HEADLINE:  McDonough lieutenant charged with theft from evidence room

BYLINE:  MIchael Davis

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A three-year McDonough Police veteran finds himself on the other side of the law today after being indicted by Henry County prosecutors for stealing at least 13 guns from the department and selling them at local pawn shops.

Former Lt. Joseph Heath Mathews, who resigned March 3, amid a joint investigation by local authorities and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, altered evidence room documents and stole 13 rifles and pistols from the McDonough Police Department in a plan that goes back to 2002, according to an indictment handed down by a grand jury Thursday.

He also stole a utility trailer from an impound yard used by Henry County authorities and lied on tax records to obtain a tag for it, the indictment said.

Henry County District Attorney Tommy Floyd said his office maintained copies of the original records of the guns’ seizure that were checked against McDonough’s records and found discrepancies in those maintained by Mathews.

Guns that matched those seized by the department later turned up in pawn shop records as having been sold or pawned by Mathews, authorities said.

Three counts of the 19-count indictment allege he marked in evidence records guns were “destroyed” that he knew weren’t and another alleges he asked another officer to mark “Destroyed per DA letter” on the records of a rifle he’s accused of stealing.

In all, he’s charged with 14 counts of theft by taking, four counts of making a false writing and one count of making a false statement.

Floyd said McDonough authorities cooperated fully with the investigation and he and Police Chief Preston Dorsey asked the GBI to aid in the case. “They were very instrumental in cleaning up their own house,” Floyd said.

All but five of the guns Mathews is alleged to have stolen have been recovered, Floyd said, and authorities know were four of those are and are in the process of retrieving them.

Mathews turned himself into the Henry County Jail for booking and was released Thursday on a $50,000 bond that had previously arranged.

He could not be reached for comment and was not listed in the local telephone directory.

Dorsey said because Mathews was in charge of the evidence room, he was able to circumvent security regulations. He said since Mathews resigned, more safeguards have been put in place to guard evidence.

“We’re not going to tolerate any corruption in the McDonough Police Department,” he said.

The investigation into Mathews’ activities began in February when a police detective notified Dorsey that Mathews had taken a car battery from the city’s evidence room and put it in a city vehicle. The detective also informed him about the trailer he’s alleged to have taken.

Dorsey said he notified the district attorney and both agreed to have the GBI enter the investigation. 

Submitted by: Ian McShane

HEADLINE: Cops Lose $31K After Tossing Broken Desk

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SOMERVILLE, Mass. (AP) - More than $31,000 in drug money seized by Somerville police now is buried forever under tons of garbage in a Rochester, N.H., landfill after officers accidentally stashed the cash in a broken desk drawer that was being discarded.

The drug money went missing after an evidence room technician, who had been cleaning out evidence rooms at police headquarters since last Wednesday, put the $31,535 in the drawer of the broken desk, said acting police Chief Robert Bradley. On Monday, while the technician was out of the office, two other officers involved in the evidence room cleanup threw out the desk, along with broken chairs and furniture for spring cleaning.

Bradley said the normal evidence room technician came back to work, but immediately noticed that the desk was missing. Officials eventually found that the trash and the drawer unit had been hauled to the New Hampshire landfill.

On Wednesday, Somerville officers went to the New Hampshire to try and dig up the cash. However they found it was buried under hundreds of tons of super-dense, hydraulically compacted waste, and there was no way to get to it, even with heavy equipment.

"A very bad mistake," Bradley said of losing the money.

Bradley said the department was investigating to determine whether any disciplinary action was appropriate.

The $31,535, which covers about a dozen investigations conducted by Somerville police since July 1, 2005, was to have been split between the department and the Middlesex County district attorney's office if prosecutors won convictions in those cases. 

HEADLINE: ALAMEDA COUNTY; Ex-Berkeley sergeant sentenced but won't go to jail for drug thefts

BYLINE: Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

A former sergeant on the Berkeley police narcotics squad who stole heroin and methamphetamine from the department's evidence locker and used the drugs himself was sentenced Friday to one year in jail but won't serve a minute of it behind bars.

Instead, Alameda County Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay cited Cary Kent's otherwise illustrious career -- noting "he served the public very well" -- in ruling that the 54-year-old former officer can do his time in a work furlough program or home detention with electronic monitoring.

"I think he's earned it," Clay said.

Still, the judge said Kent was in a position of public trust and his decision to pilfer evidence "makes this a very serious case."

Kent, a respected narcotics and robbery inspector who spent nearly 20 years on the force, pleaded guilty April 14 to grand theft, possession of heroin and possession of methamphetamine after an investigation revealed he had tampered with scores of evidence envelopes he'd taken from the drug investigation unit's evidence locker.

"I admit to this offense," Kent told a probation officer. "I fully admit it, and I am heartfelt sorry. I was my own worst victim."

During Friday's hearing, Clay revealed that prosecutors had dismissed a drug case in the wake of the scandal, but in an interview afterward, prosecutor Jim Panetta clarified that assertion.

Panetta said one case against a defendant accused of buying drugs had been dismissed, but the man suspected of selling the drugs pleaded guilty to a felony. Authorities found no evidence that Kent had tampered with drugs or evidence in that case, but attorneys reached a deal out of an abundance of caution, Panetta said.

