HEADLINE:  Ex-chief repays $5K missing from Canton Police Department

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The state auditor's office said Thursday that former Canton Police Chief Luke Gordon has repaid about $5,000 that was missing from the department's evidence room.

Gordon, however, claims that only $1800.48 was missing from Canton, which he said he paid plus $55 in interest. The rest of his $4800 payment to the state auditor, he claims, is fees and penalties.

The state investigation began earlier this year after complaints of missing guns, drugs and money. The state has since provided the department with a computer and program to track evidence.

Jesse Bingham, director of investigations for the state auditor, said results from the investigation have been turned over to prosecutors. The findings have not been made public.

"The money was missing out of the evidence vault," Bingham said. "It was taken under his watch and he is responsible. The receipts were in such disarray, it's hard to tell exactly what is missing, but at this point, that is what we are able to prove.

"Luke was very cooperative once we approached him. He's to be commended, quite frankly," Bingham said.

HEADLINE: Ex-property room chief to aid unfolding probe

A former Memphis police property room manager - brought in to help clean up the department - pleaded guilty Friday to stealing from it. 

Jay Liner told U.S. Dist. Judge Jon McCalla he was guilty of taking a gun from the property and evidence room. 

In Liner's plea agreement, prosecutors note that they expect his "future assistance" as federal investigators delve into the roles of several city workers and those charged with drug dealing who face charges related to the property room thefts. 

"Mr. Liner is a good man that made a bad decision and he's accepting responsibility for it," said Liner's attorney, Mark S. McDaniel. "He has a lifelong history of public service. He's ashamed and embarrassed that he allowed himself to be placed in this position." 

A state audit released last week showed that more than $2 million worth of cocaine, 560 pounds of marijuana, 66 guns and cash disappeared from the property and evidence room between 2000 and 2003. 

Liner, a retired lieutenant and former property room manager with the Washington Police Department, was hired in December 2000 to improve conditions after a 1999 audit revealed a similar pattern of disappearing property and poor record-keeping. 

In September 2003, he gave law enforcement agents permission to search his Collierville home. 

He turned in several items stolen from the property room, including a .22-caliber Magnum pistol that was brought across state lines. It was logged into the property room in 1994 and slated to be destroyed. But Liner said he got the gun in spring 2002. 

Liner will be sentenced Sept. 29. He faces a maximum $250,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison. 

His assistance could lead to a reduced sentence, but McCalla said because Liner was put in a "position of trust," it could also affect his sentencing. 

"I am so sorry," Liner told the judge. "For the past 53 years of my life I've strived to live an upright type of life." 

- Pamela Perkins: 529-6514

HEADLINE: DA: No charges against Canton police.  Evidence tampering could not be proved in court, prosecutor says

BY: Peggy Matthews

There will be no criminal charges arising from the state investigation of the Canton Police Department, said Madison-Rankin County Assistant District Attorney Scott Rogillio on Wednesday.

"We have concluded no criminal act can be prosecuted in this case ... Our genuine concern out of all of this is that it was in such terrible shape. I've never seen anything like it," Rogillio said. 

The investigation found confiscated drug money was missing from the evidence vault and an inexpensive drug-seized car was sold to a former officer. After hours spent reconstructing records, investigators drew a blank on whether any weapons were missing.

However, they discovered criminal cases where arrests were made, evidence was sent to the crime lab and other items were seized, but the cases were never presented to the prosecution. The investigation also showed money was seized but could not be linked to a suspect or case.

The findings were outlined in a letter from the auditor's office released by the district attorney.

"You could go into that vault and a pound of dope would be sitting in the corner and nobody knew what case it went with. That was just a good place to put it," said Rogillio.

Prosecutors could not prove in court the chain of evidence had not been tampered with, Rogillio said.

"If that hadn't been cleared up, that sure could have been a problem," he said.

Former Chief Luke Gordon earlier this month paid nearly $5,000 to the city of Canton and the state as a result of the investigation. Of that, $1,845 was missing drug money. The rest was penalties and the state's cost of the investigation.

"Because he paid the money back does not mean he did anything criminal. We can't even say the money was stolen; it's just not accounted for," Rogillio said.

Gordon, who left the department in January to become Madison County's emergency coordinator, said he did not take any money.

"I didn't handle the money, never saw the money ... and I don't believe anybody else took it, either. I still believe it was a record keeping problem," Gordon said. "I do know the auditors did a thorough job - because I had to pay for it."

Gordon said he made improvements to the evidence room during his tenure.
"When I came in, officers were leaving everything all over the place. I instituted a secure area so it was under lock and key," he said.

Jesse Bingham, chief investigator for the auditor's office, would not comment on the specifics of the investigation. On the lack of prosecution, he said, "The DAs in this state have a tough job and if that is the decision he made not to prosecute, I fully back it."

