Former Reserve Officer Raymond McCann Person of Interest in Death of 11-year-old

FOX 17 obtained the probable cause affidavit in the case of Raymond McCann, a former Constantine reserve officer, who is now being called a person of interest in connection to the killing of 11-year-old Jodi Parrack, a cold case from 2007.

On November 8, 2007, Parrack’s body was found in the Constantine Township Cemetery after she disappeared while walking home from a friend’s house a few blocks away.

McCann was arrested over the weekend and charged with perjury in connection to the case.

According to a four-page affidavit, over the course of an hour and a half, McCann suggested officers search the Constantine Township Cemetery where Parrack’s body was eventually found. Officers became increasingly suspicious because McCann, himself, did not take it upon himself to search the area.

“Furthermore, I am aware that the victim’s body contained injuries to both of her wrists, consistent with the application of handcuffs. Given the fact the McCann was a reserve police office at the time of this incident, he would have access to handcuffs,” stated the affidavit.

Officer Steven Lupo Charged with Giving False Statements

A Philadelphia police officer has been charged with Perjury, False Swearing in Official Matters, Unsworn Falsification, False Reports to Law Enforcement and Obstructing Administration of Law.

Police began investigating 36-year-old officer Steven Lupo after a complaint was made to Internal Affairs about Lupo’s testimony in court on Oct. 18, 2011. It was alleged that Lupo, who was assigned to the 14th Police District, testified falsely during a hearing about circumstances surrounding the arrest of both Amiraria Farsi on Aug. 5, 2011 and Joseph Tuabma on Sept. 25, 2010.

In the case of Tuamba, Lupo was on the 100 block of E Chelten Avenue when he and his partner encountered a 2010 Lincoln SKS parked outside a Chinese store. The officers ultimately arrested both people in the car, Tuabma and Angel Huffman, and charged them with possession of narcotics. Though Lupo testified the car’s windows were tinted, three other witnesses testified in court that they were not.

In the Farsi trial, Lupo and his partner conducted a vehicle stop of a 1998 Buick Regal driven by Farsi near Baynton and High Streets after the car failed to stop at a stop sign. Lupo frisked the men in the car and searched the vehicle, uncovering narcotics; however, Lupo claimed he waited for a search warrant before doing so. That was determined to be false.

Lupo is expected to be suspended with intent to dismiss.

Deputy Chuck Metcalf Will Spend 12 Weekends in Jail for Perjury

Richland County sheriff's deputy Chuck Metcalf will have to spend 12 weekends in jail as punishment for lying in support of the 2005 ill-fated Mansfield drug investigation involving DEA Agent Lee Lucas.

Lucas was acquitted earlier this month of 18 charges, including perjury and obstruction of justice, related to the investigation.

U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver, who presided over the Lucas trial, said he would have punished Metcalf to the fullest extent if not for his willingness to assist prosecutors, which included testifying at Lucas' trial. The misdemeanor conviction could have resulted in one year in prison.

"It's a sad case, your case, to me," Oliver told Metcalf, "because you were bound to uphold the law and we all count on law enforcement officials to do that."

Last year, Metcalf admitted lying during the 2006 trial of Dwayne Nabors, who was one of 17 people framed through a series of drug deals orchestrated by paid informant Jerrell Bray. Lucas supervised Bray during the investigation.

Metcalf testified during the Nabors' trial that police had not videotaped a portion of the purported drug deal, even though Metcalf knew a videotape had been made. Metcalf also claimed he and Lucas were in a position to identify Nabors knowing that also was not true.

In a memorandum filed with the court, Metcalf said he lied at the Nabors' trial to match his testimony with a report written by Lucas.

Lucas took the stand during his trial and denied making up testimony.

Prosecutors asked Oliver to show leniency because of Metcalf's cooperation. Richland County Sheriff Steve Sheldon and Richland County Prosecutor James Mayer spoke on behalf of Metcalf at his sentencing.

Metcalf asked for probation, citing a spotless record.

"His record in these investigations was perfect until he became involved with Special Agent Lee Lucas of the DEA," Metcalf's lawyer wrote in a memorandum filed with the court.

Metcalf argued that even though he lied Nabors trial, his testimony did not result in a drug trafficking conviction. Nabors was acquitted of a conspiracy charge while the jury was hung on a distribution charge. He was found guilty on a gun charge stemming from the search of his home.

