Busted: Former TPD.
Olaf Gundersson
Former Tacoma police officer suspected of child rape
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/updates/story/5998202p-5270828c.html
So here's the name:
Lee Giles
Sound familiar? He ought to.
Charges:
CHILD RAPE 1
CHILD RAPE 2
POSSESSION OF DEPICTIONS OF MINOR ENGAGED IN SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONDUCT
Cloud
Thanks for that - I missed it altogether - even withOUT the name. I
just checked my google desktop and see I have 28 files on my puter with
his name in it...
off to check this out.
Mark Ferguson
<here...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>The TNT seems to lack the guts:
Due process is such a pain.
I missed that but found and read the article. Here, I will quote it
for you:
---------------------------------------------------
Former Tacoma police officer suspected of child rape
STACEY MULICK and KAREN HUCKS; The News Tribune
Published: August 2nd, 2006 05:38 PM
A retired Tacoma police officer has been arrested on suspicion of
sexually assaulting a young boy and possessing child pornography.
The 61-year-old man was booked into Pierce County Jail on multiple
charges Wednesday afternoon.
The retired officer was booked into the jail at 4:51 p.m. on suspicion
of 10 counts of first-degree child rape, 10 counts of second-degree
child rape and two counts of possession of child pornography.
The News Tribune is not naming the man because he’s not been charged
with a crime. The officer retired from the force in 2000 after nearly
30 years on the force.
Tacoma police searched the man’s North End house Wednesday.
--------------------------------------------------
Where is the posession of anything, where is the conviction of
anything? Here in the US you are tried before you are found guilty.
If the person did what he was accused of [accusations are easy to
make, ask Cloud about that] then he should be removed from society
without ever being allowed back into society IMHO.
I did notice he had yet to be charged with a crime. What should the
Tribune have printed...? Perhaps you would like to contibute a
headline or how you would have written the article, I'll wait to read
it.
--
Mark Ferguson
whew.com Site Map
http://www.whew.com/site_map.php
Mark Ferguson
And what if the individual is not guilty of anything? Whatever will
you write?
Mark Ferguson
<washingto...@whew.com> wrote:
>Where is the posession of anything
Reread the article and found that.
Alex Clayton
news:jjk2d2tmnd1djrssj...@4ax.com...
Shit just what TPD needed another scandal. The name does not ring a bell
though, why should it?
--
Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
--Benjamin Franklin
Dr Feelgood
Another fine example of the integrity and morality of the TPD.
What's amazing is charges were actually filed.
Cloud
Alex Clayton wrote:
<Snip>
> Shit just what TPD needed another scandal. The name does not ring a bell
> though, why should it?
WASHINGTON STATE PATROL
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION
Investigative Report
FILE TITLE
City of Tacoma
DETECTIVE
Detective Sergeant Mike HawDetective
Detective Sergeant John Anderson
CASE NUMBER
03-OO4969
SUBJECT
Meeks New Horizon's Allegation
SYNOPSIS:
It is alleged Tacoma Police Department (TPD) Captain William Meeks is a
member of a private club known as New Horizon's, in Lynnwood,
Washington. Pierce County Sheriffs Office (PCSO) Detective Sergeant
Todd Karr provided information to Washington State Patrol investigators
about membership of TPD command staff in a social club up north.
DETAILS:
On May 30,2003, Washington State Patrol (WSP) Detective Sergeants John
Anderson, Mike Haw and WSP Detective Major Bambino interviewed TPD
Detective Barry McColeman. McColeman said Brame talked with him about
three-ways with Meeks. According to McColeman, Brame said Meeks and
Lieutenant Bob Ruiz belonged to a swingers club up north.1
McColeman talked about another employee who was a member of the same
swingers club Meeks belonged to. McColeman said a One Sector intern
named Moe Wear and another TPD officer were members of the same club.2
On July 16,2003, Anderson, Haw and Federal Bureau of Investigations
(FBI) Special Agent Tom Parr interviewed retired TPD Detective Dwight
Correll. Correll stated in his interview he spoke with Tacoma News
Tribune reporter Dan Vogel. According to Correll, Vogel told him he got
a call from a woman who had worked for the Tacoma Police Department-
Correll said Vogel told him the woman had run into Meeks at the New
Horizons club one night and a short time later, been fired from TPD.
According to Correll, Angela McFadden told him she was introduced to
Lee Giles by Meeks who identified Giles as a member of New Horizons.
Giles is a retired TPD officer and is the boyfriend of Moe Wear.3
Page 2 of 2
On July 23,2003, Anderson and Haw interviewed Angela McFadden. McFadden
said she was interviewed by retired TPD Detective Dwight Correll.
According to McFadden, Correll told her Meeks was no longer a member of
the New Horizons club because his wife had been out of line at a club
function one night and the Meeks had been asked to leave.4
On August 19,2003, Anderson and Haw interviewed Meeks at the WSP office
in Tacoma. During a follow up interview by Bambino and Wade the same
day, Meeks declined to answer questions about New Horizons.
On August 25,2003, Anderson and Haw conducted a follow up interview of
Moe Wear. Wear's boyfriend Lee Giles was present during the interview.
Wear and Giles both confirmed Meeks was a member of New Horizons. Giles
stated he is responsible for new member orientation at New Horizons.
Giles stated he actually handled Meeks orientation when Meeks joined
New Horizons. Giles also confirmed Meeks and his wife Dorothy are no
longer members of New Horizons.
CONCLUSION:
There are no criminal charges involved in this allegation.
Officer's Signature___________________________Date___
Officer's Signature___________________________Date___
Supervisor's Signature________________________Date___
1 Refer to Witness Book 2, H - W, Detective McColeman's statement, page
47, paragraph 5.
2 Refer to Witness Book, 2, H - W, Detective McColeman's statement,
page 55, paragraph 5.
3 Refer to KB Book, Sergeant Anderson's ISB on Wear, page 1, paragraph
1.
4 Refer to ISB Book, Sergeant Anderson's ISB on McFadden, page 2,
paragraph 3.
Alex Clayton
news:1154577723.0...@p79g2000cwp.googlegroups.com...
>
> Alex Clayton wrote:
> <Snip>
>> Shit just what TPD needed another scandal. The name does not ring a bell
>> though, why should it?
>
> WASHINGTON STATE PATROL
> CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION
> Investigative Report
>
> FILE TITLE
> City of Tacoma
Damn this guy must have been on the short list for Chief here. Sounds like
he would have fit right in at the top management.
--
Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer.
Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does
not go nearly as well with pizza. --Dave Barry
Cloud
Mark Ferguson wrote:
<SNIP>
> I did notice he had yet to be charged with a crime. What should the
> Tribune have printed...? Perhaps you would like to contibute a
> headline or how you would have written the article, I'll wait to read
> it.
>
Retired Tacoma Cop Booked For Investigation Of Child Rape
August 2, 2006
By KOMO Staff & News Services
TACOMA - A retired city police officer has been arrested for
investigation of 22 counts of child rape and possession of child
pornography, police said.
