HEADLINE:  Ex-Somerset cop faces theft charges 

A former Somerset Police officer was charged Wednesday with possessing a .32-caliber derringer that had been stolen from the suburban department's evidence locker. If convicted, Samuel Guebara, 35, faces up to 10 years in prison. 

According to an affidavit filed in federal court by Special Agent Mike Colbenson of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms: 

An informant brought the handgun to a law-enforcement officer and alleged that it came from Guebara. A second informant said that Guebara claimed to have previously taken several firearms from the Somerset Police evidence safe. 

A subsequent investigation found that at least 19 weapons, including the derringer produced by the first informant, had been taken from the department safe. 

Guebara, who could not immediately be reached for comment, worked at the department through August of last year, according to the Somerset city administrator's office. 

HEADLINE: Sargent County sheriff charged with misdemeanors 

DATELINE: BISMARCK, N.D. 

Sargent County Sheriff Chuck Gates has been accused of filing false reports with the state Peace Officers Standards and Training Board. 

Gates faces two misdemeanor charges of filing false training reports on law enforcement officer firearms. The board, a division of the state attorney general's office, licenses law enforcement officers in North Dakota. 

"He indicated ... that he had qualified for firearms for years 2000, 2001 and the allegation is that those were false statements, he hadn't done that," said Burleigh County State's Attorney Richard Riha, who is prosecuting the case. 

The certification includes passing a shooting test on a firing range. 

Gates, 55, who was first elected sheriff in 1993, said he had not seen the complaint and declined to comment. He is seeking another term this year. 

Riha said the case was filed in Bismarck because the false reports allegedly were made to the board's office there. He said other officers also were listed on the reports, but Gates was the one who filed them. 

Assistant Attorney General Robert Bennett said the charges arose from a widespread investigation into Gates' department over reports of missing money and property. He said questions over the handling of money and property were raised in a letter to the attorney general's office from Sargent County State's Attorney Lyle Bopp in March. 

"It really started off as questions on the funds," Bennett said. "The investigation went on to other things." 

Earlier this year, Gates said money that disappeared from an evidence locker in his office might have been inadvertently thrown away. A judge had ordered the $687 to be returned to a woman after ruling there was not enough evidence to convict her on a drug charge. Gates said the woman asked for the money last fall, but it could not be found.  The charges against Gates are Class A misdemeanors, each carrying a maximum punishment of a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.  Bennett said it marks the second time in 10 years that a Sargent County sheriff has faced a criminal charge. 

In 1992, Gates' predecessor, Arden Barglof, was convicted of theft in a jury trial. He lost his peace officer's license and resigned from office. Gates, who was the chief deputy under Barglof, then became sheriff. 

Bennett said the Peace Officers and Standards Training Board also may consider Gates' case as a civil matter, because the allegedly false reports were made to the board as part of the state licensing process. 

HEADLINE: ARRESTED POLICE OFFICER IS FOCUS OF NEW PROBE;
FIRE INVESTIGATION TURNS UP BARBITURATES TAKEN FROM EVIDENCE ROOM 

DATELINE: ROCK HILL 

A Rock Hill police officer who resigned last week amid allegations he committed arson is also suspected of improperly taking drugs from the department's evidence room, Police Chief David Fortson said at a press conference Monday. 

Police began an internal investigation into Robin Matthew Davis, 47, after state officials arrested him July 31 on a charge that he set fire to his single-wide mobile home on Perry Drive. Davis was suspended without pay from his job as an evidence property officer immediately after the State Law Enforcement Division arrested him on a charge of second-degree arson, Fortson said. 

While conducting the internal investigation, officers found barbiturates inside a concealed compartment in Davis' police vehicle, Fortson said. They learned the depressants, which were in an evidence bag, had been improperly removed from the evidence room, he said. 

The phenobarbital and pentobarbital were evidence in a drug case that had already been closed. The drugs were scheduled to be destroyed in November, Fortson said. 

Davis resigned Friday after police told him they discovered the drugs, Fortson said. Fortson said Davis told them he planned to use the drugs himself. 

The chief said he had no reason to suspect any other items were mishandled or that Davis took the drugs for monetary gain. 