Metcalf also argued that he is the only person facing punishment for the failures of the investigation, even though he was outranked on the team by both Lucas and Richland County Sheriff's Captain Larry Faith.

Officer David Barnes Charged with Perjury & Harassment

Authorities say a blogger critical of Phoenix police and an officer accused of feeding him material have been indicted on felony charges.

The Arizona Attorney General's Office says David Barnes is charged with one count of perjury and two counts of harassment and blogger Jeffrey Pataky is charged with one count each of perjury and false swearing.

Barnes is former Phoenix homicide detective and patrol officer who worked on the high-profile Baseline Killer case.

An indictment released Thursday says the two lied about knowing each other and that Barnes repeatedly harassed two Phoenix police officers who are married to each other, through an anonymous letter and e-mails.

Barnes is currently on administrative leave and could not be reached for comment. Pataky says the accusations are "absurd beyond belief" and are in retaliation for his blog called Bad Phoenix Cops, where authorities say some of Barnes' material was posted.

Three LAPD Officers Charged with Perjury & Conspiracy

Three Los Angeles police officers were charged today with perjury and conspiracy for allegedly lying under oath in a drug possession case that was dismissed last year when a videotape sharply contradicted their testimony.

The felony charges were brought by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

In February, the U.S. Justice Department opened its own investigation into the officers' actions.

At issue are the actions of officers at a Hollywood apartment complex where a security camera documented the 2007 arrest of Guillermo Alarcon Jr.

At Alarcon's trial last year, Officers Richard Amio and Evan Samuel testified that they were on patrol in Los Angeles when they chased Alarcon, 29, into his Hollywood apartment building. The officers told jurors that they saw him throw away a black object.

They testified that Samuel quickly picked up the object and found about $260 worth of powder and crack cocaine inside. But footage from a security camera at the apartment building, which is managed by Alarcon's mother, showed that officers searched for more than 20 minutes before an object allegedly containing cocaine was found.

They were aided by other officers, including Manuel Ortiz, who testified about the case at a preliminary hearing in January. The quality of the tape, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, is poor and it is difficult to clearly hear what is being said. But at one point, soon after the drugs were found, an officer seems to make a reference to the arrest report that needed to be filled out.

"Be creative in your writing," the officer appears to tell another after the discovery. Alarcon's attorney argued at trial that his client was innocent and that the officers had planted evidence and then lied about it.

After viewing the videotape, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Monica Bachner dismissed the charges at the request of prosecutors. The judge also declared Alarcon factually innocent.



http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lapd-perjury7-2009oct07,0,17370.story

Cpl David Nevitt Suspended for Lying

An assistant chief handed down a 15-day day suspension on Thursday to a Dallas police officer who wrongly said a man was carrying a bag containing drugs and guns. That man spent 10 months behind bars until a videotape later showed that he was not carrying the bag as the officer alleged.

At issue in the case was whether Senior Cpl. David Nevitt lied or was mistaken. Police investigators ultimately concluded that they could not prove that Nevitt had lied to make the August 2007 arrest of Thomas Hannon outside a north Dallas hotel. Instead, they found that he had failed to fully investigate the incident to the best of his ability.

"The way they went about this arrest was sloppy, and as the allegations alludes to it was not fully investigated," said Assistant Chief Floyd Simpson, who oversees the city's seven patrol stations. "Today, I held officer Nevitt accountable for his actions. His fifteen days will begin immediately."

Nevitt, who has denied any wrongdoing, could not be reached for comment. He can appeal the suspension.

"It's just unfair and certainly wasn't warranted," said Phil Burleson, an attorney representing Nevitt. "He in good faith attempted to make arrests based upon the information he had at the time."

At the time of Hannon's arrest, Nevitt was a member of a specialized unit whose cases continue to be the subject of an ongoing review by prosecutors. Hannon's arrest sparked the review after prosecutors concluded that he had been arrested on false charges. Felony charges involving arrests made by the unit have since been thrown out against two different men after two witnesses passed polygraph exams requested by prosecutors.

The official police report written by Senior Cpl. Jerry Dodd, now in the vice unit, gives the following account: Nevitt saw Hannon leave the hotel carrying a black leather bag. The officers said Hannon spotted them, dropped the bag and tried to evade them. Police found a loaded .357 Colt revolver and 2.6 grams of methamphetamine in the bag.