Panetta acknowledged that authorities dismissed another misdemeanor drug case because they'd found Kent had tampered with the evidence, and he said other pending cases should still face scrutiny.

The scale of the scandal proved much larger than was initially believed. Court documents reviewed Friday said Kent tampered with as many as 286 evidence envelopes in cases dating to 1998. That was far more than was noted in February, when investigators said Kent had tampered with 181 envelopes.

A random analysis of 25 envelopes revealed that 14 grams of heroin were missing, and investigators found Kent's fingerprints on a pillbox and a piece of plastic inside two envelopes, court records show. In one case, the drugs had been replaced with a Rite Aid analgesic, the records state.

Kent's co-workers grew suspicious in September when they noticed a decline in his appearance, demeanor and hygiene and occasionally saw him fall asleep at work. Kent claimed he had lupus and his medication left him tired, but in December he began to distance himself from his co-workers.

Department brass launched an audit of the evidence locker and, as the case progressed, placed Kent on paid administrative leave. He retired in March rather than face an internal affairs inquiry.

Kent is receiving drug treatment. He shook his head when asked for comment. His attorney, Harry Stern of Pleasant Hill, told Clay his client "has been forthright, contrite and took full responsibility and has acknowledged his mistakes."

Afterward, Stern said his client, who is married and has two sons, "fell off a pedestal, and now he's working his way back -- and it's not easy."

Stern, himself a former Berkeley police officer, noted it is "embarrassing and humiliating" to be sentenced in the same county where Kent enforced the law. "But he stood there tall, looked the judge straight in the eye and thanked him," Stern said. "That's the real Cary Kent."

In letters to the judge, former colleagues and neighbors lauded Kent's career and his work as a Little League coach and swim-team judge. The file also included letters of commendation, including one from Louis Freeh, who was director of the FBI at the time, thanking Kent for his help cracking bank robberies.

In sentencing Kent, Clay offered the former officer a stern warning to stay out of trouble, or else he could end up behind bars.

"Don't do anything stupid," the judge said. "Don't use drugs -- stay away from that stuff."

Kent nodded in agreement.

GRAPHIC: PHOTO
Cary Kent will be able to serve his time in a work furlough program or home
detention. / Michael Macor / The Chronicle

HEADLINE: Cop staffers tossed evidence The Colorado Springs force discovered
the loss last year. The DA is contacting dozens whose cases could be affected.

BYLINE: Miles Moffeit Denver Post Staff Writer

Colorado Springs Police Department workers have improperly discarded evidence in perhaps hundreds of criminal cases, and the police chief has acknowledged that items in as many as 10 sex assaults are missing.

Just how crucial the materials are to the cases is unknown even to police, prosecutors and defense attorneys. But Police Chief Luis Velez emphasized that a four-month internal probe by his office has found no criminal wrongdoing in the mass purging of materials that was discovered late last year.

"Amidst this dark cloud, it's a beam of sunlight, and a pretty big beam," Velez said.

Still, the department's decision to clear itself of criminal wrongdoing has raised eyebrows among some defense attorneys.

"It's always a lot cleaner for an investigation to be conducted by someone one step removed from the problem," said Jim Scarboro, director of the Colorado Innocence Project, which could rely on old evidence in seeking new trials for convicted inmates.

He suggested the attorney general should be consulted, but a spokesperson for that office said no formal request has been made by El Paso County officials for an independent investigation.

In his first detailed disclosure about what happened, Velez said Friday that most of the materials were inadvertently tossed by temporary employees during the past two years in an effort to reduce crowding in police storage rooms. Initially, police thought as many as 11,000 items connected to 4,000 cases were missing.

After months of auditing, the chief has determined that while 11,000 items were trashed, the number of cases in which evidence was improperly disposed is between 100 and 500 - a volume that defense lawyers say may be unprecedented in state history.

"In terms of scale and numbers, I haven't heard of anything like this," said Colorado's chief public defender, David Kaplan.

Three internal police reviews, a district attorney evaluation of cases and a city auditor review of procedures are exploring the fallout among cases ranging from homicides, kidnappings and sexual assaults to missing persons. It's still unknown how many are open, pending or unsolved, but even closed and cold cases often benefit from forensic analyses that can be performed years after a case is finalized.

Velez wouldn't discuss whether anyone in the department has been or will be disciplined for the destruction. But he acknowledged that the temporary employees were not properly trained or supervised. He said at least one new step already has been implemented: mandating that submission of police evidence into storage rooms must be signed off by two employees.

Velez and El Paso County District Attorney John Newsome's office declined to specify what cases appear to face serious evidentiary issues but indicated that more details could be released as early as Monday.

Last week, an El Paso County judge postponed a hearing in a kidnapping case when the defense lawyer cited possible missing evidence due to Police Department errors, according to a report in the Colorado Springs Gazette newspaper.

Lisa Kirkman, chief deputy district attorney in El Paso, said her office has contacted dozens of victims and relatives of victims to alert them that their cases could be affected.

Kirkman and Velez said that between five and 10 "open" sexual-assault cases involve lost evidence. Those cases could be either unsolved crimes, or cases in which charges are pending against a defendant.

Department officials first began to suspect evidence was missing Dec. 27 when officers with the major-crimes unit could not find evidence that logs showed should have been present.

Velez assigned an internal-affairs sergeant to probe further. A month later, Velez was told that the problem was larger than expected.