Rogillio said some matters could not be prosecuted because of the number of people who had access to the evidence room. Keys were distributed to several officers and even the computer repairman had one since the department's main frame was in the evidence room, officials said.

"There's no way you could say one person in particular did anything," Rogillio said.

HEADLINE: Plum Chief alters filing system

When Robert Payne became chief of the Plum police department in June 2003, he began hearing that there may have been a problem with a vandalism report in 2001 at the home of Sgt. Andrew McNelis. 

Payne's ensuing investigation led to McNelis' arrest and subsequent conviction last week on charges of insurance fraud and tampering with public records. Prosecutors said McNelis doctored a police report to inflate damages from the vandalism at his home. 

McNelis maintains his innocence. Michael DeRiso, McNelis' lawyer, said his client hasn't decided if he will appeal the guilty verdict. 

But for Payne, the issue was bigger than McNelis. 

When Payne discovered through an audit of the police department's computer system that in 2001 McNelis was one of three people who could access and edit police reports, he decided some changes were needed. Then police Chief Terry Focareta and former records secretary Debbie Mooney also had access to the reports. 

"The more people who have access -- administrative rights -- there's more possibility of something like this (the McNelis incident) happening," Payne said. 

Payne decided one employee -- records secretary Judy Borgoyne, who began working in the police department in October 2002 -- would be given administrative rights. Borgoyne enters the police reports into the computer system. 

"Judy is the only one permitted into that system," Payne said. 

Payne said officers who need to make deletions or additions to a police report complete a supplemental report. Borgoyne then enters the information into the computer. 

"Police officers don't need to be messing around with reports," Payne said. "(If they do) where is our credibility?" 

Plum Mayor John Schmeck supports the changes Payne has instituted. 

"With what is in place now, no compromising (of the system) is available," Schmeck said. 

Schmeck, Payne and Councilman Paul Dern Jr., public safety committee chairman, also credit Sgts. Matthew Feldmeier and Jeff Armstrong with moving the evidence to a more secure area in the police department and limiting the access. 

Feldmeier, who Schmeck placed in charge of the department when council fired Focareta in January 2002, inventoried the evidence and moved it after officers discovered evidence was missing. 

McNelis goes to trial in federal court on Oct. 12 in connection with the disappearance of a .45-caliber handgun. McNelis is charged with mailing the gun that had disappeared from the evidence room. 

Later, a .38-caliber revolver and an unspecified amount of marijuana could not be located. They have not been found. 

Payne said problems with evidence "will bite you -- can get you all of a sudden. I won't stand for shoddy police work." 

Schmeck, mayor since 1998, said though he is saddened by what happened with McNelis he also feels that many problems in the department have been corrected. 

"I feel vindicated because back in 1999, 1998 and 2000, I was saying the (police) department had major problems and was out of control and I was trying to fix these problems," Schmeck said. 

Schmeck contends he was rebuffed by Focareta in his attempts to make changes. 

Focareta declined comment. The former chief was successful in his federal lawsuit against Plum officials over his firing. Plum in May agreed to pay Focareta $510,000 in a settlement after a federal jury awarded him more than twice that amount. 

"I feel this (McNelis' conviction) closes the chapter on the old department," Dern said. 

Payne said he continues to review the operation of the department. But he's happy with what's been put in place. 

"Procedurally, we're in pretty good shape," Payne said. "Everything has been brought into the 21st century."

HEADLINE: DNA request in murder case dropped 44-year-old evidence mishandled 

OTTAWA -- In a surprise move Thursday, the lawyer for the man convicted of murdering a hiker in Starved Rock State Park 44 years ago withdrew her request for DNA testing, citing misuse of trial evidence over the years.

Saying the evidence had been the subject of "show and tell" over the years, Donna Kelly of the state appellate defender's office dropped her request on behalf of Chester Weger, 65.

Weger was convicted of the March 16, 1960, stabbing of Lillian Oetting 50, of the Chicago area, and he is serving a life sentence in Menard Correctional Center. The woman's friends, Mildred Lindquist and Francis Murphy, both from Riverside, also were killed, but LaSalle County prosecutors chose not to try him in their deaths at the time.

Kelly told LaSalle County Judge H. Chris Ryan on Thursday the evidence has been in the custody of the LaSalle County state attorney's office ever since the trial. Usually it goes back to investigators after the trial.

LaSalle County State's Attorney Joseph Hettel acknowledged standards for handling evidence over the years have changed, especially after the advent of DNA testing in the 1980s, but he is convinced of Weger's guilt.

"I have no reason to believe that anyone other than Chester Weger committed these murders," he said.

Prosecutors over the years would "have a sort of show and tell" with the evidence before various groups, including schoolchildren, Kelly said.

At some point the women's clothing was thrown in the same bag as Weger's coat, making it impossible to determine if the blood on the coat belonged to the women, she said.