Hannon, who was wanted for failing to report to his parole officer, was caught and charged with possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. Dodd's report does not mention the existence of video footage, nor the arrest of other people, including the man who turned out to have been carrying the bag.

In March 2008, as the case neared trial, prosecutors say Nevitt told them that he had been sitting in an undercover vehicle when he saw Hannon leave the hotel holding the bag. They said he told them that he then went inside and watched surveillance video, but that the hotel lacked the technology to make a copy of it.

A defense attorney subsequently obtained a copy. It showed that another man had the bag. Prosecutors then dismissed the charges.

Nevitt told internal investigators that he never told prosecutors that he had actually seen Hannon with the bag. He also described the video footage that he reviewed as being small and of "poor quality," which apparently led to the misidentification. He said the maintenance worker told him that another employee could make a copy later.

That hotel employee, Jaime Maltos, told internal investigators that he showed the video footage to Nevitt and another heavy-set Dallas police officer. "I brought them back to the engineering office to go thru the videos, one by one I enlarged them so they could see it better," Maltos said.

He said he also said he gave Nevitt two copies a couple of days later. However, in a statement in Hannon's civil lawsuit, he said he was less sure, saying he couldn't recall whether it was Nevitt or another officer who retrieved the copies.

None of the officers who participated in Hannon's arrest have admitted picking up the video, internal records show.

The squad, which once numbered about seven officers, is now largely dismantled. The unit's supervisor, Sgt. Randy Sundquist was moved off the streets this spring after the DA's office released a letter stating that he shouldn't be trusted to testify in court. Two other officers, one of whom has since retired, also were involuntarily transferred out of the unit.

Scott Palmer, an attorney representing Hannon, called the Police Department's decision disappointing.

"How much false prosecution and perjury will it take before DPD fires an officer?" Palmer said. "But for the hotel engineer saving this video, this officer and all of the officers were prepared to testify falsely about the events, and Mr. Hannon would likely have ended up in prison for a long time."

Former Trooper Michael Scott Accused of Giving False Testimony

A former Florida Highway Patrol trooper was charged with perjury and booked into the Lee County Jail Wednesday.

Michael T. Scott is accused of giving false testimony in Lee County Traffic Court in October 2008.

Scott, 52, resigned from the FHP in November of last year, after the agency opened an internal investigation into his actions.

FHP forwarded their results to the State Attorney's Office, which filed the charge of Perjury in an Official Proceeding.

Scott faces up to five years in prison and/or up to a $5,000 fine.

Officer Dina Hoffman Charged with Perjury

ROCKVILLE, Md.

Montgomery County police say an officer is facing perjury charges.

The Howard County State's Attorney's Office announced the indictment of Officer Dina Hoffman on Friday, charging her with one count of perjury and one count of misconduct in office.

Hoffman is accused of testifying in court in April that a driver, who was cited for drunken driving in May 2008, had been behind the wheel of the vehicle when she first encountered him. But surveillance video from a building shows the driver was in the back seat of the car when she arrived.

Police say Hoffman, a three-year veteran of the Montgomery County force, is now on administrative leave. Officials asked Howard County to handle the case because two Montgomery County state prosecutors were witnesses to Hoffman's testimony.
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http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/local/082109_police_officer_charged_with_perjury_in_dui_case

Trial Begins for Sgt Matthew Dougil

The trial of a Gig Harbor police sergeant accused of filing false police reports began Monday in Pierce County Superior Court.

Matthew Dougil is charged with two felony counts of perjury and one misdemeanor count of making a false or misleading statement to a public servant. He has pleaded not guilty and is on unpaid leave from his job until the criminal case against him is resolved.

Prosecutors allege the 11-year veteran of the Gig Harbor force lied in police reports he filed as part of a drug investigation that resulted in two people being convicted. The convictions since have been vacated, and the city paid $45,000 in damages to a third man who was ordered to attend drug court as part of the case.

Investigators contend in court documents that, among other things, Dougil wrote in an official report that police searched a confidential informant who was used to buy drugs from the men when in fact the informant was not searched before the transaction.

The supervisor of the prosecuting attorney’s office drug unit later told colleagues he would not have prosecuted the men had he known Dougil was alleged to have lied on the reports, according to documents filed in the case.