The ex-officer, listed on the Pierce County jail Web site as William
Lee Giles, was served with a search warrant for his house and arrested
Wednesday following a tip, Officer Mark W. Fulghum said.
Giles was being held for investigation of 10 counts each of first- and
second-degree child rape and two of possession of child pornography
pending a Superior Court appearance as early as Thursday afternoon
The former officer retired in 2000 after nearly 30 years on the force,
Deputy Prosecutor Mary E. Robnett said. And KOMO 4 News has learned
Giles recently hosted a radio show called Crime Time and Food Stuff on
KLAY Radio.
The investigation began recently after 18-year-old man, the son of one
of the former officer's friends, told his father the former officer had
raped him from the time he was 9 until he was 14, Robnett said.
To maintain safety and fairness, the ex-officer has been isolated from
other inmates and, if he remains in custody following his initial court
appearance, may be transferred to a jail in another county, sheriff's
Detective Ed Troyer said.
In the lockup in Tacoma, "there would be inmates that he may have had
dealings with over the years and also corrections officers who may have
known him from the past," Troyer said.
Cloud
Created: Thursday August 3, 2006 11:26AM
Pierce County Corrections Inmate Listing for giles
The list includes all persons who are in custody or under the
supervision of the jail.
Jail Name GILES, LEE WILLIAM
Booking ID 2006214054
Facility New Jail
Booked Less Than 24 Hours Ago
======================================
Inmate: GILES, LEE WILLIAM
Booking Date / Time: 08/02/2006 16:51
Race: WHITE
Arresting Agency: TACOMA POLICE DEPARTMENT
PCN Number: 538839132
======================================
JURISDICTION - SUPERIOR CT - PIERCE CTY
CHARGING AGENCY - TACOMA POLICE DEPARTMENT
INCIDENT # - 062020445
10 FELONY COUNTS OF RAPE OF A CHILD IN THE FIRST DEGREE
BAIL $500,000
RCW: 9A.44.073(2) - A PERSON IS GUILTY OF RAPE OF A CHILD IN THE FIRST
DEGREE WHEN THE PERSON HAS SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH ANOTHER WHO IS LESS
THAN TWELVE YEARS OLD AND NOT MARRIED TO THE PERPETRATOR AND THE
PERPETRATOR IS AT LEAST TWENTY-FOUR MONTHS OLDER THAN THE VICTIM. RAPE
OF A CHILD IN THE FIRST DEGREE IS A CLASS A FELONY.
10 FELONY COUNTS OF RAPE OF A CHILD SECOND DEGREE
BAIL $100,000
RCW: 9A.44.076(2) - A PERSON IS GUILTY OF RAPE OF A CHILD IN THE SECOND
DEGREE WHEN THE PERSON HAS SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH ANOTHER WHO IS AT
LEAST TWELVE YEARS OLD BUT LESS THAN FOURTEEN YEARS OLD AND NOT MARRIED
TO THE PERPETRATOR AND THE PERPETRATOR IS AT LEAST THIRTY-SIX MONTHS
OLDER THAN THE VICTIM. RAPE OF A CHILD IN THE SECOND DEGREE IS A CLASS
A FELONY.
2 FELONY COUNTS OF POSSESSION OF DEPICTIONS OF MINORS ENGAGED IN
SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONDUCT
BAIL $10,000
RCW: 9.68A.070 - A PERSON WHO KNOWINGLY POSSESSES VISUAL OR PRINTED
MATTER DEPICTING A MINOR ENGAGED IN SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONDUCT IS GUILTY
OF A CLASS C FELONY.
Cloud
Giles admitted he likes little boys and has been having his way with
with this developmentally disabled child since the boy was "itty bitty"
- so this is one child rapist Mark you don't have to get up in arms
about defending.
alongtimeg...@yahoo.com
Inmate: LEE WILLIAM GILES
Age: 61 Jail Visiting Information
Race/Sex: White/Male
Booking Date: 08/03/2006 05:36 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cause Number Fel/Misd Charge Bond Amount Bond Type
F ORDER OF PRODUCTION - FELONY NO BAIL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cloud_Writer
alongtimeg...@yahoo.com wrote:
> Kitsap County Jail Booking 700011890
>
> Inmate: LEE WILLIAM GILES
> Age: 61 Jail Visiting Information
> Race/Sex: White/Male
> Booking Date: 08/03/2006 05:36 pm
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Cause Number Fel/Misd Charge Bond Amount Bond Type
> F ORDER OF PRODUCTION - FELONY NO BAIL
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
Child-sex defendant was face of police
News Tribune
August 4th, 2006
...Giles was a cast member in an independent film called "The Coffee
Break"...
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6001382p-5272991c.html
Lee Giles as "Miles"
Joe Bundy as "Schultz"
Sheppard Clarke as "Warsky"
Dan Fozzard Producer/Partner, Casting Director
(Really.)
Cloud
Lawyer seeks return of jailed abuse suspect
KAREN HUCKS; The News Tribune
August 11th, 2006
The lawyer for retired Tacoma police officer Lee William Giles wants
his client brought back to the Pierce County Jail.... he admitted that
he had had sex with a boy, had stolen child pornography from crime
scenes and "likes little boys." Pierce County sheriff's spokesman
Ed Troyer said that to keep the ex-officer safe, Giles would have to be
in a cell for 23 hours a day, and then alone in a common area for the
one hour a day he was outside his cell. "We're not saying that we
can't keep him safe, but it's going to be a miserable existence,"
Troyer said...
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6018466p-5285532c.html
.
Alex Clayton
Gosh I'm all tearing up over how miserable he is. Maybe we should just put
him up in a nice hotel somewhere.
--
25% graduate functional illiterates. We should remove the warning labels
from everything and let nature take care of the problem.
Peter Weisbach
Cloud
From
http://community.thenewstribune.com/?q=node/1197
Giles comfort
Submitted by cloud on August 12, 2006 - 6:15am.
23 hours alone to think?
A day?
OH NO!
The Didler
Submitted by Damon41 on August 11, 2006 - 2:40pm.
He needs to be let loose in the general population and be stalked by
others, kinda like he stalked them kids...
Submitted by bummed1 on August 11, 2006 - 12:11pm.
So what if Giles gets roughed up - there's a reason that people rough
up perverts who prey on kids. They are sick and are hated for what they
do to innocent kids - Giles had NO RESPECT FOR THOSE KIDS' INNOCENCE,
so why should anyone have respect for him? Methinks he should have
thought of the consequences before he committed those horrible crimes.
What is it cops say? Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time?
Submitted by jamyjam on August 11, 2006 - 10:38am.
They should put him in the general population and let him get what he
gets. He made the decision to rape these boys and take this child
pornography. For god sake he is a police officer that knows better.
They don't save any other rapist from being harmed while in jail so why
is he so special? Because he was a faulty police officer? I don't think
so~!
Submitted by BAM_056 on August 11, 2006 - 11:51am.
