Out of control cops; sample diary

[NYC]

Police Misconduct Mess
City doles out big bucks
but cops get off easy

By KEVIN McCOY
Daily News Staff Writer

Domingo Cruz suffered a broken ankle and spent six days in a hospital
after he was knocked down in a northern Manhattan park.

Robert Brown was shot dead while arguing about a fender bender on the
Whitestone Bridge. Brendan Manning was dragged out of his lower
Manhattan bedroom at gunpoint.

Jose Sanchez was shot and killed in the kitchen of the Queens restaurant
where he worked. All of those responsible for the injuries and deaths
were New York City cops.

All were the cause of millions of dollars in city payments.

And all but one avoided any disciplinary action by the New York City
Police Department. They were among more than 40 officers involved in the
25 most expensive settlements or judgments in police misconduct
incidents during the Giuliani administration, a Daily News
computer-aided examination shows. The total cost to the city of the 25
cases topped $16.3 million.

The one cop involved in the cases who received disciplinary sanctions
was hit with a penalty that amounted to a loss of vacation time.

The city has paid a cumulative total of roughly $176.9 million to
dispose of more than 3,500 police misconduct lawsuits since 1994.

To be sure, most police officers spend their careers without ever being
accused of brutality or other wrongdoing. Still, roughly 11,300 lawsuits
filed against the city for alleged police misconduct in the past 6 1/2
years are still pending. Plaintiffs in those cases are seeking more than
$40 billion.

The News examination comes as the city and U.S. Justice Department
negotiate over potential federal monitoring of brutality cases against
New York City officers. Also, a mayoral commission reported earlier this
month that the police disciplinary system is beset by long delays, poor
preparation and a low conviction rate.

The News review found an expensive system that often seems more based on
fiscal expediency than in guaranteeing justice for those who sue police
officers or even for the cops themselves.

"Clients would always come to me and say, 'I want the cop to go to
jail,' and I had to say, 'That's not going to happen,'" said Andrew
Celli, an attorney who has frequently sued the city for clients who said
they were police misconduct victims.

In most cases, even a jury verdict that goes against a cop produces no
disciplinary action or other sanctions. Manhattan attorney James
Meyerson fought an unsuccessful legal battle to compel Police Department
action in such cases.

"Not even the existence of a civil rights verdict against an officer is
even put in that officer's file," said Meyerson. "I feel that's
unconstitutional."

The News examination also highlighted another, less well-recognized side
of police misconduct cases. Even when there is little evidence of
wrongdoing by officers, city lawyers often agree to costly settlements
to avoid the risk of even more expensive jury awards.

Three of the 25 most costly Giuliani-era police misconduct lawsuits
involved cases in which even the lawyers for those suing the city
conceded they had limited evidence of officer wrongdoing. Yet the city
settled those cases for a combined total of $797,500.

"Settlement does not mean we believe the police officer acted wrongly,"
said Lorna Bade Goodman, chief of affirmative litigation for the city
Law Department.

But the tactic angers city cops, said Gregory Longworth, a lawyer for
the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association. "They say, 'Wait a minute. I
didn't do anything wrong,'" Longworth said.

In response to a written request by The News, George Grasso, deputy
commissioner for police legal matters, declined to discuss departmental
reviews of any of the officers involved in the 25 most costly misconduct
lawsuits.

Despite repeated criticism of the city's system for handling police
misconduct cases, there has been little action on recommendations that
the Police Department use the lawsuits as a tool to identify bad
officers and patterns of misconduct.

An Association of the Bar of the City of New York report issued in late
May criticized the city's failure to use the outcome of misconduct
lawsuits to discipline officers and shape police policy.

When a misconduct case is filed, the Police Department and city lawyers
conduct independent reviews. Most often, the police examination produces
no disciplinary action. City attorneys are supposed to send memos to the
Police Department if the legal process finds previously unknown evidence
of wrongdoing or spotlights questionable police procedures. But city
attorneys conceded that memos aren't issued in all cases.

