HEADLINE:  BATON ROUGE POLICE OFFICER WAS CONVICTED

A former Baton Rouge police officer was convicted of obstruction of justice and public bribery after being accused taking a cell phone cloning device from the Police Department's evidence room in 1998 and selling it back to the man from whom it was seized. State District Judge Bonnie Jackson dismissed the remaining charges u two counts of malfeasance in office u after finding insufficient grounds against Daryl Davis, 38. He was fired from the Police Department last summer for refusing to answer questions posed by Internal Affairs investigators. 

A judge convicted a woman of murder Wednesday, rejecting her claim that an intruder killed her husband. Karen Benoit, 41, was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Andre Gatlin. Gatlin, 39, was stabbed to death in August 1999 inside the Glen Oaks-area home he shared with Benoit. Second-degree murder is punishable by a sentence of life in prison. 

Roberto Villar-Grana, a Cuban inmate who with seven other inmates took the St. Martin Parish Jail warden, guards and other inmates hostage in December, has appealed the dismissal of his lawsuit that claimed the government broke its promise to return him to Cuba if the hostages were released. 

HEADLINE: Sheriff faces up to 40 years in prison 

DATELINE: SAN ANTONIO

A south Texas sheriff pleaded guilty to corruption charges Tuesday, including the use of seized drug money to pay for a three-week vacation to Florida.

Frio County Sheriff Carl Henry Burris, 53, admitted that he stole nearly $12,000 in seized drug money from the evidence locker at his office in 1994, returning half of it to the person he had seized it from and using the rest for the Florida vacation. 

When the FBI began investigating the missing money, Burris seized marijuana which was in his custody and told "an associate" to sell it, using the profit generated by the sale to replace the money he had stolen, prosecutors said.

Burris pleaded guilty to one count of distributing marijuana and one count of theft of federal program funds.  In addition to the 40 years in prison, Burris also faces more than $2 million in fines. A sentencing date has not been set.

Documents filed with U.S. District Judge H.F. Garcia revealed after the initial drug sale, Burris sold several hundred pounds of marijuana which had been stolen from his property room, once delivering the drugs to the "associate" to sell while on duty, in uniform, and wearing his badge and gun.

Burris' "confederate" eventually contacted the FBI, selling the seized marijuana to agents and returning the proceeds to Burris, who again accepted the money while wearing his uniform, badge, and gun, according to the court records.

Currently, Burris remains on the job, but Garcia has asked U.S. Magistrate John Primomo to review the sheriff's conditions of release, which permit Burris to carry a firearm.

Frio County is southwest of San Antonio on Interstate 35, a major route for the illegal smuggling of marijuana from Mexico into the United States. 
 
 

HEADLINE: CITY POLICE QUIETLY DROP CHARGES IN SUGAR'S RAID 

BYLINE: MELISSA MOORE 

City police made a big deal about a raid at Sugar's strip club in March. Months later, Police Chief Greg Phares quietly withdrew the department's case against those arrested in that raid. 

In March, the police made it possible for reporters and TV cameras to be at the bar while they led out the owners and the strippers - including the well-endowed Echo Valley - and took them away to jail. 

Phares had a news conference on the case the next day. 

He said Sugar's was a beehive of criminal activity where drug deals were made, illegal lewd dancing went on and police officers were bribed. 

The bribery allegations were at the heart of the case. The obscenity and drug counts were lagniappe. 

Police documents show that Sgt. Ernie Brewer, the undercover officer on the case, posed as a corrupt policeman who accepted bribes from Sugar's owners and employees. He took up the ruse, with Phares' approval, after allegedly being offered a bribe there in December. 

Police alleged that owners and employees of Sugar's had given Brewer several small bribes to have tickets fixed and for advance warning on raids. 

Brewer also allegedly was offered larger sums to steal guns and drugs from the Police Department's evidence room, which he agreed to do but never actually did. 

The biggest bribe allegedly offered was $20,000 to help Sugar's keep its liquor license. The owners were accused of paying $8,300 of the promised money. 
Police said the owners were desperate. 

The bar's lease on its Tom Drive building was near expiration, and the building owners had decided not to renew it for insurance reasons. 

The Metro Council passed a law after The Gold Club opened in 1992 banning new strip clubs from having liquor licenses. Local alcoholic beverage control officials interpreted that to mean a strip club that moves to a new address would be a new club and therefore ineligible for a new liquor license.  Phares said the Police Department had heard about police bribery at Sugar's before. 