Let the inmates have him ..If it were any other Joe-Schmoe.He'd been
thrown in General
population ..ASAP ..I agree with all of ya..Let'em have'em..I don't
know about the rest
, but it seems way dirtier, knowing this man was supposed to "Serve &
Protect" and wore
the uniform of a police officer for 30 yrs..Sick no matter what , but
he interacted
with the Tacoma community children..
Submitted by mab on August 11, 2006 - 8:18am.
Why all the worry over keeping him safe and protecting him? He wasn't
worried about the safety and welfare of the little children he was
raping and worse all these years. He of all people knew what would
happen had he gotten caught. He took the chance at the cost of the
lives of the kids.....so send him to the general population in the
jail...he knew what was coming....and I hope he gets it!!!!!!!!! The
only problem is he will probably like it.
Submitted by kevink on August 11, 2006 - 7:18am.
I think he should be put into General Population. I would like to see
him react when someone takes advantage of him. He is a sick man who
needs to be locked up and found guilty of all charges. along with his
girlfriend. I am so sick of the Tacoma Police Department. Everytime i
turn around there is something else going on with them. They are
starting to get a bad rap from the David Brame case to now this one,
and the somehow it's linked???? My god what is going to come out next?
Mark Ferguson
These are a bit short sighted. What happens tot he good inmate that
deals with Giles? For that inmate doing the right thing [if Giles is
found to have done this without any doubt] that inmate will be found
guilty of killing or damaging a "person". Richard Allan Davis, the
piece of work that raped and then killed the little girl in Petaluma
California was killed in prison and some innocent inmate now has to
pay the cost for the government not doing their duty to the people of
the US.
I do not think that any person that rapes anybody should ever be in
the mainstream population. If it means permanent incarceration then
so be it. If it means a bullet in the back of the head for the likes
of Richard Allan Davis then so be it. These people have no place in
society and the consequences of their action are not proportionate to
the damage they inflict.
Yes, I would pull the trigger on those like Davis and yes I would pay
the taxes to keep them locked away for the rest of their life even in
solitary and away from all other prisoners.
That brings up another question for debate :-)
Is prison for punishment or rehabilitation?
Cloud
> Is prison for punishment or rehabilitation?
In the Giles case I only care that he is "away"
Giles knows how child molesters are treated in prison.
Whether or not he is protected is for time to tell.
If he is not - he knew better than most the possible consequences
awaiting him.
He had plenty of chances to reveal himself as having a problem [between
arresting other people and sending them to unsafe prisons] so I for one
will not be traipsing around behind Giles making sure he is protected.
He's got friends. LUCKY PERV!!!
I wish him no safety.
I wish him no harm.
That's HIS problem now.
I just want him away.
If you can't do the time
don't do the crime.
Cloud
Cloud_Writer wrote:
>
> Child-sex defendant was face of police
> News Tribune
> August 4th, 2006
> ...Giles was a cast member in an independent film called "The Coffee
> Break"...
> http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6001382p-5272991c.html
>
> Lee Giles as "Miles"
> Joe Bundy as "Schultz"
> Sheppard Clarke as "Warsky"
> Dan Fozzard Producer/Partner, Casting Director
>
> (Really.)
Chief yells 'Cut!' on police parody
STACEY MULICK; The News Tribune
Published: August 14th, 2006 01:00 AM
EXCERPTS:
During the search of retired Tacoma police officer Lee Giles Jr.'s
house, detectives grabbed a movie script among other pieces of evidence
as part of a child-rape investigation...
...He [Ex-TPD Fozzard] says Ramsdell's view of the film prompted two
current officers cast as main characters and a handful of officers who
expressed interest in small roles in the movie to quit.
"They bowed out because of the chief's pressure on them," Fozzard
said.
Ramsdell said the officers who left the film did so voluntarily.
Attempts to reach the two current officers, Joe Bundy and Sheppard
Clarke, were unsuccessful...
..."You are expected to conduct yourself in a manner that is
favorable and creditable," Ramsdell said. "Even if you are
off-duty, you are still a police officer."
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6025528p-5290663c.html
Mark Ferguson
>Mark Ferguson wrote:
>> On 12 Aug 2006 07:25:24 -0700, "Cloud" <cloud...@gmail.com> wrote:
><SNIP>
>
>> Is prison for punishment or rehabilitation?
>
>In the Giles case I only care that he is "away"
>Giles knows how child molesters are treated in prison.
>Whether or not he is protected is for time to tell.
>If he is not - he knew better than most the possible consequences
>awaiting him.
>He had plenty of chances to reveal himself as having a problem [between
>arresting other people and sending them to unsafe prisons] so I for one
>will not be traipsing around behind Giles making sure he is protected.
>
>
>He's got friends. LUCKY PERV!!!
>
>I wish him no safety.
>I wish him no harm.
Contradictory. The thing about reality is that it is what it is no
matter how we perceive it.
>That's HIS problem now.
>
>I just want him away.
Never to be allowed around society again. On this we most likely
agree.
>If you can't do the time
>don't do the crime.
Robert Blake is doing time isn't he? Didn't he kill or have killed
his wife or significant other?
Cloud
KATHLEEN MERRYMAN; THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Published: August 14th, 2006 01:00 AM
Tracy Conaway has put on her Tacoma Police Department uniform for the
last time.
In her 13 years with the department, she's served on patrol, in the
D.A.R.E. anti-drug program, as a community liaison officer, department
spokeswoman and, most recently, on the facilities team working on the
new headquarters and substations.
She's served during the department's roughest years. Some days
during the Brame scandal, she said, putting on that uniform required
all the fortitude officers could muster. Then, earlier this month,
prosecutors charged retired officer Lee William Giles Jr. with multiple
counts of child rape, as well as exploiting a child and possessing
child pornography.
She makes no excuses for David Brame, the police chief who killed his
wife and then himself in 2003. Her heart breaks for the officers who
searched Giles' home and, she said, came out looking 10 years older.
"It was the shame and defilement," she said. "It's the disgrace
after we've pulled ourselves up for three and a half years."
That's why she wanted a chance to tell you, and to remind those still
on the force, of the dedication and decency most officers bring to the
job. She does not want to imagine what Tacoma would be like without the
effort they have put into gang-busting, crime prevention and community
partnerships.
Nor does she even want to think of what her family's life would have
been like outside of the Tacoma police force.
She and her late husband, Norm Conaway, met when she was a Washington
State University intern and he was an officer with the Richland Police
Department. They married in 1987.
Norm, she said, had a rare genetic illness, hereditary angio edema,
that causes parts of the body to swell if they suffer stress or trauma.
"Yet he chose to play sports, to go into police work, even to be a
motorcycle cop," she said. "That's how he chose to live a normal
life."
Long before they had a child, Norm also chose to take part in clinical
trials for medications that would not be as damaging as the steroids he
had to take for decades. Their son, Jake, 11, has the same disease and
takes the medicine his father tested all those years ago.
Jake was 3 in January 1999, when Tracy was diagnosed with breast
cancer. She was stunned when her fellow officers donated a year's
worth of sick leave to her.
"That wasn't all," she said. "They brought meals to our home.
They baby-sat Jake."