"He briefed me on findings and at that point it would be analogous to a ship's captain being told we had sprung a leak," Velez said. "What I didn't know was how big the crack was."

Velez said he waited until March to inform the district attorney so he could determine the scope of the problem. Newsome could not be reached for comment Friday.

Staff writer Miles Moffeit can be reached at 303 820-1415 or mmoffeit@denverpost.com.

HEADLINE: Former UC-Berkeley police officer may avoid jail time for drug theft

BYLINE: By Alice Tzou, Daily Californian; SOURCE: UC-Berkeley

DATELINE: BERKELEY, Calif.

A former University of California-Berkeley police officer who admitted to stealing and using drugs from a police evidence locker was sentenced to one year in Alameda County jail Friday but may not spend any time behind bars. Citing Cary Kent's 20-year career with the Berkeley police department, Alameda County Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay ruled that Kent, 54, could serve out his one-year sentence in a work furlough program or through home detention rather than in jail.

Kent pleaded guilty in April to charges of possession of heroin, possession of methamphetamine and grand theft after an investigation revealed he had tampered with as many as 286 evidence envelopes in the Berkeley police department's drug investigation locker from cases dating back to 1998.

Kent was sentenced to five years of probation following his one-year prison term.

District Attorney Jim Panetta said Kent's safety in a county jail was a concern during the sentencing process.

"This is a unique and rare situation because if he was to serve time in jail it would be a tremendous safety issue," Panetta said. "Being a police officer and being incarcerated with the same people he put there -- it would be a big issue if he were to serve time in the regular population."

The one-year sentence is the maximum punishment Kent could have received under the plea bargain, Panetta said.

"Make no doubt about it, he'll still have to do the full year," Panetta said.

But some members of Berkeley Copwatch, a volunteer group that monitors police activity, said they were displeased with the sentence and with what they consider a lack of public discussion about other officers who may have known about Kent's crimes.

Copwatch founder Andrea Pritchett described the sentence as light and said Kent should have been forced to testify under oath in conjunction with the plea bargain to ensure unlawful activity among police officers is rooted out.

"It's really (a) missed opportunity," Pritchett said. "The same corruption may still be going on."

A hearing on Kent's final sentencing is set for June 26.

HEADLINE: COP 'THIEVES' 

BYLINE: DAN MANGAN and MURRAY WEISS

Link to Article

Police investigators have swarmed  a Queens station house - where "one or more dirty cops" apparently swiped  as many as five guns, The Post has learned. 

The weapons - turned in by a retired detective at the 110th Precinct in  Elmhurst - mysteriously vanished not long after about $5,000 was stolen at  the same station house.

The weapons were in the property room, "the most secure thing in a  precinct, except for a cell," a source said.  "The property room is under lock and key . . . so it could only be a  cop who got access to the key. A civilian has no access.

"There's got to be one or more dirty cops in there. That's the buzz."

The property room is used to hold seized, found or stored property -  with the exception of narcotics - and "during each shift, someone goes into the room to count all the property that is there," according to the  source.

Retiring cops are required to temporarily surrender their guns to the NYPD until they receive permits, which can take up to several weeks.  The weapons, "up to four or five handguns," were owned by the retiring  detective, the source said.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne refused comment when asked about the thefts and the related investigation.

The money was taken six weeks ago from a clear, sealed plastic envelope that was sitting on a desk in the station house awaiting deposit at a bank after being vouchered by cops, the source said.

Police officers typically handle money that way after seizing it from an arrested person or at a crime scene.

The source said the thief sliced open the envelope and removed some of  the cash, leaving behind a portion.  If that remaining money had been deposited, it would have been  difficult or impossible to later determine at what point the rest of the  cash had been stolen, because so many people would have handled it.  "But they found it [missing] there" in the precinct, said the source,  who added that the amount taken is believed to have been up to $5,000.  "It wasn't small change."

The desk is in an area open to cops and civilian employees.

After the thefts occurred, a guard was posted at the property room and  "a lot of new faces showed up in the precinct," according to the source,  who added the new arrivals are suspected of being undercover Internal Affairs officers.

The atmosphere is so tense, the source said, "you don't even want to  walk in there [the station house] to go to the bathroom if you don't have  to."

HEADLINE: Impact of tossed evidence deepens Accidental purge in Colorado Springs

BYLINE: Miles Moffeit and Erin Emery Denver Post Staff Writers

Workers reportedly discarded evidence in thousands of cases, including a murder investigation and two suspected killings.

Colorado Springs Police Department employees discarded evidence in one murder case and two suspected killings - including the 1986 kidnapping of an infant from his crib - raising concerns that the agency's bungled evidence- room overhaul could have more serious repercussions than first disclosed.

The seriousness of the cases involved is at odds with recent statements by Police Chief Luis Velez that homicide cases were apparently unaffected by what he termed an accidental mass purging of evidence during the past two years by poorly supervised temporary employees. Velez, who has declined to publicly reveal details of problematic cases, was out of town and could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Meanwhile, confusion and frustration over the mishandling of evidence have roiled the El Paso County legal community, where prosecutors and defense lawyers are scrambling to gauge the damage to cases and the scope of the problem. Some believe it's time for an outside investigation to help sort through the fallout so that information can flow to the various parties more accurately.