Dougil’s attorney, Brett Purtzer, has said his client is innocent and intends to present a vigorous defense.

Testimony before Superior Court Judge Rosanne Buckner is expected to last about a week.

NYC Man Sues City for $220 Million for Police Sodomizing Him

A New York City man who says police beat and sodomized him on a subway station platform sued the city, the police department and the accused officers for $220 million on Thursday for civil rights violations.

Three New York City police officers pleaded innocent in December to criminal charges that one of them sodomized Michael Mineo on October 15 with a police baton on a subway platform and two others helped cover up the crime.

"When you distill it, it was a male on male rape," Kevin Mosley, a lawyer for Mineo, said on Thursday.

"The amount of damages, which is the aggregate of the 11 counts, is reflective of the wrong and the suffering that this young man went through and will go through for the rest of his life," he said.

Detective Richard Kern is charged with aggravated sexual assault and other charges and faces up to 25 years in prison. Andrew Morales and Alex Cruz are charged with participating in an attempted cover up, which included writing a summons for the victim. If convicted, each faces up to four years in prison.

According to prosecutors, Kern and Morales observed Mineo, who works at a tattoo parlor, smoking a marijuana cigarette as they sat in an unmarked police car in the early afternoon on October 15 near Brooklyn's Prospect Park.

Cruz and another officer arrived to provide backup and Kern and Cruz followed Mineo into a subway station where Kern anally assaulted Mineo with a retractable baton, prosecutors said.

The criminal case is due to move forward in state court in Brooklyn in June.

The incident sparked charges of police brutality and recalls the 1997 case of Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant who was attacked with a broomstick in a Brooklyn police station.

In the Louima case, one New York City police officer was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in the attack, and a second officer was given a five-year prison sentence for perjury.
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Other information: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g_46kF6K6Tj5kM5j66fC5XVnruSA

Officer Dina Hoffman Investigated for Perjury

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.

Officer Dina Hoffman Charged with Perjury

A Montgomery County Police officer faces a perjury investigation after she testified in April that she found a man arrested for driving under the influence behind the wheel of a parked car. A recording from a security camera showed he was in the back seat, lying down, with his feet out the open passenger side door when she approached him.

"We are aware of the allegation and will be conducting an investigation," Montgomery County Police spokeswoman Lucille Baur said Wednesday.

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.

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. A preliminary breath test showed a blood alcohol content of 0.15, nearly twice the legal limit.

At his Montgomery County District Court trial, Officer II Dina Hoffman testified 11 times that she found Zaliev in the front driver's seat. She said 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 security tape, reviewed by The Gazette, shows Hoffman arrived and immediately walked up to Zaliev lying in the back seat.

A message left for Hoffman was not returned immediately. A three-year veteran, she continues to work while the allegation is investigated.

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 came forward 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. Case law is clear that people in the back seat of a parked vehicle are not driving under the influence.

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 arrived and 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.

At several points Mack asked the officer if she was certain Zaliev was in the front and not the back.

"Do you recall him being in the back seat on the passenger side?" Mack asked on cross examination.

"No, not when I first got there, no," Hoffman replied.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Mack asked again.

"Yes," Hoffman testified. "I did have him sit there while I waited for another officer to come."

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."

On further questioning, Hoffman testified she had not told that to either the prosecutors or to Mack before.

"You were wrong about him giving you his license while he was in the front seat?" Mack asked.

"Yes," she said. "He gave me his license, but I guess he was in the back seat."

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."

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.

Mack said he sent a copy of the transcript to Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy and County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/06/AR2009050604294.html

Officer Alberto Perez Arrested for the Third Time

Avon Park Police Officer Alberto Perez was arrested Tuesday for the third time, this time facing perjury charges.

This stems from his previous arrest because he "testified under oath in an official proceeding that he has never taken money in exchange for a citation being issued or an arrest being made," according to the warrant affidavit filed by Sgt. Jason Lister of the APPD.

The testimony was taken during an interview with APPD Internal Affairs on April 23.

Perez was arrested a week later, on April 30, when an investigation into charges that he accepted money in lieu of making an arrest was substantiated by three witnesses.

He was booked into the Highlands County Jail on Tuesday and released on $5,000 bond.

