Greer was a "predator" and had admitted to being with dozens of domestic violence victims, calling them "easy prey," court documents show.
She was a domestic violence victim whom Greer met while on duty in 2005. They allegedly struck up a relationship, and he testified during a trial that led to the conviction of the woman's ex-boyfriend for unlawful restraint charges.
Sherman said while the courts offer adequate support for domestic violence victims, sometimes a victim will hire an attorney to defend them when their reputation and credibility are challenged.
"It's unfortunate that a victim of domestic violence has to take hits like this in the media," Sherman said. "She refuses to throw stones back and will simply let the truth come out in the appropriate forums."
Christopher Caldwell, the lawyer representing Greer, said last week his client dated the woman for weeks following the first domestic dispute, but then tried to exit the relationship. He said the woman kept Greer close by promising to end his career.
Sherman said his client was undaunted by the claims and will not back down with the prosecution of the former Stamford police officer.
Greer is a 46-year-old Stratford man who left the Stamford Police Department after 24 years last week amid allegations he threatened his former girlfriend and illegally transferred a pistol.
In March, Greer was arrested on threatening and disorderly conduct charges stemming from allegations from the woman, who said she met Greer when he responded to the domestic dispute in which she was assaulted.
Last week, the Chief State's Attorney's Office, which took over the investigation in March, arrested Greer on a felony weapons charge for illegal transfer of a handgun.
The state began investigating Greer because it had concerns about his testimony during a trial that led to the conviction of the woman's ex-boyfriend.
Concerning the item left in the mailbox, Caldwell said: "I hope they dust for fingerprints and look for DNA to show my guy has nothing to do with anything."
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