"This is just a horrible problem," said public defender Carrie Thompson, suggesting that a task force be formed. "It's a drain on our resources, and it's only getting bigger," a reference to continually revised lists of potentially affected cases that could number in the tens of thousands.

The district attorney's office recently notified Thompson that a machine gun at the center of a 1999 murder case handled by her office was mistakenly discarded.

In the 2004 trial of that case, Derrick Turner was convicted of the gang-related shooting, along with two other defendants. Now 31, he is serving life without parole but is appealing the conviction.

While the missing gun's impact on the appeal process is under review, it could factor heavily into a retrial if the conviction is overturned, Thompson said.

"Generally, weapons are very crucial to a trial," she said.

Meanwhile, a source with knowledge of internal investigations into the evidence woes told The Denver Post that police employees junked evidence in two missing-person cases that were being treated by investigators as unsolved homicides.

The first is the vexing 1986 abduction of Christopher Abeyta, a 7-month-old who vanished from his crib. The child's disappearance, among the most sensational mysteries in Colorado history, inspired an FBI investigation and a cross-continent family search to find him.

His parents, Gilbert and Bernice Abeyta, reported him missing in July of that year, saying he had vanished from his crib, which sat within 10 feet of their bed.

For a time, investigators focused on the parents as suspects - Bernice acknowledged failing portions of two polygraphs. But both proclaimed their innocence and pointed the finger at a woman Gilbert was romantically involved with for a brief period while he was separated from his wife.

Gilbert Abeyta said investigators took evidence such as Christopher's hairs, bedding and handprints of his son into custody. He said police have refused to tell him what portion of that evidence is now missing.

"Somebody has to be held accountable," he said. "That's total incompetence and a lack of administration by the Police Department.  They can't even tell me if my case was there or not? You have just lost 20 years of our lives? Twenty years of hope, and we have nothing now? Information that could have linked us to our son is gone?"

In the second case, a bloodstained mattress involved in the investigation of the 2001 disappearance of 83-year-old J.D. Ferguson from his Broadmoor home was discarded when the evidence room was cleaned out.

In recent years, police detectives struggled to develop leads in the Ferguson case while family members have repeatedly made public pleas for information and offered rewards.

In late April, Chief Velez informed members of a justice advisory council for the Pikes Peak region that evidence linked to some missing-person cases had been inadvertently trashed because it was not properly classified, said Thompson, who sits on the panel.

"He said there was a series of mistakes where the nature of the investigation would change" from missing persons to homicide and that a mislabeling led to evidence being disposed, Thompson said.

El Paso County District Attorney John Newsome has declined to comment on the potential impact on cases his office is prosecuting or has prosecuted.

But Thompson, the public defender, said the potential for lost evidence exists across the spectrum of cases she handles, from lesser felony investigations to misdemeanors.

Aside from logistical problems in cases, "there's a real credibility issue at stake here," Thompson said.

Velez has stressed that several internal inquiries - one by the city auditor, one by the district attorney and three by police - should run their course before case specifics are revealed to the public.

Staff writer Miles Moffeit can be reached at 303-820-1415 or mmoffeit@denverpost.com.

HEADLINE: Trooper was battling pain, union says;

BYLINE: JEFF MONTGOMERY and CRIS BARRISH, The News Journal

Suspended 19-year veteran targeted in drug-stealing probe

A veteran state trooper suspected of stealing drugs from an evidence locker was battling chronic pain from a work injury and may have become dependent on prescription drugs, the head of his union said Saturday.

State police on Friday named Sgt. Charles R. Mullett, a 19-year-veteran, as the target of the probe, which has triggered an audit of evidence rooms at the eight troops statewide.

Mullett, 45, of Felton, who is stationed at Troop 3 near Dover, is at a drug treatment facility, said David Mitchell, secretary of the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, which oversees state police.

Mullett was suspended with pay April 23, the same day he went to Milford Memorial Hospital, presented himself as a trooper "and requested drug paraphernalia," state police Superintendent Col. Thomas F. MacLeish said during a press conference Friday.

The probe became public Tuesday, when a state police detective testifying in a Kent County marijuana case acknowledged what had been rumored for weeks: that an officer at Troop 3 had allegedly tampered with drug evidence. Legal experts said the probe could weaken cases that hinge on drug evidence stored at Troop 3.

Sgt. Vincent P. Fiscella Jr., president of the Delaware State Troopers Association, said in a written statement Saturday that Mullett apparently developed "unbearable" pain from an injury, which Fiscella did not specify.

"It's unfortunate that I or others within DSP failed to identify the problem until it was too late," Fiscella said. "On the other hand, we strongly believe that law enforcement officers must be held to a higher standard."

Mitchell said he does know the nature of Mullett's injury, but said, "I heard he got banged up pretty good."

After Mullett was suspended in April, an investigation found he removed "drug evidence" from a Troop 3 locker, where he was assigned to the criminal investigation unit, MacLeish said. MacLeish would not say whether Mullett had access to the drug evidence locker area, which is restricted to a handful of officers at each troop.

A state prosecutor said Friday that police have delayed arresting Mullett while the investigation continues. Findings will be presented to a Kent County grand jury June 5.

Fiscella said the association is concerned about Mullett's health and "will do what we can to ensure that he continues with treatment" while also relying on the criminal justice system to be "fair and just."