Kelly said the lead investigator at one time displayed at his home the log that killed the women. That log has since disappeared and the investigator is now dead.

Hettel said his assistant, Brian Towne, had quickly complied with Kelly's request for the evidence. The conclusions she drew about how his predecessors handled the evidence were unwarranted, he said.

Hettel said it is now a felony to mishandle evidence in a murder case even years after a conviction, but he did not think criminologists were that careful about the "chain of custody" of evidence in the 1960s.

He said he did not know Kelly would withdraw her motion until two hours before she did it.

Towne said he is assuming Kelly's next move will be to ask the governor's office for clemency.

Kelly, a public defender with the appellate court, had no comment after the hearing.

Hettel said he would oppose clemency for Weger, who has been denied parole more than two dozen times since 1972.

gregstanmar@insightbb.com

HEADLINE: SPD worker arrested for theft, tampering

The Sherwood Police Department is currently conducting an internal theft investigation from the police department property and evidence room.

Sandra Prentice Hall, 44, a white, female, from Greenbrier, has been arrested for one count of theft of property, a felony, and 13 counts of tampering with physical evidence, also felonies. Other charges are pending at this time. 

Hall was the property and evidence custodian for the Sherwood police department. She had been employed with the police department for about one year. She was a civilian employee, not a sworn police officer. 

Hall has been terminated from her job by Chief of Police Kel Nicholson. 

Court is set for Hall on Aug. 10, at 8 a.m., in Sherwood District Court.

HEADLINE: Police refusal to return medical pot prompts suit Judge must decide whether Chowchilla, police are wrong.

Whether the city of Chowchilla and its former police chief, John Robinson, should be penalized for refusing to return about a pound of medical marijuana to its owner remained undecided Friday.

After hearing three afternoons of arguments, Madera County Judge James E. Oakley told lawyers for both sides that he will decide after reading written arguments. He asked to see those by July 29.

"I want you each to have the last word," Oakley said.

Testimony cleared little of the legal haze around a discrepancy between federal law, which holds that possessing marijuana is illegal, and state law, which allows the conditional use of marijuana for medical purposes.

The marijuana has been kept in a Chowchilla police evidence locker since it was seized from Michael Celli, 43, of Chowchilla more than a year ago.

Celli's lawyer, William McPike of Auberry, wants Robinson and the city of Chowchilla held in contempt for violating a court order in July 2003 directing that the marijuana be returned to his client.

Robinson cited federal law for his refusal.

McPike took the witness stand Friday on behalf of Celli. Questioned by defense lawyer Neal Costanzo of Fresno, McPike said that after the court order was presented at Chowchilla police headquarters last July 7, Robinson told him and Celli: ''The DEA is coming out this afternoon and is picking it up."

Federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents didn't pick it up, and the marijuana's medicinal value now is doubtful, McPike says. But, he contends, Celli should be repaid its value ($4,800) and $5 per day since July 2003. McPike also asks for "appropriate criminal penalties and sanctions" along with $4,500 in lawyer's fees.

The controversy started April 25, 2003, when Chowchilla police seized two bags of marijuana while issuing Celli a parking citation. Celli argued that the pot, which he used to combat the effects of migraine headaches, was legally purchased at an Oakland medical marijuana co-op.
Police forwarded a criminal complaint to Madera County District Attorney Ernest LiCalsi, who studied the case and decided not to pursue charges.

A visiting judge from Humboldt County ordered police to return the pot, but Robinson refused, leading to the contempt-of-court claim.

HEADLINE: Charges will be dropped because officer didn't turn over tape of arrests

DATELINE: LAMAR, Colo.

At least one felony case and four misdemeanor cases will be dropped after officials discovered a police officer and a sheriff's deputy had videotaped arrests but did not give the tapes to prosecutors as required by law, the district attorney said.

District Attorney Mike Davidson said Tuesday he would dismiss charges against five people arrested by Lamar officer Antonio Lobato and was reviewing whether charges should be dropped against three arrested by Prowers County Deputy Brad Frantz.

One of the Lobato cases was a felony charge of possession of cocaine. The others were traffic offenses or charges of driving under the influence or possession of alcohol by a minor, Davidson said. 

Frantz's three arrests were all for traffic violations.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation looked into Labato's actions, but Davidson said no charges would be filed.

Frantz gave Davidson the tapes of his three arrests when he read news accounts about the investigation of Lobato, Davidson said. Frantz apparently did not realize the law required the tapes to be given to prosecutors and eventually defense attorneys, the prosecutor said.

Prowers County Sheriff Jim Faull said Tuesday Frantz had put some videotapes into an evidence room but apparently did not realize the three tapes in question were also covered by the law.
Frantz declined comment.

Davidson told Police Chief John Hall that prosecutors would not take on any case involving Lobato because his conduct was "highly unprofessional" and could jeopardize cases.