Perez was initally arrested on Dec. 2 for extortion for allegedly taking $200 from a man during a traffic stop instead of writing a ticket. The April 30 arrest was for one additional count of extortion and one count of official misconduct stemming from a traffic crash where Perez allegedly falsified a crash report and took $300 in lieu of arresting a man for having a suspended license.

Perez is currently on unpaid administrative leave from the department.
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http://www2.highlandstoday.com/content/2009/may/06/la-perez-arrested-again-this-time-for-perjury/

When Evidence From Surveillance Cameras Leads to Charges Against Officers

Surveillance cameras have captured the faces of criminal suspects in banks, in elevators and on street corners. But they have also surfaced in an unexpected law enforcement role: as evidence against police officers accused of misconduct or of lying on the witness stand.

The latest such case emerged on Monday, when a New York City detective, Debra Eager, 41, was indicted on three felony perjury charges after her testimony before a grand jury about a 2007 drug arrest “starkly contradicted” video surveillance of the event, according to Robert T. Johnson, the Bronx district attorney.

Detective Eager pleaded not guilty to the charges, said her lawyer, Peter E. Brill, who pointed out that she had 15 years’ experience on the force and no disciplinary history. He explained the discrepancies between her testimony and the video as honest mistakes.

Mr. Johnson, commenting on the case, said in a statement that “untruthful testimony” from law enforcement officers “strikes at the very heart of our system of justice and seriously erodes public confidence in our courts.”

Detective Eager’s indictment is one of several in recent months in which video recordings played a role in establishing criminal cases against police officers or led prosecutors to drop charges against suspects the officers had arrested.

In September, the Manhattan district attorney’s office dropped charges of attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct against a cyclist, Christopher Long, after videotape showed a police officer, Patrick Pogan, knocking him off his bicycle during a cycling event in Manhattan last summer. Mr. Pogan was indicted in December on charges of assault and filing false paperwork, and has since resigned.

In January, two undercover narcotics officers, Officer Henry Tavarez and Detective Stephen Anderson, were charged with official misconduct and conspiracy after prosecutors said they lied about a “buy and bust” operation at a bar in Queens. One of the men they had arrested, on charges of selling the officers drugs, produced video evidence showing that the officers had had no contact with him or three other suspects, prosecutors said. The charges against the men were dropped.

Last month, assault charges were dropped against a truck driver, Michael Cephus, after a video showed a police officer, Maurice Harrington, hitting him 10 times with a metal baton on Delancey Street in Manhattan, according to Brian Orlow, a lawyer for Mr. Cephus.

Alicia Maxey Greene, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, confirmed that the office was investigating Officer Harrington, but declined to comment further.

Also last month, Officer David London was indicted on charges of assault and filing false records after video from a surveillance camera at an Upper West Side building showed that he pulled a man he had accused of resisting arrest out of an elevator and beat him 18 to 20 times with a baton. Officer London has pleaded not guilty.

Detective Eager was released on a $15,000 personal recognizance bond, and her case was adjourned until May 12. Each of the three counts carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison, prosecutors said.

Mr. Brill said Detective Eager had no incentive to lie. “What did she have invested in lying?” he said on Tuesday, recounting his remarks in court the day before. “She has made 1,300 arrests.”

The chief spokesman for the Police Department, Paul J. Browne, declined to comment on Detective Eager’s case other than to say that she had been suspended from the force. But when asked to comment about police officers accused of perjury, he said, “It does not happen often, but when it does, it is baffling why police officers would risk prosecution and their careers to advance a criminal case rather than let the chips fall where they may.”

The case against Detective Eager stems from her arrest of three people on drug charges in November 2007 at an apartment building on Holland Avenue in the Bronx.

In an excerpt from her grand jury testimony, released by Mr. Johnson’s office, Detective Eager says she and a partner left their van and entered the building through a broken door to follow two men who they believed had two boxes of marijuana. In another excerpt, she says she and her partner “went up to the fourth floor” and then “to the fifth floor” when they heard the suspects jingling keys to unlock Apartment 55N.

The third perjury count was based on her remarks that during the arrest she had recovered two boxes of marijuana, one 15 pounds and the other 18 pounds.

The district attorney’s statement does not say what the video showed, but claims that her testimony was “specific in detail” and contradicted by the video surveillance.

The felony and misdemeanor charges were dropped against the drug suspects last October, prosecutors said.