>From January to August, when she returned to work, that gift allowed
her to focus on fighting cancer and regaining her strength.
Two years later, the steroids Norm took to control his disease turned
on his organs. His kidneys failed, and no one in his family was a donor
match.
Word got out. Within a week, a dozen officers volunteered to give him a
kidney. Detective Steve Shake considered it a privilege to be a perfect
match.
Officers who could not give a vital organ donated their sick leave.
"It was wonderful," Tracy said. "We had a year together. He was
able to go back to work. He got to see Jake start kindergarten. We got
to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary."
A year later, when the rest of his steroid-damaged organs began to
fail, officers again stepped up with sick leave to last until he died.
"That donated sick leave gave us stability," Tracy said. "We did
not have to sell our home. Jake was able to keep going to Life
Christian School. They let me see the names of people who had given.
There were some, I didn't even know them, and they had given me 80
hours. I was speechless."
Now, moving back to Richland to care for her mother, recently diagnosed
with Alzheimer's disease, and to give Jake closer contact with his
extended family, Conaway wants Tacoma's police officers to know they
should find peace and pride in the duty they honor, and the decency so
many of them embody.
Kathleen Merryman: 253-597-8677
kathleen...@thenewstribune.com
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/columnists/merryman/story/6025403p-5290700c.html
Cloud_Writer
I think Officer Conaway is the only person involved in the Brame case
news and investigation that got a spot in the paper announcing their
leaving without getting at least a sentence about their connection.
I'm thinking perhaps because her police officer husband Norm passed
away, she had such personal challenges with her own health, her mother
is not well, and she is off to some mighty mighty angel-work now. (The
daughter we can all only wish for.)
So Officer Conaway, God bless you, keep you, & strengthen you - and
your mother. Thank you for your service, your husband's service, and
for reminding folks about all the good people who work for TPD.
Cloud.
Batman
> So Officer Conaway, God bless you, keep you, & strengthen you - and
> your mother. Thank you for your service, your husband's service, and
> for reminding folks about all the good people who work for TPD.
>
> Cloud.
Too bad there isn't a local person or website that spends their time
and effort publishing all the good that goes on instead of focusing on
the negitive. We have Hackaway and Baker to amuse us, it would be nice
to have a voice for all the positive. Too bad officer Conway had to
die before her story was told. It would be a nice change to hear about
the good that the majority of the TPD officers do instead of obsessing
about the few bad apples.
Cloud_Writer
Quit whining and be that positive voice.
And what do you mean by it's too bad Officer Conaway had to die before
her story was told?
What are you talking about?
Batman
Should have read Officer Conway's husband.
Cloud_Writer
It still wouldn't make sense. You forgot to read what you were
commenting on again.
Cloud_Writer
Olaf Gundersson wrote:
> The TNT seems to lack the guts:
> Former Tacoma police officer suspected of child rape
> http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/updates/story/5998202p-5270828c.html
>
> So here's the name:
>
> Lee Giles
>
> Sound familiar? He ought to.
>
> Charges:
>
> CHILD RAPE 1
>
> CHILD RAPE 2
>
> POSSESSION OF DEPICTIONS OF MINOR ENGAGED IN SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONDUCT
It just keeps going.
Alleged rape victim of ex-Tacoma cop describes abuse
05:47 PM PDT on Wednesday, August 23, 2006
By PAUL AKER/ KING 5 News
...His father, Virgil Wear, said once his son told him about the abuse,
he first went to officials in Spokane because he was afraid to go
Tacoma... Van Camp represents the alleged victim and is taking the
first step toward filing a lawsuit against the city. He mailed a claim
for $15 million...
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_082306WABgilesEL.2b4db220.html
Alex Clayton
news:1156389130....@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
I would expect that again the people in charge will dink around and manage
to make this cost all of us a lot more that it needs to by the time it's
over. Then they will all blame someone else.
--
Stupidity should be painful
Cloud_Writer
I have no idea whether the problems in TPD have been worked out, and I
don't know the exacts of the claim, but what I get from it is that when
a department knowingly keeps officers that are twisted or problemed -
there is a LONG RANGE liability - even if they clean up their act down
the road.
It's not just TPD. TPD is just local. There are some problems
inherent to most police departments and their brass. It is pretty rare
that a department shines like a new penny.
A lot of it is understandable - just not right or legal.
Teen who says officer raped him plans $15 million claim
KAREN HUCKS; The News Tribune
Published: August 24th, 2006 01:00 AM
..."They either knew or should have known," Van Camp said. "They (Giles
and Wear) were abusing this young man just horribly for years." Van
Camp said Giles and Wear were creating child pornography with the boy,
who's now 18 and living in Eastern Washington... The teen, along with
his father, also will sue Giles and Wear, the lawyer said... Some of
the crimes occurred during Giles' 30-year police career, detectives
said... Giles also is under investigation in the alleged abuse of two
young female relatives. Prosecutors also have charged 46-year-old Wear,
a former civilian employee of the Police Department, with child rape,
child molestation, sexual exploitation of a minor and possessing child
pornography. The charges are related to the teen as well as the two
girls...
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6049225p-5308445c.html
Cloud_Writer
or won't be grounds to successfully sue.
But lawsuit aside,
the folks who put on the uniform every day didn't do this.
And if history tells a tale, if people inside TPD are involved in not
taking the actions that they should have taken, they won't be held
responsible.
Millions of dollars later it will look like this in the investigation
summary:
"_____ said he/she did not do it."
"Exonerated."
"Not sustained."
"Cleared."
Alex Clayton
> Alex Clayton wrote:
else.
>
> I have no idea whether the problems in TPD have been worked out, and I
> don't know the exacts of the claim, but what I get from it is that when
> a department knowingly keeps officers that are twisted or problemed -
> there is a LONG RANGE liability - even if they clean up their act down
> the road.
When I say the people in charge, I mean our great City leaders. I said this
when the Lawyers asked for a check after the Brame mess. "My" choice would
have been write the check, cut your losses. As we all got to see our
"leaders" elected to drag it out and make it cost us a lot more. "I" fully
expect this to be handled the exact same way. What the hell the "people"
here get exactly what they vote for. <shrug>.
--
"Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites.
Moderation is for monks."
[Lazarus Long]
Cloud_Writer
lot of interesting points. I was going to do excerpts but I have
pretty strong views about this so knew my choices would be biased - It
really needs to be swallowed whole. The title is inflamatory and
divisive because it isn't only "minority groups" who find a problem
here. It's an organizational dilemna it seems.
Minority groups call state trooper `unfit'
Posted on Sun, Aug. 27, 2006
By Martha Stoddard
Omaha World-Herald
LINCOLN, Neb. - An Omaha man forfeited his right to work for the
Nebraska State Patrol when he joined a group affiliated with the Ku
Klux Klan, advocates for minority groups said Friday.
"Such a person is unfit to wear a badge or to use a gun on behalf of
the state to deprive a person of their life," said State Sen. Ernie
Chambers of Omaha. "The goals and purposes of this state do not include
overt racism."
