A former Fort Worth police officer was sentenced Wednesday to six months in jail for slapping a nearly nude teen on the buttocks after discovering her having sex with her boyfriend in a north Fort Worth park in 2007.
A six-member Tarrant County jury deliberated only 50 minutes before convicting Craig Arlen Murrah of official oppression because he mistreated the 18-year-old woman after ordering her out of her car in Oakhurst Park shortly after 1 a.m. on June 22, 2007.
At Murrah’s request, 213th District Judge Louis Sturns held a 90-minute hearing before sentencing the 39-year-old to six months in jail. The Class A misdemeanor carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail. Sturns also ordered him to pay a $2,000 fine.
Murrah, who was fired after he was charged in the incident, won’t have to serve his time while he appeals his conviction. He will remain on bond until then, said his attorney, Wes Ball.
The woman, now 20, testified during the two-day trial that she and her boyfriend were having sex in the car when they saw the lights of a patrol car as it pulled into the parking lot. Because of the nature of the crime, the woman and her boyfriend are not being identified.
She said she tried to get dressed but was still nude from the waist down when Murrah made her get out of the car and put her hands behind her back. That caused her to drop the shirt covering her lower body, she said. Murrah forced her to bend over and spanked her on her naked bottom, she said.
After Murrah left the park, the woman’s boyfriend said, he called 911 while following the officer’s patrol car to a downtown police station. He said he initially gave the operator the wrong number for Murrah’s car but corrected himself after he got closer to the car.
The couple talked to an officer about the incident. But after they couldn’t reach him for several weeks, the woman and her father went to the Police Department and the woman gave a statement to Sgt. Pedro Criado.
The first officer was demoted because of his handling of the incident.
During closing arguments, Ball stopped short of saying the woman made up the allegations, although he said the couple’s testimony had discrepancies. But he criticized police for not investigating the possibility that another officer had committed the acts attributed to Murrah.
Prosecutors Lucas Allen and Sherry Whelchel dismissed defense contentions that Murrah’s activity reports support his claim that he pulled the couple over that night on a traffic stop at 1500 E. Northside Drive.
"Is he going to put down that he pulled the girl over and spanked her in the park?" Allen asked. "Of course not. That’s ludicrous."
During deliberations, jurors asked to review the 911 tape of the man frantically telling the operator what had happened while the woman cried uncontrollably in the background. They returned the verdict about 20 minutes later.
Several jurors remained in the courtroom while Sturns heard testimony from five witnesses, including two former students and the former principal of Wedgwood Middle School. The three testified that Murrah, while a teacher and coach at the school, touched the two girls on the buttocks and thighs. He resigned after a school district investigation.
Murrah’s mother and a longtime friend urged Sturns to grant him probation, saying he is a good father whose 5-year-old son would be devastated if his father were jailed.
Sturns said that he considered the impact on the boy but that Murrah’s actions breached the trust of fellow officers as well as the community.
"I believe the message has to be delivered that you can’t engage in this type of conduct and get a free pass," Sturns said.
"It’s not something I can condone."
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