"We in the past have investigated the possibility that the owners of Sugar's have attempted to corrupt police officers, but up to this point we have not been able to prove it," he said after the March raid.  The chief said he was concerned that someone thought it possible and beneficial to bribe an officer. 
"I think it's essential that the public have confidence in the Police Department, so any attempt to corrupt the Police Department is of extreme concern," he said then.  At the end of July, Phares took the unusual step of asking the District Attorney's Office to allow him to withdraw the counts against the bar's owners and employees.  He will not publicly explain his reasons. 

He transferred Brewer from the Intelligence Division, where he has worked since 1992, back to the Uniform Patrol Division some time after the investigation.  Defense attorneys for those arrested say allegations of police wrongdoing would have hampered the prosecution. 

Phares will only say that he has "no reason to believe that Brewer conducted himself in any improper way with any defendant or employee of Sugar's."Henry S. "Big Henry" Campbell, the ex-husband of club owner Audrey Campbell, helped run the club. He said it is now closed. 
That means prosecution of the case is, to some degree, moot. 

Phares will only say that he discussed the case at length within the department and with the District Attorney's Office. 

"I decided that it was in the best long-term interest of the department and the District Attorney's Office," he said. 

Police get to set the rules on how much access they give the news media in raids and other breaking news events. That access has a lot of bearing on how much publicity an arrest generates, particularly on television. 

When police go out of their way to publicize an arrest, it seems they also ought to explain publicly why they "unarrest" their suspects. 

HEADLINE:  NO INDICTMENT FOR EX-OFFICER 

DURHAM -- A grand jury said Monday that it did not have enough  information to indict former Durham police officer Stanley Earl Harris for allegedly taking $ 2,200 from a motorist during a traffic stop in April 1999.  And the jury said law enforcement authorities should take  appropriate investigative measures to submit further information  to a future grand jury. 

The panel found that there was no evidence that fellow officer Jeremy C. Fuller committed any wrongdoing during the stop.  "At this juncture, it is improbable that any additional  information can be developed regarding these allegations," said  Durham District Attorney Jim Hardin. 

Hardin said that the grand jury had reviewed results of a  four-month inquiry by the State Bureau of Investigation but that  he would submit any additional evidence that is uncovered. 

In May, Hardin asked the SBI to look into claims that Harris  and Fuller had stopped John Jason Johnson and Darnell Blackwell  and had searched Johnson's vehicle. Johnson claimed in a lawsuit  that Harris took cash from his car. Harris said he took ball  tickets, which are used for illegal gambling.  But Harris failed to turn the ball tickets in to the police  evidence room and never charged Johnson with a crime or traffic  violation. 

Johnson filed a complaint with the department, and after an internal affairs investigation, police ruled that Harris had  committed felony larceny. Harris resigned from the department, and Police Chief Teresa  Chambers wrote a letter to one of the state's police licensing  boards saying that Harris should not be allowed to work in law  enforcement. Harris now works for the Durham County Sheriff's  Office. 

Johnson then filed a civil suit, but the Police Department  reversed its findings a week later, saying there was not enough  evidence to support the allegation that Harris took money. The 
department also offered him his job back.  The lawsuit is set for trial Nov. 27. 

HEADLINE: ONE OFFICER TO FACE CHARGES IN SUSPICIOUS NOTES INQUIRY 

LAKE VILLAGE -- It all started when two Lake Village police officers found threatening notes, but maybe it was just a case of crying wolf. Prosecutors have cleared most within the Lake Village Police Department of any criminal wrongdoing after reviewing an Arkansas State Police investigation that was initiated because of the notes. Instead, only one of the officers who received a suspicious note will be charged, prosecutors say. 

"Several of these allegations are in fact rumors of personal misconduct by the police chief, none of which were substantiated by your investigation," said 10th Judicial District prosecutor David Chambers in a letter to state police which was sent Wednesday. "Your investigation did, however, determine that one officer, namely Jason Gregg, stole a handgun from the evidence room, purposely discharged it while pulling a prank, and then threw the gun into a dumpster," the letter says. 

In an interview, Chambers said Gregg would be charged with theft of property and other charges relating to mishandling of police evidence. The prosecutor said he expected to file the charges next week. 

Told of Chamber's decision Thursday, Lake Village Police Chief Percy Wilburn said he felt exonerated. "I knew that I had not committed any criminal acts," Wilburn said. "I knew that I had not committed any criminal acts in my 17 years as a law enforcement officer."