But legal experts cautioned that the law is not clear cut on whether
Robert E. Henderson, an 18-year veteran trooper, can be fired for
belonging to the Knights Party.
Henderson, 49, was dismissed from the patrol March 15 after an internal
investigation confirmed he had joined the group and posted messages to
an online discussion group for party members.
His attorney, Vincent Valentino, said Henderson had resigned from the
group and apologized to State Patrol Superintendent Bryan Tuma before
he was fired.
Valentino said Henderson was willing to work with patrol officials and
to accept any discipline short of termination.
"Bob regrets his decision to become a member of that group," Valentino
said. "This is not the Bob Henderson that I know or that other people
who work with him know. Bob made a bad decision."
Valentino said he took issue with an attempt by state officials to
overturn an arbitrator's Aug. 18 decision that Henderson should be
reinstated.
Attorney General Jon Bruning filed a motion in Lancaster County
District Court on Friday seeking to reverse the arbitrator's decision.
Although Bruning acknowledged that the effort would be difficult, he
said the state shouldn't give guns and badges to anyone tied to the
KKK.
"This is not Birmingham (Alabama). This is not 1960," Bruning said. "We
have no interest in having troopers that are members of the KKK."
The arbitrator, a New York attorney named Paul Caffera, said the
termination violated Henderson's First Amendment rights and his due
process rights under the troopers union contract.
Caffera said Henderson's firing flies in the face of U.S. Supreme Court
decisions that have concluded public employees are entitled to express
political beliefs and associate with others who share their beliefs.
Catherine Smith, an assistant professor of law at the University of
Denver's Sturm College of Law, said previous cases have come down on
both sides of that question.
For example, she said, a New York case in 1999 concluded that a
corrections officer could not be fired for flying a Nazi flag at his
home.
But a 1997 case out of Georgia found that the attorney general could
rescind a job offer to a woman who "married" her female partner at a
well-publicized church ceremony.
Bruning argued that the First Amendment does not apply in this case.
"The First Amendment allows you to join disgusting groups, but it does
not allow him to be employed as a state trooper," Bruning said.
The investigation of Henderson began last fall, after the Kansas Bureau
of Investigation contacted the Nebraska State Patrol. Tuma said the
Kansas bureau monitors the Knights Party's Web site regularly and
discovered a posting by Henderson.
According to the arbitrator's report, the trooper posted a total of
four messages. In the first one, dated Sept. 20, 2005, he introduced
himself as "the new guy from Nebraska."
In the next one, also dated Sept. 20, Henderson detailed his complaints
about a black man who worked with his fiancee.
It concluded by saying: "Whites are loosing there (sic) rights slowly.
It's sad. I pray about it. I hope my prayers get answered. White knight
in NE."
The next two, dated Sept. 21 and Sept. 25, 2005, asked to get in touch
with other Klansmen and women in the Omaha area. The last one gave an
e-mail address and phone number.
Tuma said Henderson was fired because he violated the State Patrol's
code of conduct, which requires troopers to avoid actions on the job
and off that could discredit themselves and the State Patrol.
He also was fired for violating a rule that bars troopers from
associating with known felons.
Although it isn't illegal to be a member of a KKK group, having a
trooper belong to a white supremacist group could create questions in
the minds of the public as well as create dissension among other
troopers, Tuma said.
The reaction from Chambers, who is black, and from the Anti-Defamation
League, which works to combat anti-Semitism, echoed Tuma's concerns
about public reaction.
"Henderson brings new meaning to the words 'conduct unbecoming of an
officer,'" said Alan Potash, the league's regional director. "We
applaud the attorney general's decision to appeal this ruling."
Blacks, Jews and other minorities have been targets of the KKK.
According to the arbitrator, Henderson's dealings with the group were
done during off-duty hours and on his private computer. Caffera said
the trooper's membership would not have become public except for the
investigation.
"With even a cursory attempt to conduct the type of investigation that
just cause demands, it would have become clear to the agency that
(Henderson) was not a white-hooded, cross-burning terrorist," the
arbitrator said.
Tuma said Henderson appears to be the only Nebraska state trooper with
membership in a Klan-affiliated group.
He said he could not list other organizations that troopers cannot
join. He said each case would have to be investigated to see if the
membership created a problem within the patrol.
The union contract covering troopers allows them to ask for binding
arbitration to settle employment disputes.
Tuma said there have been no indications of problems with Henderson's
performance as a trooper.
Only one complaint had been filed against him, by a black television
news anchorman in Omaha. But the complaint was ruled "unfounded" after
a review of the videotape from a traffic stop, Tuma said.
Bruning said it could be difficult to persuade a court to overturn a
binding arbitration opinion.
Chambers said that, because of that difficulty, he will pursue another
avenue to keep Henderson off the patrol. He plans to file a complaint
with the Nebraska Crime Commission asking for Henderson's law
enforcement certification to be revoked.
The White Knights' Web site claims that it is the oldest, largest and
most active Klan organization in America.
It describes itself as a political party and claims "Klansmen and
Klanswomen in all 50 states."
The group calls itself an organization for "white people of all
economic backgrounds" interested in promoting the return of Christian
principles to government.
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/nation/15375249.htm
Batman
> It still wouldn't make sense. You forgot to read what you were
> commenting on again.
It makes plenty of sense. None of the good that these people do ever
gets a mention until there is a tragedy. People like you are the cause
of that. Only obsessed with the few bad apples and never a mention of
all that is positive.
Dr Feelgood
"Batman" <tu...@techie.com> wrote in message
news:1156721780.0...@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
Do you mean things like the police participation with neighborhood
groups? Like Cloud already presented in prior post here.
Or were you thinking of all the positive press the official police
department pedophile generated over the years on his TV and radio shows?
Cloud_Writer
Your sentence and context - which you left off of this - don't make
sense, and it makes less sense thilly wabbit because what I posted WAS
nice.
Mark Ferguson
wrote:
>
>Thought this might be of interest if TPD Meeks glances in. It has a
>lot of interesting points. I was going to do excerpts but I have
>pretty strong views about this so knew my choices would be biased - It
>really needs to be swallowed whole. The title is inflamatory and
>divisive because it isn't only "minority groups" who find a problem
>here. It's an organizational dilemna it seems.
A question or two it seems:
What is your opinion? Should a person be fired from a position of
authority such as a police officer or fire and rescue or EMT if that
person belongs to an organization such as the Knights of the Ku Klux
Klan?
Can that individual conduct themselves in a professional way so their
personal beliefs do not interfere with them doing their job with bias?
Tell me your thoughts and I will tell you ine :-)
Cloud_Writer
I'm going to keep it specific.
I do not think TPD Meeks can scream I hate f-ing Mexicans on his off
time and still be suitable to retain arrest powers in a diverse
community.
Cloud.
Cloud_Writer
Tacoma's Online News Source
Publishing City of Tacoma News since 1995
Vol. 6, No. 159
August 28, 2006
Image: http://www.geocities.com/newtakhoman/images/malone3.jpg
A "Hard-Boiled" reporter sees "Perversion in the City" through
the fictional eyes of Paul Malone
Thursday, August 3, 2006, 4:30 pm.