Contact Jeff Montgomery at 678-4277 or jmontgomery@delawareonline.com.
Contact senior reporter Cris Barrish at 324-2785 or cbarrish@delawareonline.com.

HEADLINE: Police fix a mess;

BYLINE: Chris Conley / conley@commercialappeal.com

Property room thefts revealed deep flaws, leading to major overhaul in system
for storing evidence

Last year civilian police employee Kenneth Dansberry was sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing untold millions of dollars worth of drugs from the Memphis Police property and evidence room.

Today, he'd be lucky to sneak out a pencil.

Once an eyesore and an embarrassment to the department, the property room now appears as tight as a mummy's tomb.

"It was a mess. We fixed it," said Police Director Larry Godwin. "I will not tolerate drugs being taken from the property room and being sold on the street."

Once there were bales of pot lying on the floor being munched on by mice, and confiscated guns lying loose in boxes on counters and shelves.

Some of those drugs and guns were stolen by employees and sold on the street.

Now, in the room's four vaults, there are rows upon rows of neatly marked and bar-coded boxes watched by the one-eyed stare of digital cameras that seem to be everywhere.

From the time an item is taken in at the front desk until it is used in court and destroyed, it can be tracked.

All money taken in as evidence or seizure is traceable to the penny.

It wasn't always this way.

In 1999, state auditors blistered police brass with a report citing lax security and poor reporting practices in the property and evidence room.

They warned of devastating consequences if something wasn't done.

Police officials promised reforms.

Fast forward to 2003, when state auditors issued an equally critical report about how evidence was being handled.

Then came a massive scandal over thefts of drugs. Dope dealers and civilian employees - like Dansberry, a manager of the facility - became millionaires selling stolen drugs from the facility.

Nearly 20 drug dealers and city employees have gone to federal prison for dealing in stolen drugs.

When he was arrested in late 2003, Dansberry had more than $1 million in his car and Cordova home. He had so much money, he dumped it in boxes and under floorboards in his attic, where it became encrusted in mold.

Last October, Godwin, impatient with the pace at which reform was coming to the property room, took personal responsibility.

He named Memphis Police Lt. Richard Borgers, a member of the DEA task force for 10 years, to supervise the storage, disbursement and destruction of seized evidence.

"It's all about having an SOP (standard operating procedure)" that eliminates the cracks in the system, Borgers said. "What's important is the details, the little stuff."

Evidence brought in by officers is now taken in by a clerk, weighed, packaged and bar coded.

A supervisor has to verify the turnover of evidence and log it.

The clerk and supervisor immediately place the items into one of four vaults, which require two employee codes to open - no on can enter alone.

A motion alarm activates a digital camera that captures and records everything that happens inside the vault.

And the cameras keep a computer-based record, which can be accessed by the director or internal affairs. In the past, VHS cameras were used, and the tape could be edited easily.

In the four vaults are millions of dollars in cash, drugs with a street value in the millions and DNA evidence.

And there are guns - 8,000 of them - each in its own cardboard box, waiting to be used as evidence or destroyed.

More than 100 guns taken from the Midtown home of Dale Mardis, the man charged in the murder of Memphis-Shelby County code enforcement officer Mickey Wright, sit in a vault.

Because Wright's body hasn't been found, there's no way of knowing which gun may have killed him, so they keep them all ready for ballistics tests.

The evidence is stored until a disposition team, made up of officers separate from the property room staff, determines it is no longer needed as evidence.

The team then obtains a court order to destroy the drugs or guns.

A destruction team, made up of internal affairs officers, organized crime officers, and city auditors, oversees the disposal.

- Chris Conley: 529-2595

Police can take in a variety of evidence in the course of a year. Here's what was logged into the property and evidence room in 2005:

* $2.2 million seized from suspected drug dealers.

* 6,503 pounds of marijuana and 202 pot plants.

* 6.8 pounds of heroin.

* 25.5 pounds of crack cocaine.

* 289 pounds of powder cocaine

* 2.3 pounds of methamphetamine.

* 3,001 firearms.

* Thousands of items stolen in burglaries and robberies, DNA evidence and clothing evidence.

* In 2005, 26,604 pounds of drugs were burned, and 4,928 guns were melted down when they were no longer needed as evidence.
 

GRAPHIC: Photos; Photos by Lance Murphey/The Commercial Appeal, Memphis Police Department property room supervisor Lt. Richard Borgers and Lt. Mike Shearin show the reorganized handgun vault, part of a number of sweeping changes made in the police property room to prevent future problems. The reorganized facility has a number of checks and balances and a new security system., The practice of storing evidence in exposed containers in the property room has been replaced by a system in which guns are boxed, labeled, and cross- referenced with court cases.

HEADLINE: Sheriff's employees took a few things from work;
 

BYLINE: BRIDGET MURPHY

Knives and tools were taken by some who said they saw nothing wrong with doing so.

A room of seized knives and tools became a shopping mall for some Jacksonville Sheriff's Office employees who took items for their own use after the objects were falsely listed as destroyed.

A captain, a sergeant and seven civilian employees face department discipline, according to a report the Times-Union obtained Wednesday. All of them work in the police property room, as did another civilian who resigned during the investigation.

Police investigators stopped short of bringing criminal accusations, saying there wasn't proof any Sheriff's Office employees sold or traded the property for profit. While there wasn't any indication the property involved was part of active criminal cases, investigators said the failures on the part of personnel to handle seized items according to procedure exposed the agency to embarrassment and potential problems in criminal cases.