Chambers did find evidence of internal problems at the police department, particularly in how confiscated weapons were tracked as they progressed through the legal system.

But the evidence failed to show any criminal wrongdoing, and instead suggested faulty internal procedures, Chambers said. The prosecutor said those matters would best be handled by the mayor and City Council. 

Wilburn said those procedures already have been corrected.

The concerns at the department has often disrupted this Delta town of 2,791 on the banks of Lake Chicot since word got out about the notes this summer. Many residents have privately expressed fear of the police department and Wilburn, but others have publicly supported the force. State Police started investigating the 10-member police department Aug. 1 and turned over the results of their inquiry earlier this month.

In all, investigators considered 16 allegations made by a Lake Village businessman, Raymond McBride Sr., whose son got into disciplinary trouble at the department in July and was later fired for insubordination. 

McBride Sr. said Thursday he was upset by Chamber's decision and pledged to continue investigating the department. McBride's son, Raymond McBride Jr., said he found a note July 19 under his car's windshield wiper that warned: "You need to stop while you can."

Gregg reported finding a similar note the same day.

The notes, McBride Sr. says, came after the two officers complained to the mayor that bullet-resistant vests weren't being issued to some officers, and drug testing of officers wasn't being performed.

McBride Sr. believes the notes came from within the police department in retaliation. Sheriff Floyd White sent the notes to the state Crime Lab and tried, unsuccessfully, to get the FBI to investigate.Ultimately, Lake Village Mayor JoAnne Bush asked the state police to look into the matter. Chambers said he didn't believe the notes were all that threatening to begin with.

"I do not see that the contents of the notes can be shown to be an act of terroristic threatening, as that offense is defined by Arkansas law," his letter says. "Therefore, I would decline to file charges against anyone for that offense, even if it could be proven who wrote those notes."

In an interview, Chambers explained that the notes can be interpreted too many ways.
"It did not say, 'Or I'll kill you,' or, 'I'll burn your house down,'" Chambers said. "It could just mean, 'Do the right thing. Quit complaining.' "

Attempts to reach Gregg on Thursday were unsuccessful.Wilburn said Gregg didn't come in to work Thursday, but he also had not officially turned in his resignation. Still, the chief believes the officer has quit. Another officer critical of the department, Sgt. James Kelley, was fired Oct. 7 for violating departmental policy, Wilburn said. 

Though Kelley never found any threatening notes, the back window of his patrol car was shattered in the early Aug. 5. 

McBride Sr. said he believed that was an act of retaliation that came because Kelley supported Gregg and McBride Jr. 

Wilburn believes the McBrides and Kelley are against him because he is black and they are white.The chief's opponents dispute that claim. Attempts to contact the mayor were unsuccessful Thursday.

HEADLINE: POLICE WORKER AND BOYFRIEND SENTENCED IN EVIDENCE ROOM THEFT 

DATELINE: BATON ROUGE, La. 

A former police evidence room worker and her boyfriend apologized in court Friday for stealing a seized weapon and selling it back to its owner. 

State District Court Judge Bonnie Jackson sentenced Gerami George and Spencer Moak to five weekends in jail, telling them they helped a reputed drug dealer walk away with few consequences. George also must pay the Police Department $7,000 - the amount of money she used from the weapon sale to buy a new car.   George, 22, and Moak, 30, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice earlier this year. 

The weapon stolen from the evidence room belonged to Charlie Davison.  Davison was pulled over at a stoplight and was arrested on June 5, 1998.  Police seized marijuana, $7,000 in cash, a gun, cellular phones, a pager and a cellular-phone cloning device. 

Davison recently testified in court that he paid $1,000 to city police Officer Daryl Davis to get the cloning device back. Davis was convicted of obstruction of justice and public bribery in September.  He will be sentenced later this year. 

Davis allegedly assured George and Moak they could remove the seized gun from the police evidence room without getting caught. George was a student worker in the evidence room from April 1998 to January 1999. 

Davison testified at Davis' trial that he paid George and Moak $10,000 for retrieving the weapon.  George and Moak expressed remorse before the judge sentenced them Friday.  "I know that I was wrong for what I did," Moak said. "It hurt me, my family, my kids."  Jackson noted that George and Moak cooperated in the prosecution of Davis. But the judge said they exercised poor judgment in selling the seized weapon. 

George and Moak were also ordered to perform community service, complete decision-making skills classes and have no contact with each other.