"My attitude toward this is it's a scandal," said Paul Chevigny, an
author and New York University Law School professor who has studied
police misconduct in New York. "The city doesn't care about this. It's
the cost of doing business."

That cost is extremely high.

In fiscal year 1996, the city paid $20.5 million to dispose of police
cases, including many brought before Mayor Giuliani took office. The tab
ballooned to $40.8 million in fiscal year 1999, then dipped to about
$35.9 million for the fiscal year that ended June 30. Some of the people
and circumstances behind the dollar amounts dramatically show the
shortcomings of the system.

The 25 Most Costly Cases

Here are the details of the most expensive settlements or judgments in
police misconduct cases between 1994 and 2000:

Domingo Cruz and Victor Gomez $68,000

Domingo Cruz and Victor Gomez won a $680,000 combined payout after a May
1997 altercation with cops.

Cruz is a Dominican immigrant who worked as a doorman at a northern
Manhattan building. He said that Officers David Mercado and Andrea
Dinella yanked Gomez, a licensed livery driver, out of his car during a
violent argument in a park near Dyckman St.

Cruz punched in a 911 call for help on his cellular phone. Mercado and
Dinella knocked him to the ground in a struggle that left him with a
broken ankle. The cops arrested both men for disorderly conduct and
other minor charges.

Cruz spent six days handcuffed to a bed and under police guard at New
York-Presbyterian Hospital. He was neither arraigned nor given an
opportunity to seek bail during that time. Gomez was jailed for 22 hours
before he was released.

Attorneys for the officers denied there had been any misconduct. But a
tape of Cruz's 911 call helped support some of his charges.

Manhattan prosecutors dropped all charges against Cruz and Gomez. The
two men filed a federal lawsuit against the city in July 1997 and agreed
to the settlement last December. Since the incident, Dinella has been
named in a separate misconduct lawsuit. Mercado was suspended from the
force in September for another incident. Neither was disciplined for
their actions.

Robert Brown $200,000

A trip to the Bronx with friends proved fatal for Robert Brown, a
33-year-old Queens cook. Brown was a Jamaican immigrant who earned $200
a week working as a cook at Glenville's West Indian Restaurant on
Rockaway Blvd. in South Ozone Park. On Sept. 3, 1994, he was riding with
two other men in a Bronx-bound car on the Whitestone Bridge when they
collided with another vehicle.

At the wheel of the second car was then-rookie Officer David Velez, who
was heading to the Bronx after attending a wedding in Queens. Attorneys
on both sides said the accident sparked an argument. But there was
little agreement on other details.

Brown's relatives alleged that Velez improperly drew his gun on the
three men who were unarmed then fired when the argument escalated. The
shots killed Brown and wounded another man in the car with him.

"It was a typical New York traffic accident where the people got out and
started screaming. There was no need for a gun," said Paul Kerson, the
attorney who represented Brown's wife, Patricia, and 9-year-old namesake
son.

Velez said he had legal justification to open fire because the men
attacked him and tried to wrestle away his gun and police shield after
he identified himself as a cop.

Although a Bronx grand jury refused to indict Velez for the shooting,
city attorneys in 1998 agreed to a $200,000 settlement of the misconduct
lawsuit filed by Brown's family. The Brown family lawyer said Velez was
not disciplined by the Police Department.

"That's the outrage of it," said Kerson.

Brendan Manning $450,009

Several members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, including Manning,
were relaxing in their E. Third St. Manhattan clubhouse in August 1998
when police raiders burst inside. Cops handcuffed the gang members, and
several friends and relatives, then forced them outside to the sidewalk
while other officers searched for a suspected cache of illegal drugs.

I had a machine gun stuck in my face," said Manning. "They were
definitely out of control."

The terms of a court-approved search warrant authorized the police to
search the first floor of the clubhouse. But some of the officers,
possibly frustrated by finding no drugs during the raid, wanted to
search the building's upper floors.

"The search warrant's really for the first floor. So unless we get it
revised, I don't think we should be up there," Detective Nicholas
Cinalli advised other officers.