Mr. Brill said the surveillance video became part of the case when one or more of the defendants filed a complaint against Detective Eager with the Civilian Complaint Review Board.

Mr. Brill said that after Detective Eager saw the video, she realized that “some of the things she said in the grand jury were incorrect based upon not lying, but mistakes she had made in recalling this.”

Within days, he said, she went to the district attorney’s office and explained the situation.

Mr. Brill said the video showed that Detective Eager and her partner had gone up to the fifth floor separately, perhaps minutes apart, and that members of the police team she was with made the recovery of the boxes — she did not recover them on her own.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/nyregion/25perjury.html?_r=1

Judge, Prosecutor, & 2 Officers Charged with Misconduct

DETROIT

A former assistant Wayne County prosecutor, two Inkster police officers and a retired Wayne County circuit judge were charged with misconduct for their roles in allegedly hiding the relationship of a police informant who was a witness in a 2005 drug trial.

Karen Plants, the assistant prosecutor who retired in November, was charged by 36th District Court Magistrate Sidney Barthwell Jr. with five counts of misconduct and one count of conspiring to commit perjury.

Barthwell charged Inkster police officers Scott Rechtzigel and Robert McArthur with two counts each of conspiring to commit perjury and one count each of misconduct.

Former Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Mary Waterstone was charged with three counts of misconduct.

All are free on $25,000 personal bonds. The perjury charges carry a sentence of up to life in prison, the misconduct charges each carry a maximum of five years in prison.

"It is a sad day because law enforcement professionals are involved as defendants," State Attorney General Mike Cox said. "Nonetheless, this case is important because the allegations here undermine the credibility of our justice system."

The defendants were flanked by six lawyers and were charged in front of a packed courtroom. Their preliminary exams are set for April 28.

Cox filed a request for charges this morning. His office investigated the case after prosecutors from four counties declined to serve as a special prosecutor. The cases are expected to be lengthy and complex.

The officers are accused of lying to conceal the role of an informant in a March 11, 2005, cocaine bust. When the case made its way to circuit court in September 2005, Waterstone is accused of knowing of the cover-up and allowing the officers to testify that the informant did not have a connection to the police.

Waterstone also signed orders banning the defendants' attorneys from access to the informant's cellular telephone records because they would have showed he talked to one of the officers.

Plants is accused of never having corrected the testimony of the officers. Although the judge was informed of the perjury, the attorneys for the defendants arrested in the bust were not told, according to the report.

Prosecutor Kym Worthy suspended Plants with pay last April after the State Attorney Grievance Commission brought a formal complaint, and Plants took an early retirement option in November. Worthy then asked the attorney general to find another prosecutor to handle the case.

Worthy came under fire for not taking action before the commission filed its complaint. Worthy has said she thought Plants' actions complied with Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers.

Former CHP Officer Abram Carabajal Accused of Fixing Ticket for Sex

SAN DIEGO

A former California Highway Patrol officer accused of fixing a speeding ticket for a female motorist in exchange for sexual favors pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of perjury, conspiracy to obstruct justice and accepting a bribe.

Abram Anthony Carabajal, 51, of Oceanside, surrendered to authorities on an arrest warrant and was taken into custody after Vista Judge Marshall Hockett set bail at $50,000.

Carabajal faces up to five years and four months in prison if convicted of the felony charges, said Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Dort.

A readiness conference was scheduled for April 6 and a preliminary hearing for April 8.

Carabajal, a 26-year veteran, resigned from the CHP during the investigation, authorities said.

The officer pulled over Shirin Zarrindej for speeding on March 12, 2008, and, at some point, developed a relationship with her, prosecutors allege.

Carabajal testified under oath last July that he was not served with a subpoena, so the speeding case against Zarrindej was dismissed, according to Paul Levikow of the District Attorney's office.

Levikow said Carabajal and Zarrindej were seen walking arm-in-arm to a room at the Guesthouse Inn in Oceanside right after the court appearance. The woman later conceded the two had sex, he said.

Zarrindej, 47, faces felony charges of subordination of perjury, giving a bribe and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

She was arrested Monday in Los Angeles, posted bail and is scheduled to make her initial court appearance on April 13.

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http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/mar/24/bn24chp112042/

Denver Police Still Investigating if Officer Charles Porter Lied

A Denver Police officer accused of assaulting a teenager has been cleared of wrongdoing by a jury.