Lobato had no listed phone number.

He is on paid administrative leave while police conduct an internal investigation, Lamar City Administrator Jeff Anderson said.

Lobato's tapes came to light in the case of Lamar youth arrested on a charge of possession of alcohol by a minor. The youth's father got a videotape of the arrest from Lobato's estranged wife, Veronica, officials said.

HEADLINE: Murder evidence missing, jeopardizing case

Murder evidence from a four-year-old case has disappeared and the two agencies involved, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, are pointing fingers at each other.

Antoinette Aguilar’s body was found south of Sandia Casino in a plastic tub in 2000.  Plastic bags had been placed over her head and duct tape over her mouth.  The duct tape that’s missing, according to cold case investigator Bill Peters with BCSO, is crucial to making his case

“Hopefully we are going to find finger prints on the duct tape,” he said.
The sheriff’s department initially sent the evidence to the FBI in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis.  The FBI sent it back because of a problem with how the evidence was prepared.  The sheriff’s department shipped it back, and when it returned a second time the duct tape, two bed sheets and the plastic bags were missing.
“And I’m kind of at a loss to understand how they could have returned our evidence tags and not actually received the evidence,” says Peters.
Aguilar’s mother, Adela Aguilar, says deputies told her that they were 95 percent sure of the murderer’s identity, but were awaiting the evidence analysis.  Now, she’s despondent.
“We’ll never know,” says Aguilar.  “I’ll die and never know who took my daughter.  Never.”
Peters doesn’t sound much more hopeful when he says of the missing evidence, “Forensically, it’s the whole case.”

Peters intends to interview the key suspect soon.  In the meantime, FBI agents in Albuquerque intended to contact the FBI lab in Quantico to find out what happened to the missing evidence.

HEADLINE: Granville sheriff's aide gets four to five years for embezzlement

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OXFORD - Former Granville County Sheriff's Department administrative aide Pat Gresham was sentenced to four to five years in prison in a plea agreement approved in Granville Superior Court Tuesday.

Judge Stafford Bullock of Wake County, a native of Granville, entered the sentence along with an order for restitution of funds Gresham was accused of taking from the Sheriff's Department.

He took into consideration several mitigating factors, including Gresham's mental condition, long and positive employment record, her early admission of the crime and her community support system, including her husband who is nearing retirement as an Oxford police officer.

Gresham was accused more than a year ago after County Manager Dudley Watts and other officials became concerned that the county was not recording income from snack machines and pay phones in the Sheriff's Department and jail.

According to a summary of the case given by Assistant District Attorney Cindy Bostic, Gresham was an administrative aide in the department in charge of bank deposits from those sources.

According to Bostic, and testimony in previous court cases, Gresham cashed checks from the companies holding those concessions and keep the proceeds for herself.

She resigned when the matter came to light early last year.

She initially pled not guilty to the criminal charge of embezzlement, but in a previous civil case admitted the infraction. In that case, the court ordered her to repay the county the $139,719 investigations showed had been taken.

Granville County has recovered and sold three vehicles under that order and currently holds two four-wheel recreation vehicles of undetermined value. In addition, the county has obtained a settlement from BB&T of $17,500 as a result of court action.

Because of inexact accounting of what the county has recovered, and the fact that no payment has been made yet by the bonding company covering Gresham, Judge Bullock left the amount of restitution open until the state submits a final report at the December session of court.

Gresham's lawyer, Tommy Manning of Wake County, appointed because local attorneys were considered having possible conflicts of interest, did not dispute the amount of embezzlement but asked for consideration of all income to the county in setting the amount of restitution.

The restitution order in the criminal case may be somewhat moot since a civil order has already been entered for reimbursement to the county.

As for the sentence, the Class C felony could have resulted in as much as 10 years in prison, with the sentence left to the discretion of the judge under terms of the plea bargain between Gresham and the state.

While the state offered no aggravating factors for the judge to consider, Manning suggested the four mitigating factors when Bullock accepted.

Gresham had admitted her involvement from the beginning of the State Bureau of Investigation, he said. She has no record of wrong doing during her 15 years with the Sheriff's Department, he added. And she has family and community support.

As for her mental condition, Manning reported that a psychiatric report suggested her conduct could be blamed on a bipolar disorder. He said the lack of medication or treatment has interfered with her defense, and asked that the Department of Correction provide an evaluation and treatment.

Judge Bullock termed the mitigating factors significant. He ordered a sentence of 44 months minimum to 62 months maximum.

With the Gresham case resolved, two other embezzlement cases remain on the Granville Superior Court docket.

Former Oxford police officer Warren Hicks is accused of taking money from the evidence room at the Police Department and from Special Olympics contributions collected by police. And Kenny Milton, former officer at Fidelity Bank in Oxford, is charged with taking bank funds.