In one example of property misuse investigators uncovered, officers deployed on a mission to help victims of Hurricane Katrina took knives and tools from the property room's bins of supposedly destroyed items with them. In other cases personnel assigned to the SWAT team and the auto theft and traffic homicide units also took some of the property, investigators found.

They also discovered about $1,600 in cash authorities seized during counterfeiting investigations, which the Secret Service examined and certified to be real money, sitting in a vault instead of in a bank where it was supposed to be earning interest.

Some property room employees told investigators they didn't see anything wrong with what was going on, with one civilian employee saying he'd amassed a personal collection of up to 150 of the best blades he found in the police property room. He called them "company knives." Among other items police employees took for themselves were paper pads, clothing and household items, the report said.

Sgt. Alicia Edmonds, who directly supervised many of those facing discipline, compared the practice of taking home seized police property with taking home pens from an office, the report shows. She also admitted to keeping a knife she found in the property room for her own use.

Edmonds and Capt. James Ley, who is in charge of the property room, are the highest-ranking personnel facing discipline in the probe. Investigators charged both with failing to conform to work standards and unbecoming conduct. Edmonds also faces an incompetency charge.

The civilian employees facing discipline are police service technicians T.W. Bunn, Maurice J. Lawrence, J.V. DeMarinis, John E. Willis, H.A. Story, Moliea J. Smith and Lisa A. Spencer. The charges range from failing to conform to work standards to departing from the truth, interfering with an investigation and displaying unbecoming conduct and incompetence.

The probe started after employees were able to quickly find and account for large amounts of previously lost property while preparing for national accreditation officials to audit the Sheriff's Office.

It wasn't clear Wednesday what discipline the employees who were involved in the investigation will face. The supervisors justified their actions in part by saying allowing the property to be reused was a cost-saving measure for the Sheriff's Office, the internal affairs report said.

Investigators recently forwarded their findings to the undersheriff, as is the agency's usual procedure in such cases.

bridget.murphy@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4161

HEADLINE: Four suspended Hopewell police dispatchers return to work

BYLINE: F.M. Wiggins, Staff Writer

Link to Article

HOPEWELL- Four Hopewell police dispatchers returned to work Wednesday after nearly four months on paid administrative leave.

City Manager Alan Archer said that police Chief Rex Marks had at least concluded his administrative investigation as it relates to those four individuals who returned to work yesterday. 

"We're going to continue to move forward with the other investigations," Archer said.

Archer said that a more detailed statement would be released after Memorial Day regarding the four employees who returned to work Wednesday. The names of the four employees were not released to protect their reputation and privacy, Archer said.

These four employees were placed on leave Jan. 30 for what Marks has only described as serious accusations of misconduct. An unknown number of employees remain on paid administrative leave for those same accusations. Simultaneously, a criminal investigation into the problems surrounding the Property and Evidence Unit continues.

"It is a criminal investigation at this point to determine whether there was any criminal activity concerning the evidence room," said Marks in April.

* F.M. Wiggins may be reached at 732-3456, ext. 254.

HEADLINE: Ex-chemist investigated in case of missing drugs

BYLINE: Barbara Boyer

Link to Article

A civilian employee of the Philadelphia Police Department has resigned but remains under investigation for allegedly skimming drugs from evidence sent to the department's lab, authorities said.

Capt. Benjamin Naish, a police spokesman, confirmed that an Internal Affairs investigation is under way, and that authorities have been consulting with the District Attorney's Office.

Cathie Abookire, spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office, would not comment on the case. The employee's name was not released.

The former employee, a chemist who tested drugs, came under investigation earlier this month when authorities became aware of possible improprieties, police said. An audit is being conducted to determine how many criminal drug cases have been affected.

HEADLINE: Former town marshal sentenced on drug charges

DATELINE: FRANKFORT Ind.

A former Clinton County town marshal who admitted allowing a person to take marijuana from a police station's evidence locker has been sentenced to 60 days in jail.

Kevin Smith, 46, pleaded guilty last month to charges of dealing and possessing marijuana. A judge gave him a year sentence, with all but two months to be spent on probation. An additional charge of obstruction of justice was dismissed.

Smith resigned as marshal of Colfax, a town of some 800 people about 20 miles southeast of Lafayette, in 2004 about the time he was first charged.

Smith's status as a police officer led to more jail time than others would likely receive, Clinton County Prosecutor Louis Evans said.

"That's probably double what another person would be ordered to serve," Evans said.

Smith admitted in court to allowing less than 30 grams of marijuana to be taken from the evidence locker in October 2002. He said he had been drinking alcohol at the time.

Smith was charged with possessing marijuana because he failed to label recovered marijuana as evidence. Dead marijuana plants and an envelope containing the drug were found in the marshal's office in August 2004.

Information from: The Times, http://www.ftimes.com

HEADLINE: Wife of police captain pleads guilty to taking evidence cash

DATELINE: BECKLEY W.Va.

The wife of a small-town police captain has pleaded guilty to using her husband's keys to steal money from the department's evidence room, ruining dozens of cases.

Cary Angela Kerr, 33, pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count of felony entering without breaking into the Mabscott Police Department. In exchange for her plea in Raleigh County Circuit Court, two identical counts were dismissed.

