Drug Case against Hammond cop dismissed
Porcus Ubiquitous
State's case collapses when former department narcotics chief recants
allegation
BY BILL DOLAN Times Staff Writer
Posted on Wednesday, October 2, 2002
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CROWN POINT -- Suspended Hammond police Officer James Murchek buried
his face in his hands Tuesday morning when a judge dismissed a
drug-related felony charge against him and said he was free to go.
"I'm very relieved," said the 32-year-old Hammond man, who has lived
through nearly a year of disgrace, economic hardship and the threat of
imprisonment.
On Monday, the case against him blew up in the faces of the
prosecutor's office drug unit lawyers when a respected Hammond
investigator recanted accusations he made against Murchek earlier.
The case promised to become another in a series of image problems for
the Hammond Police Department.
Murchek's lawyer, John Cantrell, said he would sue the Police
Department as early as this week for waging a vendetta against his
client. Murchek will seek reinstatement as a police officer and back
pay, Cantrell said.
Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter walked back to his office in
disgust, promising to investigate the sudden turn of events.
"This is insane," Carter said.
His office charged Murchek last year after the Hammond Police Tactical
Unit raided Murchek's South Hammond residence Oct. 19, armed with a
search warrant sworn out by Sgt. Paul Dancer. Dancer had said he had
seen a known drug figure leave Murchek's home with a duffel bag that
police said they later found to contain 3-1/2 pounds of suspected
marijuana.
Murchek came under suspicion in the summer of 2001 when he reportedly
failed a drug test for marijuana, but he was allowed to return to duty
after undergoing drug rehabilitation.
Cantrell said tactical unit officers kicked in his front door and tore
up his backyard deck looking for drugs.
Police said they found the steroid testosterone and several syringes
in his home's basement along with such drug paraphernalia as roach
clips, pipes and a 4-foot bong. They said a police dog focused on some
clothes in a closet and on a dresser indicating a drug once may have
been stored there. They said tactical unit officers noted a pungent
odor of marijuana in Murchek's bedroom.
Murchek was placed on paid leave of absence for 120 days and then had
to find another source of income while awaiting trial and possible
dismissal from the Police Department.
Police also arrested and charged Murchek's 26-year-old roommate,
Michael T. Miles, with visiting a common nuisance and possession of
marijuana, both misdemeanors.
The first sign of trouble with the Police Department's case came in
August when charges against Miles were dismissed for lack of evidence.
Murchek's case went before a jury Monday, but the prosecution's case
was short-circuited that afternoon when Dancer admitted under oath he
did not see a drug figure leave Murchek's apartment as he previously
had maintained.
Cantrell said he was watching Deputy Prosecutor Kirk Marrie, who was
handling the trial for the state, when Dancer recanted.
"I saw his face fall," Cantrell said.
Cantrell said the search warrant under which the steroid and drug
paraphernalia were seized now was discredited, and he was planning to
ask Lake Criminal Court Judge Joan Kouros to deny the prosecution the
ability to show them to the jury, but the prosecutor's office made
that move unnecessary by dismissing the case.
Cantrell said he also would have argued the substance police
identified as a steroid was another legal chemical, and that the drug
paraphernalia belonged to Miles, not Murchek.
Cantrell said Dancer did not offer any reason or apology for the
conflicting statements, both of which were under oath. Marrie asked
for a transcript of Dancer's testimony Monday.
When asked if Dancer could be charged with lying under oath, Carter
said, "We will be looking into this matter."
Dancer, who now is on assignment with the FBI gang task force,
couldn't be reached Tuesday for comment.
Cantrell said he doesn't understand why Dancer turned against Murchek
previously.
"Murchek and Dancer were friends. They grew up in the same
neighborhood," he said.
Cantrell said he cannot understand why the Hammond Police Department's
internal investigation division, which normally investigates unethical
or illegal behavior by officers, was never called into the case before
charges were sought against Murchek.
Two plainclothes officers that Cantrell later identified as members of
the internal investigation unit were in the court and waved at Murchek
while he was receiving congratulatory hugs and handshakes from family
and friends.
The Police Department has been under attack as corrupt by a former
police officer, Ruben Hinojosa, who first went public in 1998 with
allegations resulting in six Hammond police officers, including former
Lt. Thomas Hanna, being indicted for their roles in an alleged drunken
driving cover-up.
Hanna was at a tavern with fellow officers and Mayor Duane Dedelow Jr.
and later crashed his police car into another police car. Other
officers allegedly attempted to make it look as though Hanna was
sober. Hanna later resigned. Charges against the other five were
dismissed because of technical defects in the prosecution.
A Hammond police sergeant and his brother were charged in 2000 in
federal court with conspiracy to commit arson and attempted insurance
fraud over a fire that destroyed a 34-foot motor home owned by the
sergeant. A federal jury acquitted the two men last year after defense
lawyers argued evidence of arson was nonexistent.
Bill Dolan can be reached at bdo...@nwitimes.com or (219) 662-5328.