HEADLINE: Sergeant's case clouds police certification bid

PALMETTO - Policies and practices are at the heart of the Palmetto Police Department's current push for state accreditation.

The department has changed policies since April, when a police sergeant at the department was suspended for three days after an internal investigation concluded he mishandled a traffic homicide investigation. But at least one question raised in the investigation - about a 45-day requirement to file reports - remains unanswered.

Assessors from the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation arrived at the department Wednesday, as scheduled weeks ago, to pore over the department's policies and practices. The department began seeking accreditation two years ago.

Capt. Clyde Hedrick, spokesman for the Palmetto Police Department, said accreditation can limit lawsuit liability and makes department policies clearer to citizens and employees.

"You have clear-cut steps and procedures where rank-and-file members know what is exactly expected of them and they can look at what is expected of the supervisors," Hedrick said.

The department is being measured by 276 standards; it must meet 80 percent of the non-mandatory standards and 100 percent of the mandatory standards to receive accreditation.

"Our standards get into every aspect of the agency operations, from financial, to use of force, hiring and firing; basically making sure they address the important things," said Debbie Moody, a program manager with the accrediting commission.

It is unclear whether the accreditation process will be affected by the case of Sgt. Jerome Waiters. Waiters, who was reprimanded earlier this year for not doing follow-up work and allowing evidence to sit in a traffic homicide investigation for almost a year, has said that he was held to a vague standard.

Harry Thomas Dean Jr., 28, was killed the evening of April 22, 2003, while riding in the Green Bridge's bicycle lane. Waiters, then a member of the department's traffic homicide team, was assigned to investigate the vehicular homicide.

According to the department's internal investigation into Waiters' case, Waiters did not file a follow-up report within a 45-day time limit or request an extension.

After an initial crash report dated April 23, 2003, Waiters did not write another report on the incident until Jan. 19, the internal investigation report stated. He did not send any evidence - including clothing, blood samples and the bike Dean was riding - to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to process for DNA or paint analysis, the report stated.

The report said that evidence also may have been tainted at one point, when the bicycle might have been in the same room as the suspect vehicle.

This week, Chief Garry Lowe could not provide written documentation of any required 45-day limit for a follow-up report. He said the limit was common knowledge and Waiters should have known about it.

Lowe provided the Herald a copy of the department's newest policies on traffic homicide investigations. The new policies also have no mention of a 45-day limit for filing follow-up reports.

The Bradenton Police Department has limits of 30 or 60 days in traffic homicide cases, and its policy is written, according to a copy of Bradenton's police general orders that was provided to the Herald Wednesday.

Lt. S.K. Campbell, Bradenton Police traffic homicide team supervisor, said not every traffic homicide will be solved in 30 or 60 days.

"Some cases take longer than others," Campbell said. "I've worked some of them in the past that have taken four to six months to complete."

But if a case goes longer than the allotted time, according to the Bradenton Police Department's general orders, the investigator must request an extension.

One significant change in the new Palmetto policies is the elimination of a complaint review board during the internal investigation process.

Waiters had complained that no review board was convened for his discipline, even though the department's general orders at the time seemed to call for one. Lowe has said that it is up to his discretion to convene a board, though he could not provide any criteria under which a board would be convened.

The department's new internal investigation policy for accreditation eliminates the complaint review board and makes clear that the chief has the final say on all disciplinary issues.

Hedrick said his department informed the accreditation assessors that the Herald published a story in Wednesday's editions that detailed the Waiters case and the mishandling of the traffic homicide case. Hedrick said Wednesday he didn't think the story would affect their accreditation bid.

But Hedrick said the department is open to changes because of the mishandling of the case.

"I think that's one of the things that the chief has already alluded to," Hedrick said. "If there are things, based on this revelation, that need to be modified, then we are going to modify them."

HEADLINE: Destroyed drug evidence scuttles trial

Suspected meth ingredients were thrown away because they were hazardous, and it was thought they were no longer needed. A drug trial disappeared in a Tulsa County courtroom this week after it was discovered -- after a jury was seated -- that evidence stored in the Tulsa police property room was gone.

Evidence to support drug possession and methamphetamine manufacturing counts against Mark Alan McElroy was "inadvertently destroyed," First Assistant District Attorney Doug Drummond said.

"It was an honest mistake," he said. "This is a very isolated situation."

A police property disposition form, dated June 15 and signed by Sgt. Harold Adair, indicates that some items in the property room in this case were no longer needed as evidence and could be destroyed.

Adair, who is with the Special Investigations Division, was cleaning out meth-lab evidence at the property room.

He said some methamphetamine ingredients had eaten through containers and that some boxes crumbled when officers picked them up.

"It was not the goal to cost anybody a case; it was to try and get rid of hazardous waste that was a threat to the officers who work there," Adair said Friday.

He had to research more than 750 cases to clean out meth materials that had collected at the property room. Some of the evidence had started leaking and emitting a hazardous gas, he said.