Assistant prosecutor Dennis Garrison said that on Aug. 13, Sept. 3 and Sept. 17, 2005, Kerr obtained keys without permission and removed $1,582 cash.

Kerr is married to Mabscott police Capt. Jason Kerr, who did not attend her plea hearing.

"Because that was a police evidence room, every piece of evidence in that room became tainted the minute you opened that door," Circuit Judge John Hutchison told Kerr. "It's kind of hard to put a dollar figure on that kind of damage, isn't it?

"Criminals who may have been convicted on that evidence will probably be walking the streets," Hutchison said.

Kerr faces up to 10 years in prison when she is sentenced July 31 and must repay the money she took.

Mabscott Mayor Wayne Houck, who also is the town's chief of police, estimated Kerr ruined at least 25 cases.

Town Attorney Ken Sayre said, "Some drug charges on some individuals on which we had obtained evidence, those all had to be dropped."

Sayre said the town has since taken steps to secure the police evidence room.

Raleigh County Magistrate Court records indicate Kerr pleaded guilty in July 2005 to fraudulent use of a credit card that belonged to the mayor's daughter.

Information from: The Register-Herald, http://www.register-herald.com

HEADLINE: Old evidence improperly discarded: 

BYLINE: Greg Kocher, The Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.

1 BOYLE COUNTY DEPUTY RESIGNS, ANOTHER FACES DISCIPLINE

May 27--DANVILLE -- One deputy has resigned and another will be disciplined after they improperly disposed of drugs and criminal records while cleaning out a courthouse evidence locker, Boyle County Sheriff LeeRoy Hardin said yesterday.

Loose marijuana residue in bags, unidentified pills and criminal records were discovered May 19 in a dumpster behind Dawahare's department store in Danville Manor Shopping Center.

It's unclear whether the discarded evidence compromises pending criminal cases, Hardin said during a news conference.

Deputy Merl Baldwin, who was the primary person cleaning out the locker, resigned yesterday, Hardin said. Baldwin had been doing the job on his own time because Hardin could not afford to pay overtime for the task.

Baldwin, who has been with the sheriff's department seven to eight years, could not be reached for comment. A sheriff's cruiser was parked at his Junction City home but there was no answer at the door.

Deputy Al Isaacs, who helped unload some of the material, will be suspended without pay within the next week, Hardin said. The suspension might last from three days to four weeks.

Isaacs has been with the Boyle department for about four years.

The evidence should have been put into a garbage bin at the courthouse, but when that became full, some evidence was taken to the shopping center and to another bin in south Danville.

Old radio consoles and wire screens that were used to separate front seats from back seats in cruisers were discarded in the bin on the city's south side.

Baldwin "was trying to do the right thing. He just used some bad judgment," Hardin said. "I assure you there is no criminal intent in this."

Hardin said he is conducting an internal investigation. He said marijuana typically is burned, and pills are "destroyed, flushed or whatever."

"But it should never be back out into public view or the public's hands," Hardin said.

Samples of the pills have been sent to the state crime lab in Frankfort so they can be identified. It could be weeks or months before results are known.

After conferring with Boyle County Attorney Richard Campbell and Commonwealth's Attorney Richard Bottoms, Hardin said no criminal charges will be filed.

The evidence locker at the Boyle County Courthouse contains firearms, drugs and other items that date back to 1975, Hardin said. Baldwin began cleaning out the locker two or three weeks ago.

The discarded evidence raises the possibility that some criminal cases might be dismissed in court. County Attorney Richard Campbell said he is waiting for a final report from Hardin to determine the effects on any cases.

At the beginning of his press conference, Hardin apologized "to the people of Boyle County for this happening, also to Dawahare's. It's an embarrassment to me and it's an embarrassment to my department."

He also apologized to Boyle Fiscal Court members "who put trust in me," he said.

"Honesty and integrity is on the line here, and at stake, but I will assure the people of this county that there's no corruption in this department. It was an honest mistake."

Reach Greg Kocher in the Nicholasville bureau at (859) 885-5775 or
gkocher1@herald-leader.com.

HEADLINE: Melrose detective investigated about missing drug evidence

DATELINE: MELROSE Mass.

A Melrose detective in charge of the evidence room admitted flushing some drug evidence down the toilet and using other pills that had been seized, according to a police report.

Detective Kevin Stanton was suspended early this year, according to an investigative report by his supervisor which was obtained by The Boston Globe. Stanton is the subject of a criminal investigation, but has not been charged, the Globe reported.

"I told him that by his actions, he had potentially jeopardized every case that the Melrose Police Dept. currently has (in) the court system," Sgt. Barry Campbell wrote in his report.

Emily LaGrassa, a spokeswoman for Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley said prosecutors have notified defense lawyers with open criminal cases that the missing evidence could affect them.

Stanton, 40, of Melrose, did not return phone messages left by the Globe. Stanton's former lawyer in the case, Kenneth Anderson, said Stanton "denies any wrongdoing."

A Middlesex prosecutor tipped Melrose police in November about improperly discarded drug evidence, according to Campbell's report.

Campbell said Stanton told him he'd flushed pills from a closed Superior Court case down the toilet, then learned prosecutors wanted to reopen the case and needed the evidence. Stanton later told Campbell he'd discarded drug evidence in other cases that were closed or involved defendants who died.