Davis could not be reached for comment. 

The State Law Enforcement Division will investigate the case and send it to prosecutors, who will decide whether charges will be filed. 

HEADLINE: Indicted Linden official resigns 

DATELINE: LINDEN, Ala. 

Preston Bowden was arrested Nov. 19 and charged with second-degree theft for allegedly stealing weapons and other evidence. Law enforcement officers confiscated thousands of dollars worth of guns, ammunition and other items labeled with police evidence tags from Bowden's home. 

While FBI agents participated in the investigation, no federal charges have been filled against Bowden, who worked for the Linden Police Department from 1984 to 1999. 

Linden Mayor Pat Vice called for his resignation soon after his arrest, saying Bowden betrayed the public trust. 

"I'm glad he finally made that decision," Vice said. "I'm ready to move on." 

Bowden has not attended a City Council meeting since his arrest last year. He recently submitted a letter to vice saying that he was resigning Aug. 7 because he was moving out of his council district. 

Vice said the council must declare a vacancy and appoint a replacement. 

HEADLINE: Walsenburg personnel held in alleged pot theft 

Sgt. Gilbert Pedraza, 51, and dispatchers Mark Gomez, 42, and Thomas Cordova, 51, were arrested and released on bond Tuesday. Pedraza, a 15-year veteran, allegedly took bricks of marijuana and gave them to Gomez and Cordova for their personal use, according to an arrest affidavit.

'It was for the personal use of the dispatchers, we were told,' said Assistant District Attorney Cathy Mullens. 'We don't believe it was sold on the streets of Walsenburg.'

Gomez is the grandson of former Walsenburg Mayor George Turner, 91, who was found murdered in his home last month. The drug investigation grew from the murder probe, and Colorado Bureau of Investigation agents cracked the ring after questions arose when interviewing Gomez, the affidavit says.

Turner's death was part of a summer crime spree that hit this southern Colorado town of 4,200 residents. An armed robbery and a fleeing parolee with a knife also jolted Walsenburg in the same three-week period.

'We've had about as much as we can take for one year,' said Mayor Maurice Brau.

The three police employees face felony charges of embezzlement of public property, theft and marijuana possession. All three are suspended and could face five to 15 years in prison under sentencing guidelines.

The pot has a street value of more than $ 3,000, officials said.

Investigators say they believe the drugs came from a 1999 arrest in which police seized more than 137 pounds of marijuana. 

HEADLINE: Rape kits going untested 

Key DNA evidence that could solve some of the hundreds of South Carolina rape cases is sitting in law enforcement property rooms because it hasn't been analyzed, mirroring a nationwide trend.

State Law Enforcement Division officials responsible for the testing said they don't know precisely how many cases there are but have begun collecting and analyzing rape kits that once were sent back to investigating agencies because there wasn't a suspect.

The Forensic DNA Lab now has the technology to compare those samples to a statewide database of convicted violent offenders. It is applying for federal grant money to quicken the process, SLED Chief Robert Stewart said Wednesday. 

Lt. Ira Jeffcoat, the lab's supervisor, said federal money would allow them to continue to hire a private lab to both analyze the hundreds of cases in which there is no suspect and enter the DNA profiles of the more than 30,000 convicted violent offenders -- both imprisoned and on parole -- in the state.

"It's a huge endeavor," Jeffcoat said. "You can't just do it overnight. It's not as simple as turning on a switch. It's a process that we're right in the middle of right now. We're making strides."

The lab has analyzed and cataloged information from 19,000 convicts since the Legislature changed the law in 2000 to require convicted violent offenders to submit DNA samples, Jeffcoat said."That influx of cases had a huge effect on the staff's ability to get it all done," Jeffcoat said.

Upstate authorities said it takes anywhere from four months to a year to get lab results back, depending on the case and the type of crime."It's nothing we can't handle," Jeffcoat said. "It takes a couple of months to get cases out. It's not a significant backlog, no."

Requiring the lab to analyze the cases without suspects as well could inundate the lab even more, he said.

"Our current staffing is committed to getting cases done that have suspects," Jeffcoat said. "Any additional workload would add to our backlog."