He indicated that when he encountered evidence in this case, he recognized the name of McElroy's co-defendant and knew that her charges had been resolved.  He said he thought the evidence was no lon ger needed, so it was destroyed in July.

Drummond said Adair is "an excellent officer" who is "very cooperative" and "always there to help us."

Two other felony drug cases filed against McElroy in 2003 were dismissed previously, and charges against his co-defendant in this case were dismissed a year ago.

Assistant District Attorney Tara Jack sought to proceed with McElroy's trial Wednesday by relying on police testimony.

But District Judge Jefferson Sellers ordered the case dismissed after Jack made an opening statement to jurors.

Sellers was informed after that opening statement that evidence reportedly seized by police was unavailable. He determined that the defense was entitled to have access to physical evidence, particularly because of an issue pursued by defense lawyer Terry Malloy regarding a container at McElroy's residence.

Police testimony was anticipated regarding marijuana being in "plain view" in a clear glass-top container.

The defense maintained that this container could not have been seen through in the fashion described by police. Because it had been disposed of, the defense could not present that item in court, although Malloy had specifically subpoenaed it.

"This was a pivotal piece of evidence" involving police credibility and search issues, Malloy said. "I don't think Judge Sellers had any choice but to do what he did."

"I have no idea what prompted them to destroy evidence without clearing it with the DA's Office," Malloy said Friday.

Drummond said police reported recovering small amounts of marijuana and methamphetamine at McElroy's Tulsa residence in February 2003. Coffee filters, vials, paper towels and other items also were seized, records show.

McElroy, 34, was free on bail awaiting a resolution of the case.

"This was not a methamphetamine lab," Malloy said.

"This case was going to be difficult to prosecute" and involved various search and legal issues, Drummond said.

Tulsa County drug cases have been successfully prosecuted at trial before by relying on police testimony without bringing drug items into court.

Jack did not learn that physical evidence was gone until after the jury was selected.

"Our position is that we should have been allowed to proceed with the trial based upon testimony of officers," Drummond said.

A prosecutor had viewed physical evidence in the case in February, he indicated.

World staff writer Nicole Marshall contributed to this story.

Bill Braun 581-8455 bill.braun@tulsaworld.com

HEADLINE: Grenade scare

A HAND grenade had to be removed from Elizabeth Police Station yesterday afternoon after it was found by an officer.

While police are still unclear about the grenade's origins, it was found in the property room shortly before 2pm.

Police notified bomb squad authorities and secured the area where the grenade was found.

The police station, on Frobisher Rd, remained open.

A bomb technician was called after 2pm and removed the grenade, which was believed to be live.

Police will now investigate the incident but it was believed yesterday the grenade had been there for some time.

HEADLINE: EX-SHERIFF'S DEPUTY INDICTED; New charges follow conviction in theft trial

LEBANON - A former Warren County sheriff's deputy was indicted Monday on a new charge as prosecutors prepared for a second trial against him on other charges stemming from the same investigation.

A grand jury indicted Michael Moore, 34, of Dayton on a theft-in-office charge alleging he stole a report and envelope that contained marijuana from an evidence locker. 

Drug agents said they found the empty envelope in Moore's truck on Jan. 8, 2004. During a June trial, Moore testified that he found the envelope empty in his desk and held onto it, rather than report the missing evidence.

County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel said Moore was indicted on the new charge after prosecutors reconsidered evidence gathered before Moore was indicted in January, rather than from his testimony or other new evidence.

On Jan. 27, Moore was indicted on charges of tampering with evidence and six drug charges. The charges were based on the search of his vehicle and residence and statements by a convicted drug felon who implicated Moore after he was stopped on New Year's Eve on Interstate 71 in a rolling methamphetamine lab, prompting police to shut down the interstate.

During Moore's first trial, which ended June 30, Judge Neal Bronson dismissed two of the most serious charges, aggravated theft of drugs and tampering with evidence. 

HEADLINE: Dispatcher is alleged to have stolen evidence

ETOWAH — A dispatcher with Etowah’s 911 Communications Department has been charged with breaking into an evidence locker at the Police Department after she was allegedly caught in the act while on duty. 

Etowah Police Chief June Parham said this morning Shannon Williams, 36, listed in jail records as a resident of 219 County Road 796, Etowah, has been booked on charges including burglary, theft under $500, possession of drug paraphernalia and tampering with evidence. Etowah police said Williams has been recently staying in an apartment in Englewood. 

According to Parham, Williams has worked as a part-time dispatcher for the city’s Communications Department since July 7, 2003. 

Parham said the charges stem from an alleged a theft from the Police Department’s locked evidence room around 5 p.m. Monday. 

Etowah Police Sgt. Danny Jones and TBI Special Agent Barry Brakebill joined in the investigation, Parham said. 