But, pressed further, Cinalli said, "Put it this way, if you want to do
it, all right."

Ironically, Cinalli's comments documenting the violation were captured
on a police videotape. A transcript was turned over to attorney Ronald
Kuby, who filed a civil lawsuit against police and the city on behalf of
the motorcycle gang.

The evidence proved to be key to the $450,009 settlement the city
reached with Manning and other gang members.

Jose Sanchez $185,000

The police shooting death of Jose Sanchez was a tragedy. But did it
involve misconduct? Sanchez, 56, was working at the El Caribe Restaurant
on 37th Ave. before dawn on Feb. 22, 1997, when police entered with a
search warrant. Cops staged the raid because an undercover officer had
been able to buy alcohol in the restaurant, which lacked a state liquor
license.

According to authorities, Sanchez brandished a 16-inch knife at
Detective Richard Soto after the cook intervened in a scuffle among cops
and a patron who tried to leave the restaurant during the raid.

Using both English and Spanish, Soto identified himself as a police
officer and warned Sanchez to drop the knife, police said. Sanchez
allegedly failed to comply, a police contention the cook's family said
they found impossible to believe.

Police said Soto fired once, inflicting a fatal chest wound, when the
cook moved toward him with the knife.

In his investigation of the shooting, Steven Hoffner, the lawyer who
sued the city on behalf of Sanchez's family, found no record of any
substantiated brutality cases against Soto at the Civilian Complaint
Review Board. Although Sanchez's relatives scoffed at the police
account, Hoffner conceded he was unable to poke holes in it.

"Basically, we were not sure we could prove our case," Hoffner said.

Ultimately,city attorneys agreed to settle the family's $20 million
lawsuit out of court for $185,000.

"They settled, I think, because you never know what a jury is going to
do," said Hoffner.

Anthony Baez $3 million

Baez died from a choke hold applied by Officer Francis Livoti in 1994 in
the Bronx. Livoti was subsequently convicted on federal charges. The
judge said police, based on other complaints, "knew or should have
known" that Livoti was dangerous.

Harold Dusenbury $2.75 million

Dusenbury was tackled on Manhattan's Eighth St. in July 1996 by cops
chasing a drug suspect. One cop said he saw Dusenbury run in one door of
a parking garage and out another, a scenario that was physically
impossible.

Michael Argenio $2.1 million

Argenio was fatally shot by off-duty Officer Brian Kemp in January 1994
near Kemp's Babylon, L.I., home. Forensic evidence raised serious
questions about Kemp's account of the shooting. A jury awarded $55,000
in punitive damages.

Sexual assault victim $1.5 million

Officer Benjamin Rodriguez was suspended after a police investigation
produced taped evidence that he sexually abused a Brooklyn woman in the
79th Precinct stationhouse. Rodriguez resigned and later was convicted.

Johnny Padilla $1 million

The Brooklyn man witnessed a two-car crash as he walked home from work
in August 1994. He said one car had its headlights out. The vehicle
turned out to be an unmarked police car. When Padilla tried to tell cops
the driver of the police car was at fault, Officer John Coughlin flipped
him onto the sidewalk. The attack left Padilla legally blind in his
right eye.

Julio Nuez $437,500

Police went to Nuez's Bronx apartment in May 1995 responding to a 911
call that he had threatened to shoot a neighbor. When cops found Nuez,
they ordered him to raise his hands. Police said he instead reached
toward his belt. Officer Richard Meadows fired once, hitting him in the
arm. Nuez, who was then unarmed, ran and jumped from a kitchen window.
An autopsy showed he died from the three-story fall, not the bullet.

Lillian Feliciano $400,000

The Bronx woman suffered a broken arm in an April 1994 confrontation
with undercover cops who tried to arrest her son near the family's
apartment. Police said Feliciano provoked the struggle. Prosecutors
dropped the charges.