Jeffcoat said he does not know how many kits are still waiting to be analyzed."It could be in the hundreds," Jeffcoat said. "I wouldn't think it would be in the thousands."

He said the lab receives DNA from about 900 kits a year. About half of those submitted were sent back without being analyzed, but those cases may have been dismissed or a suspect may have eventually pleaded guilty.

"There's probably a lot more than that stored at the local agencies," he said. "We really don't have a firm handle on that number. We tried to determine that number by contacting the local agencies but didn't have a whole lot of response.

County's lab space limited

At the Greenville County Forensics Lab, rape kits that are older than a year are moved out of cold storage into the property room because of space limitations.

Jeffcoat said while cold storage is preferred, the evidence is still usable when it's dried.

Greenville Police have 115 cases shelved in nonrefrigerated evidence because they've either been analyzed or are at least a year old. Twenty-five kits are refrigerated, and four are waiting to be sent to SLED, according to Greenville County Forensics Lab records.

Greenville County Sheriff's Office has 162 cases shelved because they've either been analyzed or at least a year old. Sixty-four kits are refrigerated and another six are waiting to be sent to SLED, according to records.

Stewart said SLED has twice sent local law enforcement agencies letters asking them to send the lab their nonsuspect cases. So far, it has received DNA samples from about 180 cases, of which 60 have been analyzed and entered into the database, authorities said. They said none of those samples has matched anyone in the database.

Positive results will be more frequent as both the database and the nonsuspect cases are processed, SLED officials said.

"What we're talking about here is not a local problem," Jeffcoat said. "This is a nationwide problem with a backlog of rape cases. Databasing is a new concept, but it's a nationwide concept."

Agencies seek funding

The National Organization for Women said DNA analysis has not been performed on as many as 500,000 rape kits because law enforcement agencies across the country say they can't afford the cost of the tests.

Bills in Congress that would provide approximately $250 million over two years to assist agencies in completing the analysis have been sent to committees in both the House and Senate, according to a NOW spokeswoman.

Stewart said the database is a top priority. He declined to specify how much money they would need because he didn't want to put a limit on it.

"We're seeking funding anywhere we can find it," Stewart said. "Fortunately, there are federal funds available we have drawn on heavily and will continue to draw on. It's certainly going to be a priority as funds become available."

Victims live in fear

Fortunately for victims in South Carolina, they don't have to pay to have their kits analyzed as in some states. The cost is picked up by the state.

The first 72 hours after a rape is crucial, authorities said. It's during that time a rape kit is used. Authorities use the kit to collect hair, blood, semen, fingernail clippings, saliva, bite marks and other specimens.

Donna Roy, executive director of ACT, said 450 children and adults in Greenville reported being raped in 2001. Another 316 rapes were reported by the victims' family members or friends, she said.

Cheryl Chandler, victim service coordinator for the Greenville Sexual Trauma Center, said an unsolved rape is extremely hard on the victim.

"If they know them, they keep wondering if they're going to come back," Chandler said. "If it's a stranger, the victim will often move, change jobs, change telephone numbers. It's a very traumatic thing. They're always looking over their shoulder."

Even if a suspect is charged, it can still take a case more than a year to go to trial, Chandler said.
Stewart said that over time SLED may create more lab positions and put some of their agents in those positions.

Greenville Police Chief Willie Johnson said having the new technology will teach criminals even old crimes don't pay. There is no statute of limitation on rape, officials said.

"It's very encouraging that the new technology is going to allow us to go back and clear some of these old cases," Johnson said. "We can now catch up with a lot of people who think they have gotten away with a crime." 

HEADLINE: Ex-police chief on probation 

Standing before Judge Keith Spaeth, Duane Pelfrey read from a prepared statement, admitting that he failed to perform some duties as chief, but denying any intentional wrongdoing.

His statement began: "I'd like to apologize to the village of New Miami for letting them down in my administrative obligations. I was in over my head when it came to the property room." 
He also alleged it was "in disarray when I took office."

Judge Spaeth said he considered Mr. Pelfrey, 36, an appropriate candidate for probation because he admitted his offense and because of his previous good record in law enforcement and his inexperience with administrative duties before becoming chief in January.