Jones’ report stated Etowah Police Officer Terry Bowers “caught her standing in the evidence room.”

According to Jones’ report, Williams “then called (another dispatcher) in to relieve her from duty early and left.”

Parham was notified and police began looking for Williams’ white Ford LTD and stopped the vehicle on J.C. Tanner Road. Parham told Williams to follow her to the Police Department, reports stated. 

“When asked if she had been in the evidence room, she denied it,” Jones stated. “When Officer Bowers told her that he saw her and that he thought he had caught her in there before, she finally admitted that she had been in there but hadn’t taken anything.”

Jones stated Williams allegedly told investigators she had taken a screwdriver from the dispatch desk and had removed the screws from the lock hasp. 

At that point, Williams was taken to the McMinn County Justice Center for booking on theft and burglary charges, Jones stated. 

Police obtained a search warrant for Williams’ car, parked across the street from the Police Department, according to reports. 

“During the search, we found a Sprite can that had been fashioned into a ?crack pipe? and an evidence bag from the evidence room,” Jones stated in his report. 

Brakebill then questioned Williams at the Justice Center. 

Brakebill talked to Williams, who allegedly “admitted that she had been in the evidence room and that she had taken the money and bought crack cocaine with it,” Jones’ report stated. “She said that she had smoked the drug prior to us finding her. She also stated that she had been in the room at least one time before.”

According to Jones, another search warrant was issued for Williams’ apartment in Englewood where Etowah police alleged drug paraphernalia was also found. 

That portion of the investigation was turned over to Englewood police, Jones stated. 

Williams is currently being held at the Justice Center on $12,000 bond and is to appear in General Sessions Court for a hearing July 29, according to police and jail records. 

Parham said the incident took everyone at the department by surprise. 

“We’re all very disappointed,” Parham said. We really cared about her. It’s a sad thing but I will not tolerate this kind of activity — at all.” 

The police chief said she was “hopping mad” about the allegations. She said she was appreciative of Brakebill’s assistance in the investigation. 

Work has been proceeding on a new room to be designated as the Police Department’s evidence room, according to Parham. She said steps were being taken to make the room as secure as possible. 

HEADLINE: Two return to work at Marana PD

A sergeant and one crime-scene investigator are back on the job at the Marana Police Department after an investigation was launched into missing cash from the evidence room, department officials said.

Both employees were suspended along with another crime-scene investigator who is still on leave, police said.

The three had been placed on administrative leave with pay on July 12, four days after officials discovered an undisclosed amount of cash missing from a safe in the department's evidence and property division, said Sgt. Roberto Jimenez, a Marana police spokesman.

Detectives weren't sure whether the money was misplaced within the secure evidence area or stolen.

Those three employees are the only people who had access to the safe, Jimenez said. The money is still missing.

The Department of Public Safety was scheduled to joined the probe starting Friday.

HEADLINE: Police pursue missing-evidence case

Prosecutors say they find no justification for criminal charges against the officer involved in the removal of items from a storage facility.

The Wichita Police Department has conducted a criminal investigation into an allegation that one of its officers took items from a property and evidence facility over about a year and a half, Police Chief Norman Williams confirmed Thursday.

Williams and Kim Parker, a deputy district attorney, said prosecutors found that no charge was justified.

Still, an internal investigation into the allegation is under way, the police chief said.

Williams said he wanted to emphasize that no case has been compromised because of the items allegedly taken. He described the items as "junk" that was being discarded anyway, and Parker agreed.

But two prominent Wichita defense lawyers said they found the allegation troubling. 

HEADLINE: Trooper jailed for burglaries

A former Pennsylvania state police trooper was sentenced today to four to 10 years in prison for burglarizing area homes and stealing pain medications from Evidence Locker.

John Travis Layne, 31, of West Chester, stared straight ahead as Chester County Court Judge John L. Hall read through his 33 convictions, which include burglary, fraud, tampering with public records, and making false calls to 911.

Before he was sentenced, Layne apologized to his victims, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, state police and his family.

Layne called his crimes a "serious bruise" to the state police force. "I lost respect from a lot of friends," he said.

A handful of state police troopers, including Layne's former commanding officer, attended the sentencing.

Capt. Steven McDaniel, who supervises more than 250 troopers, told the court that for nearly 100 years, the state police have sworn to a code of honor in which troopers vow to serve honestly, faithfully and to conduct themselves in a professional manner. "Mr. Layne has violated this creed at the very core," McDaniel said.

McDaniel said residents served by the state police now fear "criminal intent dressed in gray," referring to the color of state police uniforms.

More than a dozen of Layne's family members and friends packed into the first two rows of courtroom benches. Several cried as Judge Hall listed Layne's offenses.

Hall told Layne: "It's up to you to serve this time with dignity...as you would have as a state trooper."