But Denver Police say they have a lot more investigating to do in the case of Juan Vasquez, the teenage boy who was seriously injured last April after a foot chase with police.

The officer accused of the beating, 13-year veteran Charles Porter, was cleared of first-degree assault March 12 by a jury that heard conflicting stories from officers about what happened the day Vasquez was beaten.

Now the department is trying to figure out who lied.

"We know that this kid was assaulted by a Denver police officer, and we know that at least one Denver police officer committed perjury in this trial," independent police monitor Richard Rosenthal told The Denver Post.

The case started last April when Vasquez, who was 16 at the time, ran from three officers pursuing him for a possible open-container violation.

During the resulting scuffle, one officer repeatedly jumped on the boy's back, causing serious internal injuries. The city of Denver ended up paying the boy $885,000 to settle a lawsuit over the beating.

In Porter's trial, the three officers gave different accounts of what happened.

Porter, 41, testified that he fell behind during the foot chase and that by the time he arrived, Officers Luis Rivera and Cameron Moerman had Vasquez on the ground, complaining he couldn't breathe.

"I don't know what happened that night. By the time I arrived, the juvenile was handcuffed and in custody," Porter testified.

The other officers, Rivera and Moerman, testified that they saw Porter jump on Vasquez and Rivera heard him say later the beating was "just something I do lately."

Vasquez gave conflicting testimony and seemed unsure which officer jumped on him.

Detective Rufino Trujillo, past president of the state chapter of the National Latino Peace Officers Association, told the newspaper that conflicting stories from the officers led to Porter's acquittal.

Trujillo said that with no clear physical evidence, prosecutors were relying on the credibility of officers Rivera and Moerman. Neither Moerman nor Rivera blamed Porter for the beating until they talked to internal affairs investigators six days after it happened.

"Their credibility was in question, and you were not going to get a conviction," Trujillo said.

Denver Assistant District Attorney Doug Jackson said the other two officers waited to come forward out of loyalty to a fellow officer, not because their story wasn't true.

"They didn't want themselves to be looked on unkindly by other officers for ratting out one of their senior officers," Jackson said.

Porter, who was suspended without pay, remains on suspension but is back on the department payroll. He will also recover salary withheld since he was arrested for assault last May.

Moerman and Rivera remain on duty.

The newspaper reported that the police department plans to continue investigating the beating, and that the FBI may intervene and bring federal civil-rights charges if a review turns up wrongdoing.

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Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com

Former Cpl Will Cosby in Court for Assault & Perjury

LEBANON, Tenn.

Former Mt. Juliet Police Cpl. Will Cosby went to a Wilson County courtroom Monday to resolve the charges against him.

Cosby stood accused of assault and perjury. Cosby asked for - and the state agreed on - pre-trial diversion because the former officer had no previous criminal record.

Cosby's courtroom appearance came from a controversial stop of a man last spring while Cosby was still on the job. Cosby thought James Anders had marijuana in his mouth. The former officer wanted to keep Anders from swallowing the drug, so he used a vascular restraint. After two minutes Anders collapsed.

An investigation revealed that Anders did not have any marijuana on him, and he also passed a drug test.

Anders also sued Cosby. They settled out of court for $56,000.

In court Monday, the judge told Cosby he must spend the next two years on un-supervised probation. If Cosby doesn't get into any trouble during that time, the incident will be expunged from his record.

Officer Richard Fiorito Accused of Framing Man

When James Dean Jr. left a North Side police station after his arrest for driving on a suspended license in February 2007, he thought the day’s problems were behind him.

A sergeant at the Town Hall police station near Wrigley Field warned him not to drive again, according to his lawyer, Jon Erickson.

Dean asked if he could get his coat from his car and the sergeant said yes, Erickson said.

Dean got into his car and Officer Richard Fiorito ordered him to move it, Erickson said. When Dean complied, the officer switched on the emergency lights on his squad car and pulled over Dean, arresting him for making an illegal U-turn, driving on a suspended license and driving under the influence, according to a lawsuit Dean filed Tuesday in federal court accusing Fiorito of framing him.

Dean said the police would not have initially released him on a personal recognizance bond if he were drunk, pointing out that he was arrested for DUI only four minutes after leaving the station. All the charges were eventually dropped by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, his lawsuit said.