I was sorting old case files when the Ameche trilled. Johnny Suits was
on the other end.
"What da ya know about an ex-TPD cop? Baby raper charges", he spat.
"Nothing", I returned.
Suits gave me a quick run down. He was looking for the cop's name.
I started calling sources in the department. Nobody was talking. At
4:50 I got Chief Rammer on his cell. "Announcement to be made
shortly", he informed.
The Rammer was back to me in less than ten. "Lee Giles", he threw
at me.
My name is Paul Malone. I publish Tacoma Confidential. An off the
record, on the QT and very hush-hush tell all tabloid that Councilman
Rick Talbert would like to flush. If he tried it would only clog his
pipes.
I flipped the box to the big 5 at 5. South Sound Bureau Chief Paul Aker
was breaking the story on the tube. The news was out and it wasn't
pretty. Giles, once the voice of TPD, was accused of having sex with
his girlfriend's son. The girlfriend, Moe Wear, had been having
perverted sex with her own son, a son that's developmentally
disabled. He's now 18 and living with his father in Spokane. It was a
total remake of "Sex, Lies, and Video Tape" staring two local sick
f****.
After having lived the Brame saga I decided to leave the mainline story
to the mainline cubs. On this one I'd settled to be the designated
clean up hitter.
Thursday, August 24, 2006, 4:30 pm.
Things had changed.
The call came from the most unlikely, none of your business, source.
"Wear ain't the kid's natural mother. She adopted him", the
voice whispered. "And what was Giles doing with evidence envelopes
and what was in them", the voice asked.
Back on the horn I melted the phone line looking for the answers. The
answers came.
It turns out the multiple rape victim, Justin J. Wear, is the natural
son of Virgil Wear. Moe adopted him when he was age one.
My mind ran to unnatural acts. Could the way this kid was treated by
Wear and Giles have been a contributing factor in his mental
disability? I'll leave that to the experts.
When Giles' North End home was searched, the dicks found evidence
envelopes. Was he withholding evidence when he was a cop, my live-in
Molly McGuire speculated?
Not the way it turned. According to Fulghum, TPD's PIO, the envelopes
had come from the Pierce County Sheriff's Department.
I got PCSD Troyer on the blower. The envelopes had come from closed
cases stored by the Sheriff's Department. Somehow, at some point,
Giles had gained access to the storage room and had culled envelopes
from sex crime investigations containing child porn.
Two questions answered and miles to go.
Giles was the emcee at the Lynnwood swingers club, New Horizons. Yes
Dear Readers, the same sex club that was prominent in the Brame
murder/suicide case. Yes, the same sex club that TPD Captain Bill Meeks
and his wife were members of. And Meeks ain't talkin'.
Moe Wear, a civilian TPD employee, who worked under Meeks in the
90's, and Meeks still ain't talkin'.
Yes, the same Moe Wear who had formerly worked for Safe Streets and was
the long time sex toy of Giles. She'd been hired by the City's
Human Resources Department. How many had applied for that job and did
Giles have any influence in the decision?
Yes Dear Readers so many questions and so little time.
As I sit in my lurid headline covered office writing this tale of woe
the unanswered questions burn into my synapses.
How did Giles gain access to the Sheriff's storage room and who
allowed him that access?
Who else at TPD was or is a member of New Horizons?
Who besides Meeks knows something and ain't talkin'?
Could Giles' and Wear's peccadilloes lead to the rarified air of
the City Council chambers?
Who is our local Joey Buttafucco and how does he play into this tale of
debauchery.
And how many police agency internal investigations will be conducted
before all the answers are turned? If ever.
My gritty burg has now been hit with a $15 million claim alleging TPD
is somehow complicit in Giles' sick acts.
A claim that's sure to become a lawsuit within 60 days.
Will our learned city fathers go with an outside law firm as they did
in the Brame case?
Or will they sic Jean P. Homan, the City's legal pit-bull, on the
disabled victim?
Stay tuned Dear Readers . . .
Respectfully submitted by Paul Malone
Mark Ferguson
wrote:
>
>Mark Ferguson wrote:
>> On 27 Aug 2006 08:10:16 -0700, "Cloud_Writer" <Cloud_...@yahoo.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >
>> >Thought this might be of interest if TPD Meeks glances in. It has a
>> >lot of interesting points. I was going to do excerpts but I have
>> >pretty strong views about this so knew my choices would be biased - It
>> >really needs to be swallowed whole. The title is inflamatory and
>> >divisive because it isn't only "minority groups" who find a problem
>> >here. It's an organizational dilemna it seems.
>>
>> A question or two it seems:
>>
>> What is your opinion? Should a person be fired from a position of
>> authority such as a police officer or fire and rescue or EMT if that
>> person belongs to an organization such as the Knights of the Ku Klux
>> Klan?
>>
>> Can that individual conduct themselves in a professional way so their
>> personal beliefs do not interfere with them doing their job with bias?
>>
>> Tell me your thoughts and I will tell you ine :-)
>>
>I'm going to keep it specific.
But not answer either question.
>I do not think TPD Meeks can scream I hate f-ing Mexicans on his off
>time and still be suitable to retain arrest powers in a diverse
>community.
You most likely have no actual meaning in Meek's life....
>Cloud.
Cloud_Writer
You never know.
You said:
> Tell me your thoughts and I will tell you ine :-)
So, was that the sum of your thoughts?
Cloud_Writer
It's not just his hate of Mexicans. I think he should be dismissed for
that alone, but the whole Brame case is punctuated with his name and
now here it comes as the punctuations in the Giles/Wears case.
>From the New Takhoman
Tacoma's Online News Source
Publishing City of Tacoma News since 1995
Vol. 6, No. 159
August 28, 2006
...Giles was the emcee at the Lynnwood swingers club, New Horizons.
Yes Dear Readers, the same sex club that was prominent in the Brame
murder/suicide case. Yes, the same sex club that TPD Captain Bill Meeks
and his wife were members of. And Meeks ain't talkin'. Moe Wear, a
civilian TPD employee, who worked under Meeks in the 90's, and Meeks
still ain't talkin'. Yes, the same Moe Wear who had formerly worked
for Safe Streets and was the long time sex toy of Giles. She'd been
hired by the City's Human Resources Department. How many had applied
for that job and did Giles have any influence in the decision?... Who
else at TPD was or is a member of New Horizons? Who besides Meeks knows
something and ain't talkin'?...
Cloud
(In his video interview Virgil Wear admits feeling of wanting to kill
Giles & Wear: "...I wanted to kill 'em...") ...Until his recent
birthday, Jimmy lived with his mom. He had been holding back a big
secret for years. But now that he was staying with his father in
Spokane, and was away from his mother and her boyfriend, a former
Tacoma city cop, he felt safe enough to talk...