HEADLINE: POLICE SERGEANT ADMITS STEALING MONEY TO PAY BILLS 

DATELINE: GASTONIA, N.C. 

A former Mount Holly police sergeant has admitted to stealing more than $4,000 from the department's evidence locker to pay his credit card debts. James Harmon, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of felony larceny and four counts of embezzlement by a public officer on Monday.  Gaston County Superior Court Judge Jesse Caldwell sentenced him to six years' probation and 60 days house arrest. 

As an evidence custodian for five years, Harmon had access to a room used to store weapons, drugs, money and other evidence seized in criminal cases. 

On Feb. 16, 1999, another Mount Holly officer found money missing from the evidence room, according to District Attorney Mike Lands. The department began to investigate and officers found $1,054 missing from four envelopes. Also missing was $3,012 from the department's special fund, which financed investigations and drug busts. 

Six days later, the envelopes had been filled with bills in different combinations.  Harmon at first denied being involved, but resigned March 17 - the day he was scheduled to take a polygraph test. He later confessed. "He felt like he was getting behind on his bills," Lands said. 

HEADLINE: NOPD cop hurt in shooting mishap in evidence room 

The New Orleans Police Department is investigating an Oct. 17 accident in which a veteran officer was shot in the hand when a semiautomatic pistol discharged as he was preparing the gun for ballistics testing. The mishap apparently took place because the person who submitted the gun to the police evidence room did not follow the standard procedure of emptying the gun of its bullets, a police spokesman said.

Chet Ballex, a 20-year officer, will have surgery on his left hand and may lose a finger because of the accident, Sgt. Pat Peyton said. 

The 9 mm pistol discharged as Ballex was sorting through a pile of guns that he was moving from the evidence room to the crime lab. Balex, an experienced crime lab technician, was hit at point-blank range, Peyton said. The accident occurred about 8 a.m. inside the evidence storage area in the basement of police headquarters.

The department's Public Integrity Division has launched an investigation to determine who submitted the weapon to the evidence room, Peyton said. Officers are trained to double-check that a gun has been cleared of its bullets before submitting the weapon for storage.

"You're supposed to empty your gun before you bring it in. But accidents do happen," Peyton said.

Employees of the evidence and property room also share responsibility in making sure all guns are unloaded before they are logged in, according to several officers familiar with the storage procedures. It is not known whether PID investigators are looking at any evidence room employees.

One officer who responded after the shooting said Ballex was loading a magazine into the gun, unaware that it contained a live round. "It was a serious wound," said the officer, who requested anonymity. "I came right after it happened and there was blood everywhere."

Peyton said Ballex will be out of work indefinitely and may have to undergo one or more surgeries. "He may lose a pinky finger," he said. "I'm not a doctor, but it's pretty serious. He was hit in the knuckle."

Ballex was preparing the gun for a ballistics test designed to make an imprint of the unique pattern left by the weapon's firing pin when it strikes a shell casing. The pattern is stored in a computer database in hopes of matching the weapon to shell casings found at crime scenes. 

HEADLINE: DA decides against charges in missing police evidence 

DATELINE: DENVER 

District Attorney Bill Ritter has decided against filing further criminal charges in the investigation into nearly $100,000 in cash, guns and narcotics missing from the police evidence room.   Police Sgt. Tony Lombard said the district attorney determined there wasn't enough evidence to support an arrest or prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 

Ritter's spokeswoman, Lynn Kimbrough, said Friday that charges may be filed later if circumstances change. 

Police Chief Gerry Whitman ordered an investigation in May. He also launched an audit of the property room, where physical evidence is kept, after police and prosecutors couldn't find some $30,000 in cash from two pending criminal cases.  A total of $99,019 in cash was unaccounted for. A half dozen firearms and narcotics were also missing. 

Whitman has said the items might have been disposed of legally but without the proper paperwork. Four criminal cases were affected, but not jeopardized, by the missing narcotics, which included marijuana, methamphetamines and cocaine, officials said. 

No criminal cases were affected by the missing cash and guns. Lombard said an internal police investigation is completed and is being reviewed to see if procedures were violated. Whitman has said 24,000 drug-related items and 3,600 firearms are stored in the property room. 

During the investigation, two officers were accused of destroying evidence in more than 80 cases involving arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. 

Officer Kurt Peterson and Technician Danny Alverson, members of the department's gang unit, were charged last month with abuse of public records, a misdemeanor, and second-degree official misconduct, a petty offense.