“This has been going on for years and it’s time to put a stop to it,” Erickson said.

The city’s Law Department, which is defending the 60-year-old Fiorito in a separate traffic-related lawsuit, would not comment on Dean’s lawsuit because the city’s lawyers have not seen it, spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle said.

In the past year, two other officers have been the subject of internal police investigations for their DUI arrests.

Joe D. Parker, 59, an officer in the Chicago Police Department’s Traffic Enforcement Unit, has been placed on desk duty, sources said. Prosecutors have moved to dismiss dozens of Parker’s DUI arrests.

Officer John Haleas, meanwhile, has been charged by Cook County prosecutors with perjury, official misconduct and obstructing justice. He is accused of failing to take important steps in making a DUI arrest in 2005. Prosecutors said Haleas failed to perform a field-sobriety test and lied in his reports. As a result, they have dropped more than 50 cases stemming from DUI arrests made by Haleas, 38.

Erickson said he believes officers have an incentive to make false DUI arrests: overtime from court appearances. He thinks they also do it to gain recognition from anti-DUI organizations such as the Schaumburg-based Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists, which has named Parker, Haleas and Fiorito “top cops” in making DUI arrests. In 2006, Fiorito made 230 DUI arrests, according to AAIM.

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http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/02/lawsuits-fiorito-dean-rauch.html

Feds Investigate old Allegations that Chicago Police Tortured Murder Suspects

Federal prosecutors continue to investigate decades-old allegations that Chicago police routinely tortured murder suspects, focusing on a half-dozen detectives following the recent indictment of former Cmdr. Jon Burge, the alleged ringleader, sources said.

Subpoenas served on the city show that prosecutors are looking at detectives long linked to Burge and the South Side precincts where he worked mostly during the 1980s. Among them: former Sgt. John Byrne, considered Burge's right-hand man, and former detective Peter Dignan.

It is not surprising that the investigation has widened beyond Burge. Last October, when prosecutors announced Burge's indictment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges, U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald said the charges "should serve as a warning" to those officers who worked for him and took part in alleged brutality.

"If their lifeline is to hang on a perceived code of silence, they may be hanging on air," said Fitzgerald, cautioning other officers could be hit with similar charges.

Now a clearer picture is emerging of where the investigation is heading. Prosecutors are looking for medical records or testimony by a doctor to corroborate claims of brutality, the sources said, and want to avoid pitting the testimony of a former inmate against that of an officer.

A case in point is Andrew Wilson, who was convicted of killing two police officers after giving a confession that Burge and his men allegedly coerced. Wilson contended he was beaten and shocked and forced to press his chest and abdomen to a hot radiator. He died in prison in 2007.

Last month prosecutors asked a judge to allow them to use Wilson's testimony from previous hearings and civil proceedings at Burge's upcoming trial.

The Chicago Police Board found Burge guilty in 1983 of violating department rules, a determination that ultimately led to his firing a decade later. Wilson's facial injuries and burn marks had been photographed by jail personnel and doctors following his 1982 arrest. The supervising physician at the Cook County Jail, John Raba, even wrote the police superintendent asking for an investigation.

"Dr. Raba and other witnesses who participated in the examination and/or treatment of Wilson have been located and are available to testify at trial," said last month's filing.

Federal authorities have also interviewed Gregory Banks, who says Byrne and Dignan and other detectives placed a plastic bag over his head to force him to confess in 1983 to a murder.

The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that his confession had been obtained through brutality and awarded him a new trial after Banks had spent 7 years in prison.

Banks later won $92,000 from the city after filing a federal civil rights lawsuit.

Lawyer Flint Taylor, who represents Banks as well as other alleged torture victims, said prosecutors have interviewed a number of his clients.

"We've had contact with the U.S. attorney and presented several of our clients for interviews," he said. "It's my sense that they're doing a very aggressive and a thorough investigation with regard to some of Burge's midnight crew."

"We're hopeful there will be indictments brought against them and others," he added.

Dignan could not be reached Tuesday for comment. Byrne, who is a private detective in the south suburbs, said he was not surprised that federal prosecutors would focus on Burge's midnight shift officers.

"They're going to do what they feel is necessary," said Byrne, who indicated he has not been contacted by authorities. "They're going to be looking at everyone who was working then."

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http://www.chicagotribune.com