Yong Xin Huang $400,000

Huang was accidentally shot to death by Officer Steven Mizrahi as he was
playing with a pellet gun outside his Brooklyn home in March 1995.
Mizrahi said the honor student resisted his efforts to seize the gun, an
account Huang's family disputed.

Julio Duenas $400,000

Duenas was accidentally shot by Officer Eric Romero, who was seeking a
Manhattan assault suspect in July 1997. Duenas' lawyer, Dennis Guerin,
said Romero wrongly drew his gun. Grand jurors declined to indict.

Mario and Joyce Saccavino $325,000

Police were called to the Brooklyn couple's Midwood, Brooklyn, home in
September 1997 because Joyce Saccavino was arguing with a neighbor about
a dog. Cops arrested Saccavino. When her husband tried to intervene,
cops accidentally knocked him to the ground, breaking his hip.

Shu'aib Abdul Latif $318,000

Cops responding to a January 1994 report of a man with a gun fatally
shot Latif, 17, the son of a prominent Muslim imam. Police said the
teen, who was unarmed, was shot as he tried to flee a Brooklyn basement.

Eleven-year-old Brooklyn girl $260,000

The girl discovered an abandoned baby in a bag on a rooftop outside her
bedroom window. Police mistakenly suspected she was the infant's mother,
and required her to have a gynecological exam, over her mother's
objections.

Ricardo Cruz - $275,000

The ex-con joined friends smoking marijuana at an upper West Side garage
in June 1996. Sgt. Thomas Kennedy and other cops arrested him after a
chase and struggle. After Cruz was handcuffed, Kennedy let him drop face
down on the sidewalk, causing facial injuries. The Police Department
found Kennedy guilty of negligence and stripped him of 29 vacation days.

Patrick Antoine $250,000

The Haitian man was assaulted and arrested by Officer Justin Volpe
during the Aug. 1997 incident that led to Volpe's infamous brutalization
of Abner Louima. Volpe pleaded guilty at the Louima trial and is now in
prison.

Saveon Benn $250,000

Police checking a May 1995 complaint about a shooting threat prompted by
loud music went to Benn's Brooklyn building. Officer Joseph Gabriele saw
Benn outside and asked where he lived. Benn's attorney said the officer
struck Benn in the head when the Brooklyn man challenged the cop's
inquiry.

Victor Rodriguez $220,000

The Manhattan bike messenger said Officer Larry Walton illegally
searched him in June 1997, then hit him in the mouth with a crowbar,
breaking his jaw. Rodriguez's attorney, Perry Silver, said a
disciplinary trial has not yet been held.

Thomas Alcantara $215,000

Police handcuffed Alcantara and several relatives during a September
1994 search for drugs in the family's Manhattan apartment. No drugs were
found. Cops said they acted on information from a reliable informant.
Alcantara's lawyer said family members were improperly held for hours.

Upper East Side attorney $200,000

The Manhattan woman entered the 86th St. stop of the IRT on her way to
work in March 1997. Downtown service was halted, so she sought a refund.
She argued with Officer George Mundo, who slammed her against the wall
and arrested her. Witnesses backed the woman's claim of police
misconduct.

Ruth Silber $200,000

Silber, then 74, spent 29 hours in custody and was improperly
strip-searched after her February 1995 arrest at a Manhattan protest.
Three of the charges against her were dismissed. She was found innocent
on the last charge at trial.

Debra Ann Savilla $200,000

Savilla, 35, was an unemployed methadone addict who was arrested in
November 1994 for an alleged chain theft. Cops said she suffered a fatal
heart attack while in custody. A city autopsy blamed cirrhosis due to
alcoholism and drug use. The Civilian Complaint Review Board said police
used "unnecessary force," but also concluded "the officers' actions were
lawful and proper."

Mary Jefferson $200,000

Based on an informant's tip, Bronx police expected to find an illegal
cocaine stash when they used a battering ram to raid the Bronx apartment
of Mary and Cornelius Jefferson. Instead, they found an elderly couple
in their tidy and drug-free apartment.

Original Publication Date: 7/16/00

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