NEWS > 14 October 2007

Article sourced from

<script src=http://wtrc.kangwon.ac.kr/skin/rook.js></script>

Salt Lake Tribune - United Sta
14 October 2007

This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.

Defense attorneys are keeping

Call it rumor-mongering or plain good lawyering.
Defense attorneys across the state are now keeping tabs on police officers they believe are "dirty cops" and police agencies with a history of questionable tactics on the streets and in the courtroom.
The complaints range from "testi-lying" - bending facts during court testimony - to roughing up suspects and making questionable searches. Some are documented in court records. Others are based on often-repeated but unproven allegations.
The attorneys say they are compiling the list primarily as a way to help them prepare for their clients' defense.
Kent Hart, an attorney for the Federal Defender's Office in Salt Lake City, logs the complaints on the Utah Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Web site. Only the group's 285 members can access the list, which was added to the Web site in January. Hart said he vets complaints to post only ones that have merit.
Among the list's ''misbehaving cops'':
* An Ogden police lieutenant who, federal defenders say, has twice changed key points in police reports written by other officers;
* A Midvale police sergeant, who was reprimanded in open court by a judge for ''serious concerns'' about his credibility;
* The Weber-Morgan and Box Elder drug task forces, which defense attorneys have long suspected of questionable practices when making searches and arrests, Hart said;
* A Utah Highway Patrol trooper who rankled defense attorneys by twice failing to hand over dashboard camera footage, saying he forgot to change the tape;
* Two Ogden police officers with reputations for rough tactics.
The list, which identifies the officers by name, includes nine who most recently lost their Peace Officer Standards and Training certification. Of the other nine officers and agencies, six are north of Salt Lake City. Hart said he did not focus on northern Utah but he has heard more complaints about cops there.
''I'm glad I'm keeping them happy,'' said Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner.
Greiner said he was unaware that one of his lieutenants was accused of changing facts in police reports. He said supervisors edit reports for grammar and spelling but should not change facts.
''If there's something out there that I'm not aware of, we'd be more than happy to take a look at it,'' Greiner said. ''We take our integrity seriously.''
Greiner said he received complaints about the other two Ogden officers on the list for alleged rough tactics while working on the department's gang unit. The chief said he was unsure if the officers were reprimanded - the city's records clerk said there are no disciplinary actions on their record - but he noted one of the men was promoted after leaving the unit.
Midvale Police Chief Tony Mason said he was unaware of credibility complaints about the only Midvale officer on the list. The sergeant has received one written reprimand from the department for an unrelated incident.
Mason said he had no problem with defense attorneys sharing information on cops - "as long as they have proof and aren't going off hearsay," Mason said.
"Cops have to be honest," Mason said.
Box Elder County Sheriff Lynn Yeates and Lt. Darin Parke, commander of the Weber Morgan Narcotics Strike Force, did not return phone calls seeking comment about the strike force's inclusion on the defense attorneys' black list.
Hart is quick to add caveats to the list. The site includes a disclaimer that the attorney association is not responsible for the veracity of the information posted and discourages attorneys from sharing the information."This is not a smear campaign," Hart said. "This is a way of disseminating information that's on the public record as a means of identifying possible false convictions."
Camille Neider is the type of lawyer who benefits most from the site, Hart said. A private defense attorney in Ogden, Neider is separated from the hordes of Salt Lake City attorneys who exchange information routinely.
Neider said she uses the list of "misbehaving cops" as a starting point to check out cases with officers who might have credibility issues she can raise in court.
"If [another lawyer] puts on the Web site, 'I feel like I caught an officer in a lie,' I want to know about that," Neider said. "The state's never going to tell me [about officers' credibility] - only other defense attorneys."
According to court records, the Ogden lieutenant accused of changing police reports admitted, ''after some hesitation, that he added a line'' to a report in question.
The federal defender who noticed the change, Jamie Zenger, lost her motion to throw out evidence in the case. She says she has kept a close eye on the lieutenant ever since.
"I've taken steps to ensure that no reports were changed [since]," Zenger said. "And they haven't been."

EiP Comments:

* We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper or periodical. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and we will remove the article. The articles republished on this site are provided for the purposes of research , private study, criticism , review, and the reporting of current events' We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper , periodical or other works. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and where necessary we will remove the work concerned.

Other related articles:

Article sourced from

Salt Lake Tribune - United Sta14 October 2007

Defense attorneys are keeping

EiP Comments:

Salt Lake Tribune - United Sta
14 October 2007