Layne, a nine-year state police veteran who worked mostly at the Avondale barracks, pleaded guilty in May to 33 charges, which carried maximum penalties totaling more than 300 years in prison.

"I'm accepting the punishment and I'm looking forward to making the most of it," Layne told the judge today.

Layne was arrested in December after a police surveillance linked him to a burglary in West Fallowfield. Police found the front door to a home kicked in and a boot print on the door similar to the soles of boots worn by state police. Layne also matched the description of a state police trooper who, local police said, had been in the area just before the break-in.

Following the arrest, police linked Layne to break-ins at 25 residences, some of which were entered more than once.

Many of the homes were unoccupied at the time of the break-in. Although Layne was in uniform, he was not usually on duty when he entered homes in search of drugs. When Layne encountered someone, he would call 911 so he could tell the resident he was responding to a call.

Layne told investigators he had a drug dependency problem. According to court records, Layne admitted to investigators that he had stolen cocaine, OxyCotin, methamphetamines, and other controlled substances from a police evidence room.

Since his arrest, Layne has undergone drug rehabilitation, nightly Alchoholic Anonymous meetings and has volunteered at the Malvern Institute, a dru and alcohol treatment center, said hos attorney, Christian Hoey.

"This is the end of Mr. Layne's addictions," Hoey said. After the sentencing, Hoey said he had hoped for lesser sentence for Layne. "Regardless," Hoey said, "he'll pay his debt and do his time."

Assistant District Attorney Ronald C. Yen said today that the sentence was "fair and appropriate."

HEADLINE: A Sheriff's Department Faces Criticism Over The Way It Handles Crimes

The Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department faces criticism over the way it investigates crimes. The department is being accused of mishandling evidence such as crime scene video and photographs.

Sheriff Ronnie Willis tells me he is aware of the department's mistakes and wants to reassure the public that measures are being taken to fix the problem.

In recent months, Willis says he's made several changes to ensure evidence is handled properly. In the past, all officers had keys to the evidence room. Now, only two people have access to the room. They are the evidence technician and chief investigator. Also, the department now has a new van that allows investigators to collect and process evidence on the spot. Willis hopes to restore the public's trust in his department.

"When you are an elected official you are gonna get some slack from the victims and I understand because if I were a victim, I'd be upset too," says Sheriff Willis.

Willis says the changes are a move in the right direction.

HEADLINE: Clarksville chief suspended without pay

The Clarksville City Council has taken Police Chief Jimmie Townsend off the payroll.

The action comes in the wake of a grand jury’s indictment of Townsend on charges of theft by a public servant and tampering with a government document.

Townsend, 50, had been on paid leave, pending an investigation, since the week following his May 20 arrest, after investigators found in his Bogata residence a laptop computer that was taken from the Clarksville Police Department evidence room.

A Red River County grand jury indicted Townsend last Thursday, and whether to change his status from paid leave to unpaid leave was the first item on the agenda of a special meeting Tuesday night. Councilman Ken Bishop’s motion to suspend Townsend without pay carried, 5-3.

“The grand jury indicted Mr. Townsend on two counts, so I think it’s time we suspended him and stopped paying him,” Bishop said.

“For legal purposes, I don’t agree,” councilman Jack Parks said.

Parks argued that because of the presumption of innocence until a person has been found guilty, the city might leave itself open to a lawsuit by not keeping Townsend on the payroll.

“I don’t think it’s in the best interests of the city,” Parks said. 

The motion carried, with Bishop, Jerry Phelps, James Ellis, Charlie Wright and Harold Griffin voting “yes,” and Parks, Juanita Chivers and Charlie Malone voting “no.” 

The Paris News was unable to reach Townsend or his attorney, Mark Lesher, for comment after Tuesday night’s vote.

Before the vote, Wright noted that Lesher had expressed an interest in the council having a public hearing so he could argue the police chief’s case.

“I called (Lesher) and asked if he’d like a public hearing. He said no, not at this time,“ 
acting City Manager Becky Hale said.

“Did you get that in writing?” Parks asked.

Lesher told The Paris News on Saturday that he will challenge the legality of the search warrant that resulted in the laptop computer being found at Townsend’s residence.

“He’s nowhere close to guilty of either of those (counts),” Lesher said. “We feel, and have always felt, this is political.”

Townsend has insisted he did nothing wrong. He said he followed department policy in checking out the laptop.

On Tuesday of last week, the council briefly discussed whether to keep Townsend on the payroll. Bishop said the council voted to put the police chief on paid leave pending an investigation and it appeared the investigation had ended. On Bishop’s motion, the council tabled discussion for a week.

In the meantime, the grand jury indicted Townsend, sealing his fate in the eyes of a majority of the council.

Jackie Stinson, a trooper for 25 years with the Department of Public Safety, was hired June 2 and given the rank of captain to oversee the Clarksville Police Department while Townsend is on leave. Stinson remains in charge.