TWO VIDEOS
EXCLUSIVE: FATHER FINDS OUT ABOUT HIS SON'S ABUSE
August 31st, 2006
For Virgil Wear, the nightmare began in July. It started right after he
and his 18-year-old son 'Jimmy' (not his real name) got in the car. In
an exclusive interview, he tells KING5 News' Paul Aker about the secret
his son 'Jimmy' had been keeping and how it felt when he was told.
http://www.king5.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/videoPlayer.php?vidId=84904
EXCLUSIVE: STEPMOTHER TALKS ABOUT HER STEPSON'S ABUSE
August 31st, 2006
In an exclusive interview with KING5's Paul Aker, Carin Wear talks
about dealing with the knowledge of the sexual abuse suffered by her
stepson.
http://www.king5.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/videoPlayer.php?vidId=84907
WEB ONLY: Cop's alleged victim, family struggling
12:10 PM PDT on Thursday, August 31, 2006
By PAUL AKER / KING5 News
SPOKANE - For Virgil Wear, the nightmare began one day in July. It
started right after he got in the care with his his 18-year-old son,
who we are calling "Jimmy," to protect his identity.
Until his recent birthday, Jimmy lived with his mom. He had been
holding back a big secret for years. But now that he was staying with
his father in Spokane, and was away from his mother and her boyfriend,
a former Tacoma city cop, he felt safe enough to talk.
Jimmy and his father Virgil had just piled into the truck when "Jimmy"
just blurted it out. His mom, Maureen Wear, and her boyfriend,
prominent former Tacoma Police officer Lee Giles, had been sexually
molesting him for years, he said.
Virgil was stunned. His mind swam.
"It was registering right then," he said.
The shock snapped his concentration as he sideswiped his other car
parked in his driveway. The two continued to drive down the Spokane
area street. Details kept coming.
"It was getting worse by the minute," Virgil said in a recent
interview. "It was too much. I listened. I just listened. I just didn't
know what to say."
Virgil called the police immediately, but not the Tacoma Police Dept.
He says he had seen Tacoma Police act unethically. He claims he watched
two officers beat up an innocent man several years earlier. His bigger
concern was that Giles would somehow pull some strings.
Giles was the front man for the city's Crime Stoppers organization
through the mid 90's. Even though he retired in 2000, he was still on
the air talking police work for a local radio station.
Jimmy gave a statement to Spokane Police. The case was forwarded to
Tacoma and two detectives got the file and went to work. Virgil says he
was impressed by their work.
Police swept through Giles' central Tacoma home. After a day of
interviews, they stuffed him into an unmarked rust colored Ford Taurus
and took him to the Pierce County Jail like any other alleged criminal.
He was charged with 8 felony counts including child rape and child
exploitation.
Court papers say Giles admitted to sexual encounters with Jimmy ever
since he "was a little, bitty boy, 6 or 7 years old." Giles allegedly
said he likes child pornography and little boys. Prosecutors claim he's
admitted to making videos of himself and Jimmy fondling each other.
The next day Jimmy's mother Maureen was also arrested. She was also
charged with a total of 8 counts of child rape, child molestation and
exploitation of a minor. She allegedly admitted to making a sexual
videotape with Giles and Jimmy.
Many of the alleged crimes occurred while both Giles and Maureen worked
for the Tacoma Police Department.
"(I couldn't go to the police) she had too much power in the police,"
Jimmy said in a recent interview. The young man who stands about 6 feet
tall, weighs 240 pounds and wears wire rimmed glasses continued with a
quivering voice, "It was pretty hurtful...I thought she was my mom."
The hurt Jimmy feels won't be healed easily. He's developmentally
delayed. Virgil says his son functions at the same intellectual level
as a typical 12-year-old. The teen is also heavily reliant on a drug
called Concerta, which suppresses hyperactivity.
Jimmy needs psychological testing, drug therapy and extensive
counseling. It's not cheap, and his father is having a hard time
shouldering the new financial burden.
Because of the extensive attention needed to get Jimmy treated,
Virgil's current wife Carin has had to take medical leave from her job.
The family is also dealing with snags in the system that's supposed to
help victims.
The state Crime Victims Compensation fund is supposed to help pay for
the costs that go along with getting victims like Jimmy help. In his
case the costs are already at about $80-$100 out-of-pocket each week.
But the family is having a difficult time finding therapists who are
both qualified to do the treatment and accept Crime Victim Compensation
funding.
Virgil says he's tried 25 to 30 different specialists. All of them have
declined treatment. In many cases, the therapist based denials on their
perception that the state fund is slow-to-pay and requires too much
burdensome paperwork.
"It's frustrating, because we are not at fault for what happened. We
don't need this in our life," said Carin.
A spokesman for the Department of Labor and Industries, the state
agency that administers the Crime Victims Compensation fund, said the
problem is likely the result of a recent funding cut that has now been
reversed.
Robert Nelson said because of legislative cuts a couple of years ago,
the fund lowered the compensation rate for counselors. "As a result, we
did lose some counselors," he said.
Virgil and Jimmy have filed a $15 million claim against the city of
Tacoma. They allege the city lacked "due vigilance" because, they
claim, it had should have more thoroughly investigated or acted upon
the background investigations of Maureen Wear and Lee Giles while they
worked for the Police Department. (The city has not made any comment.)
But even if the family can prevail in their claim against the city, it
will likely take years for anything to be decided and at least long for
the city to pay.
In the meantime, Virgil and Carin say they're determined to get Jimmy
as much help as they can.
And though Jimmy will likely spend years, if not a lifetime, trying to
recover, one thing is already better.
"Finally, I can sleep at night," he said.
As for his mother and her boyfriend, if convicted they could spend most
of their remaining nights sleeping in prison cells.
"I hope they rot in jail," said Jimmy.
Paul Aker, KING5 News
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_083106WABwear_gilesJM.53a31558.html
kitty
wonder why Troyer is protecting Giles. He claimed on the news that he
was certain that Giles never had contact with children at the PC Law
Enforcement Youth camp. How can he be so sure? I also recall this
being the same youth camp the person who shot up the Tacoma Mall last
year went to. If Troyer knew that Giles belonged to New Horizons,
would he still allow him to volunteer? If so, why? Now that we see
Giles had other complaints from parents (Daffodil Parade) we should be
asking tough questions. Here's a couple: Does TPD allow its officers,
management to engage in extra curricular activity at New Horizons
today?
Cloud wrote:
> Mark Ferguson wrote:
> <SNIP>
> > I did notice he had yet to be charged with a crime. What should the
> > Tribune have printed...? Perhaps you would like to contibute a
> > headline or how you would have written the article, I'll wait to read
> > it.
> >
>
>
> Retired Tacoma Cop Booked For Investigation Of Child Rape
> August 2, 2006
> By KOMO Staff & News Services
>
> TACOMA - A retired city police officer has been arrested for
> investigation of 22 counts of child rape and possession of child
> pornography, police said.
>
> The ex-officer, listed on the Pierce County jail Web site as William
> Lee Giles, was served with a search warrant for his house and arrested
> Wednesday following a tip, Officer Mark W. Fulghum said.