The judge suspended a 90-day jail sentence on the condition that Mr. Pelfrey complete two years of probation. Mr. Pelfrey also must complete 40 hours of community service and pay a $250 fine plus court costs.

"Good luck, sir," the judge said.

Mr. Pelfrey, who maintained his composure in the courtroom, reluctantly spoke to reporters afterward. With reddened eyes and a trembling voice, he said, "It's been a terrible feeling. It's been a sick feeling."

He said "bad management skills," inexperience with supervisory duties, lack of manpower and a budget crunch contributed to his downfall, yet he hoped to get back into law enforcement some day.

His lawyer, Lyn Cunningham, said the ex-chief is employed in construction. "He's actually out digging ditches these days to earn a living to support his family."

Mr. Cunningham said his client has been "extremely embarrassed" by the situation.

Mr. Pelfrey had pleaded guilty to the second-degree misdemeanor July 12 for failing to properly inventory evidence.

Critics had alleged that the chief may have improperly removed a gun from the property room, but Mr. Pelfrey on Thursday adamantly declared: "I never took anything from that property room."

Mr. Pelfrey's court appearance capped months of controversy in the village of about 2,500 just north of Hamilton.

In April, five teens had been accused of conspiring to kill Mr. Pelfrey. But when that case fell apart in May, the teens' parents and others criticized the chief's handling of the investigation and other matters. That led to an investigation of the property room by the county sheriff's office.
 
 

HEADLINE: Defendant challenging evidence over computer glitch 

DATELINE: LEXINGTON, Ky. 

The glitch, which lasted at least six months, put the date of the crime on most of the barcodes attached to evidence instead of the date the evidence was logged into the police locker. 
Police have a backup log that is accurate, said Jim Cox, property and evidence supervisor for the police department.

Fayette Circuit Judge Mary Noble said Tuesday that she was relieved the police have a secondary system in their computers that accurately recorded the evidence log and told officers that they should give those records rather than the bar codes to lawyers on both sides of criminal cases that might be affected by the glitch. 

"If you didn't have this backup log, there would be some major issues here," Noble told some officers in court. "Computers are supposed to make life easier, but I am sort of longing for the good old days." 

The glitch, which has been repaired, was discovered by Kate Dunn, lawyer for John Michael Collins, while trying to get the evidence tossed. 

Dunn doubts the validity of the search because of the police claims about its timing: An invalid search warrant bearing the wrong address was issued for Collins' home at 3 p.m. the day of the search. When the address error was discovered, another warrant was issued at 11:30 p.m. 

What Dunn finds suspicious is that the home was searched, the evidence collected and logged in at the evidence locker - all within one hour and 15 minutes, according to the police. 
Prosecutors said the search was done swiftly and legally. 

Collins, 35, is accused of picking up a woman in October and driving her to a secluded field where he forced her to perform oral sex, raped her, spat on her and tried to strangle her with a towel. The woman escaped and flagged down a passing trucker on Interstate 75 for help. 

Collins has denied the woman's story and says that he offered to pay her for sex and left her when she began demanding more money. Another hearing on the evidence issues is scheduled for Sept. 30. 

HEADLINE: LOS ANGELES;
Rape Victims Decry Backlog of DNA Tests and Demand Timely Analysis; Activism: Dozens gather near police headquarters in downtown L.A. to urge law enforcement agencies to devote more resources to crime labs. 

Rape survivors rallying at the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters Tuesday called on law enforcement agencies to devote more money to analyzing biological material for DNA and decried the increasing backlog of untested rape kits in police evidence rooms. 

"My rape kit sat on the shelf gathering dust for four years" before it was tested, said Karen Pomer, whose rapist was caught after he assaulted other women in the mid-1990s. 

About 35 protesters organized by the Rainbow Sisters Project gathered in front of Parker Center downtown to march to the federal building a block away and then to the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration on Temple Street. 

With scientific advances and computer databases of thousands of DNA profiles, biological evidence has become a powerful tool to help law enforcement catch sexual offenders and to exonerate wrongly convicted prisoners. 

