Trial Begins for Three East Orange Officers

An Essex County Assistant Prosecutor described how East Orange Police Detective Hakeem Davis pushed the barrel of his gun into 17-year-old James Littlejohn’s mouth and warned, "start talking now or I’ll kill you right here," during opening arguments today of the trial against three East Orange officers.

Davis and his partner, Detective Jon Cato, are accused of dragging Littlejohn and his friend, Darrel Slappy, also 17 at the time, from a second-floor apartment to the front porch, then threatening to kill them. The officers believed the teens had thrown a rock at their squad car the night of May 31, 2008, said Assistant Prosecutor Peter Sepulveda, who is handling the case. The boys were later let go.

Davis, 36, and Cato, 32, are charged with 21 counts of assault, kidnapping, official misconduct and falsifying records. They have been suspended without pay.

The third detective, David Sheridan, 25, who allegedly did nothing to stop the officers, was also suspended without pay. He was charged with misconduct and conspiracy, but his attorney, Patrick Toscano, said he "did absolutely nothing wrong in this case."

Today, Andrea Poyser testified that her son, Slappy, entered their Beech Street home late that night with Littlejohn. A few minutes later, Davis and Cato arrived. They were dressed in plain clothes, did not display badges but were gripping guns, she said. They began cursing at the boys, and, "were very rude," Poyser added.

Lawyers for all three officers said they followed law enforcement guidelines and added their clients have been "salivating" to tell their story.

Ronald Ricci, who is Davis’ attorney, said subsequent lab tests on the officer’s gun revealed none of Littlejohn’s DNA.

Davis and Cato had been responding to a call of shots fired around 11:45 p.m. that night when their patrol car was struck by rocks at South Arlington Avenue and Beech Street.

The detectives apprehended two youths, then spotted two more running away and gave chase, said Vincent Scoca, Cato’s attorney.

Ricci said the officers followed the boys to what was Poyser’s home, on the 20 block of Beech Street. He said badges were dangling from the detectives’ necks.

They knocked on the second-floor door and Slappy opened it, then slammed it shut after seeing the officers, Ricci sad. Once inside, the two officers grabbed the teens and brought them to the front porch for questioning. When the officers couldn’t prove the teens were involved, they "let them go," he said.

But Sepulveda described a much more violent scene, which began when Davis banged on the Beech Street apartment door. Slappy answered the door and was "met with a punch to the face by Davis, and a gun to the chest," Sepulveda said. The teens were dragged to the front porch, where they were forced to lie face down at gunpoint, he said. "Davis has to know who threw the rock," Sepulveda said. "He wouldn’t let it go."

The trial, which resumes Tuesday, is expected to last more than a week.