Stanton initially denied using any of the missing drugs, but when confronted, Stanton "admitted that he had used under 10 Percocet pills," the report said.

HEADLINE: KIMBALL MASON SENTENCED

BYLINE: States News Service

DATELINE: BOISE, Idaho

The following information was released by the Idaho Attorney General:

Former Idaho Falls City Prosecutor Kimball W. Mason was sentenced today to three concurrent one to five-year prison terms. Mason previously pleaded guilty to three felony crimes. Senior District Judge William H. Woodland sentenced Mason in Seventh District Court in Idaho Falls and entered a judgment of conviction on all three crimes.

Mason was remanded to the custody of the Department of Correction. The court retained jurisdiction for 180 days. Mason paid $8,400 in restitution to the City of Idaho Falls for the value of the firearms improperly taken by Mason from the Idaho Falls Police Department Evidence Custodian and $1,800 for costs of the investigation.

On March 20, 2006, the Attorney General charged Mason with two counts of grand theft in violation of Idaho Code Sections 18-2403(1) and 18-2407(1)(b) and one count of falsifying a public record in violation of Idaho Code Section 18-3201.

On April 19, 2006, Mason entered a plea of guilty to each of the three felony charges.

By pleading guilty, Mason admitted to the allegations in the complaint. Those allegations are:

Count 1 alleges that, on July 19, 2005, Mason wrongfully obtained and withheld a Ruger .357 revolver from its owner, the City of Idaho Falls, with the intent to appropriate the gun to himself or another person.

Count 2 alleges that, on May 3, 2001, Mason wrongfully obtained and withheld a Lorcin 9 millimeter semiautomatic pistol from its owner, the City of Idaho Falls, with the intent to appropriate the gun to himself or another person.

Count 3 alleges that, on February 2, 2004, Mason, while employed as the Idaho Falls City Prosecuting Attorney, willfully altered a court order for the release of evidence, which had been signed by Judge Keith M. Walker and which was an official government record.

Pursuant to a plea agreement, Mason also admitted in open court on April 16 that he stole 16 other guns from the City of Idaho Falls. The weapons had been seized in criminal cases.

Mason has surrendered his license to practice law. The Attorney General has provided the Idaho State Bar with a complete copy of the report of the investigation concerning Mason's conduct.

"The sentence in this case is, as it should be, harsher than that usually received by offenders with no prior criminal record," Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said. "It is a just punishment that holds accountable, and imposes serious consequences on, a public official who abused the public trust. It is important that Idahoans have confidence in their government, and, as this case reflects, I am committed to insuring that the citizens of Idaho have government they can trust."

Wasden said his primary concerns in resolving the Mason case were to assure that Mason was convicted of multiple felonies, that Mason did not receive a withheld judgment, that Mason pay restitution to the City of Idaho Falls for the value of the public property taken and that Mason lose his license to practice law so he could not repeat this conduct.

The Special Prosecutions Unit of the Attorney General's Criminal Law Division prosecuted the case at the request of Bonneville County Prosecuting Attorney Dane Watkins, Jr.

Following the sentencing hearing today, the Attorney General's Office released the records of the investigation. To obtain a copy of the records on compact disc, interested citizens should submit a written request for the records of the Kimball Mason investigation addressed to: Public Records Request, Office of the Attorney General, 700 W. Jefferson St., P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0010.

HEADLINE: Idaho Falls prosecutor gets three 1 to 5 year terms for weapons crimes

BYLINE: By JOHN MILLER, Associated Press

DATELINE: BOISE Idaho

Former Idaho Falls Prosecutor Kimball W. Mason has gone from putting people behind bars to sitting behind bars himself, after he was sentenced Tuesday in 7th District Court for stealing weapons from his city's police department.

In April, Mason pleaded guilty to three felony charges, which included grand theft for taking a Ruger .357 revolver and a Lorcin 9 mm revolver from the Idaho Falls police evidence custodian, as well as falsifying a court order from a judge.

As part of his plea agreement, Mason also admitted April 16 that he stole 16 other guns from Idaho Falls police, according to a statement from Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden.

Mason, whose 13 years as prosecutor ended when he quit in disgrace Jan. 24, was sentenced to three concurrent one- to five-year terms in prison by Judge William Woodland.

According to his sentence, Mason could be released after 180 days, if the judge agrees.

He'll also have to repay $8,400 to the city of Idaho Falls in restitution for the stolen weapons, and another $1,800 in court costs. He's giving up his license to practice law.

The thefts date back to at least 2001.

"The sentence in this case is, as it should be, harsher than that usually received by offenders with no prior criminal record," Wasden said. "It is a just punishment that holds accountable, and imposes serious consequences on, a public official who abused the public trust."

The Ruger was seized June 25, 2004, by police in connection with the arrest of Gregory Saiz on charges of aggravated assault, kidnapping and rape. Saiz has since been convicted and sent to prison.

Mason traded the Ruger at a local gun shop for a .32 Derringer pistol. According to court documents, Mason never got permission to trade the gun.

Investigators said during the case that Mason told them he'd kept the .32 Derringer for his own use, and that he took the Lorcin semiautomatic without a judge's signed order.

Court documents allege he gave that gun to Idaho Falls defense attorney Kelly Mallard. Mallard has since returned the gun to the city, officials have said.