But because of a shortage in resources, criminalists for the LAPD and the Sheriff's Department have given priority for years to analyzing biological evidence in cases in which suspects have been identified and are headed for trial. A huge backlog of DNA requests from investigators has been accumulating. 

Critics say this evidence should be analyzed as quickly as possible so that it can be compared with DNA profiles in the database of inmates who have been convicted of sexual offenses and other crimes. 

For the last year, debate has swirled around the amount of space that will be devoted to DNA analysis in the county's planned $96-million crime lab, which is scheduled to be completed in 2005. Critics have charged that the LAPD is not devoting enough space or criminalists to DNA testing. 

The Los Angeles Police Commission announced two weeks ago that it will review plans for the lab. Interim Police Chief Martin Pomeroy said the department's plans are adequate for the number of criminalists that the City Council will fund. 

The controversy heated up last month when the LAPD disclosed that its detectives had mistakenly authorized the destruction of biological evidence in about 1,000 cases. 

The police and the Sheriff's Department have called a moratorium on destruction of DNA evidence. 

Protesters carried signs Tuesday denouncing the Police Department for the destruction of the rape kits and urging the department to preserve DNA evidence forever. 

Debbie Smith, a Williamsburg, Va., rape victim who has been lobbying Congress for increased funding for DNA testing, said hundreds of thousands of rape kits across the country have gone untested. "They're sitting on shelves behind closed doors, backlogged." "If not for DNA, my rapist would still be out there," she said. "It took 6 1/2 years to find him because the DNA was untested and sat on a shelf." 

Pomer, a founder of Rainbow Sisters, which lobbies for legislation and educates the public on behalf of rape survivors, said DNA evidence should never be destroyed. She also urged the department to increase the DNA crime lab staff to 40 criminalists, from its current plans for 25. 

In an interview, Pomer said the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors should insist that the Sheriff's Department determine whether any biological evidence in its custody has been destroyed and require the agency to provide the board with a full accounting. 

Sheriff's officials have said its moratorium on destruction of DNA evidence has been in effect since November 1991. They have also said they are examining the files in a sampling of sex offense cases to determine whether rape kits have been mistakenly destroyed. Police officials have said they recognize the power of DNA, and are reviewing departmental practices in deciding when to dispose of biological evidence. 

HEADLINE: Mayor charged with stealing guns from police evidence room 

DATELINE: BLAIRSVILLE, Pa. 

The mayor was charged with stealing handguns, pellet guns and ammunition from a police evidence room that he allegedly planned to sell at flea markets or keep for himself. 

The charges against Mayor James W. Brubaker Sr., 65, were filed Tuesday, about two weeks after Indiana County detectives searched Brubaker's home and allegedly found four handguns, 11 pellet guns and four boxes of ammunition, all believed missing from the police station. 

Brubaker didn't immediately return a call to his home Thursday. His attorney, Thomas Johnson of Indiana, says he doesn't comment on pending cases. Under the borough code, Brubaker will keep his $900-a-year, part-time post unless he is convicted or resigns. 

Brubaker, who is serving is second term, was charged with theft, receiving stolen property, possession of a firearm with an altered serial number and obstruction of justice. 

Brubaker served on the Blairsville police force from 1961 to 1972, including a seven-year stint as chief. Blairsville's new police chief, James Guffey, learned of the missing weapons on Aug. 3, his third day on the job, according to court documents. 

Guffey said the handguns were evidence or apparently turned over to police under protection-from-abuse orders, and the pellet guns were apparently seized from youths who used them improperly. 

Officer Virginia Moorhead, who has since resigned, told Guffey that Brubaker told her in April that he wanted to sell the pellet guns at a flea market in Georgia. Brubaker told Moorhead he wanted to use the money to buy new weapons for the police department, authorities said. 

In July, Brubaker approached Moorhead about taking handguns for his private collection, including one with its serial number filed off, police said. On both occasions, Moorhead told Brubaker the weapons couldn't be removed without a court order, but he told her not to worry about that, police said. 

Guffey referred that information to county detectives who raided Brubaker's home a few hours after Brubaker told Moorhead he had taken the guns to his house. Moorhead was wearing a hidden microphone during the Aug. 13 conversation, police said.  A preliminary hearing date has yet to be scheduled.