>
> Giles was being held for investigation of 10 counts each of first- and
> second-degree child rape and two of possession of child pornography
> pending a Superior Court appearance as early as Thursday afternoon
>
> The former officer retired in 2000 after nearly 30 years on the force,
> Deputy Prosecutor Mary E. Robnett said. And KOMO 4 News has learned
> Giles recently hosted a radio show called Crime Time and Food Stuff on
> KLAY Radio.
>
> The investigation began recently after 18-year-old man, the son of one
> of the former officer's friends, told his father the former officer had
> raped him from the time he was 9 until he was 14, Robnett said.
>
> To maintain safety and fairness, the ex-officer has been isolated from
> other inmates and, if he remains in custody following his initial court
> appearance, may be transferred to a jail in another county, sheriff's
> Detective Ed Troyer said.
>
> In the lockup in Tacoma, "there would be inmates that he may have had
> dealings with over the years and also corrections officers who may have
> known him from the past," Troyer said.
>
> http://www.komotv.com/stories/44726.htm
Cloud
> Haven't heard anything regarding this case the past few weeks. Still
> wonder why Troyer is protecting Giles. He claimed on the news that he
> was certain that Giles never had contact with children at the PC Law
> Enforcement Youth camp. How can he be so sure?
He sure can't and that was a very very wierd thing to say. Gee, why
would a PEDOPHILE be working for a kid camp?
Why would Troyer go out on that kind of limb for this kind of criminal?
Everyone knows there is no way for him to be sure of that.
>I also recall this
> being the same youth camp the person who shot up the Tacoma Mall last
> year went to.
That's interesting.
> If Troyer knew that Giles belonged to New Horizons,
> would he still allow him to volunteer? If so, why?
If ANYONE knew he was the orientation master for the sex club they
should have interceded imho. Maureen Wear is guilty of knowing that
too..
> Now that we see
> Giles had other complaints from parents (Daffodil Parade) we should be
> asking tough questions. Here's a couple: Does TPD allow its officers,
> management to engage in extra curricular activity at New Horizons
> today?
That would be good to know - what the off duty policy IS.
Some pd's make it clear to their officers that they are on duty 24/7
when it comes to personal ethics and behaviors.
I chose to delete what I wrote next. :)
Batman
Here's a couple: Does TPD allow its officers,
> management to engage in extra curricular activity at New Horizons
> today?
Is New Horizons a legally operated business or group?
kitty
Obviously for Pedophiles... Remember he was a school liason officer who
had contact with children!!! and a volunteer at a police sponsored
kids camp...
Batman
kitty wrote:
> Batman wrote:
> > Here's a couple: Does TPD allow its officers,
> > > management to engage in extra curricular activity at New Horizons
> > > today?
> >
> > Is New Horizons a legally operated business or group?
>
> Obviously for Pedophiles...
In other words you can't answer the question or don't want to.
Instead, you're claiming that every member of that group is a
pedophile?
Remember he was a school liason officer who
> had contact with children!!! and a volunteer at a police sponsored
> kids camp...
So, if consenting adults of legal age want to participate in a sexual
activity behind closed doors they are automaticlly pedophiles and child
molestors? If Lee Giles has a checking account at Washington Mutual
does that mean Washington Mutual condones pedophilia? Does that make
every Washington Mutual customer a child molestor?
You don't think that it's possible for somebody to have a hidden
second life? Look, this Giles guy is a sick asshole no question. I
just get tired of everybody looking for someone else to blame besides
the actual person commiting the crime. He was obviously very good at
hiding the fact that he was a perv, that does not make anybody else
liable accept him, unless they knew for a fact he was molesting
children. If you can prove the TPD knew he was molesting a child and
hid that fact or did nothing to stop it then you might have something.
I doubt you can do that.
Cloud
February 4, 2004
Case No.: 03-1300
...This is Sergeant Julie Myer of the Washington State Patrol. The date
is February 4th, 2004. And the time is 2:28 p.m. The incident number is
03-1300 and I'm interviewing Maureen Wear and Lee Giles...
?????????????????
Cloud
(CAPS are mine)
STATEMENT
Maureen Wear
February 4, 2004
Case No.: 03-1300
Q = Sergeant Julie Myer A = Maureen Wear
Q This is Sergeant Julie Myer of the Washington State Patrol.
The date is February 4th, 2004. And the time is 2:28 p.m. The incident
number is 03-1300 and I'm interviewing Maureen Wear and Lee Giles. Also
present during the interview is Sergeant Kristene O'Shannon. This
interview is taking place at the District 1 State Patrol office. This
interview is for the purpose of discussing administrative allegations
lodged against a Tacoma Police Department employee.
================
<SNIP>
===============
Page 2
Q ...When were you employed with Tacoma Police Department?
A Um, that would have been September of '97.
Q Until when?
A March of '99.
Q And what was your position?
A I was the coordinator for, um, a program called Crime Free
Multi-Housing.
================
<SNIP>
===============
A. Uh, in September of '97, um, my lieutenant was Mark Langford,
L-a-n-g-f-o-r-d. The following fall, in the fall of, uh, '98, uh,
Lieutenant Bill Meeks was my, my, uh, lieutenant.
Q And was Meeks your supervisor through March of 1999?
A No. Um, in I believe December of, uh, '98 or -- yeah, '98, um
- oh, is that right?
Q Who was your last supervisor?
A I'm sorry. That was Howatson, Jim Howatson, H-o-w-a-t-s-o-n.
================
<SNIP>
===============
Page 3
Q Okay. What was your relationship with Mr. Meeks?
A At what time?
Q Has it been different? I mean, has it - in general.
A I HAD NEVER MET, UM, UH, BILL MEEKS PRIOR TO, UH, HE ARRIVING
AT NEW HORIZONS AND I THINK THAT THAT WAS THE SUMMER OF '98.
Q AND SO HAD YOU MET HIM AT NEW HORIZONS AND THEN HE - YOU WERE
IN A POSITION IN WHICH HE WAS YOUR SUPERVISOR?
A EXACTLY. HE BECAME MY SUPERVISOR -- OR WAS ASSIGNED TO THAT
SECTOR, UM, AS LIEUTENANT, UH, WITHIN A FEW MONTHS OF, OF HIS
APPEARANCE AT NEW HORIZONS.
Q And how would you characterize your relationship with him? Did
you get along?
A ...we did not have an intimate relationship, um, at New
Horizons. We never had any, um, anything but dinner together there...
================
<SNIP>
===============
Page 4
A Um, I was - uh, fine. I -- actually, I KIND OF WONDERED WHY I
WAS, UH, BEING SUPERVISED BY THE LIEUTENANT and I guess it was just
because I was working out of that (inaudible words, unintelligible)
office that, um, sector, um, office, Sector 1 office. So that the
Sector 1 lieutenant was my boss, um, uh, but I, um, I enjoyed Mark
Langford, I, uh, I really didn't get to know, uh, Howatson. UM, MEEKS,
UH, UM, DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING REALLY TO DO WITH WHAT I WAS DOING unless
there was a problem with me and, and I certainly am not, aware of there
being any problems so...
Q And Mr. Giles, can you tell us how long you were an employee
with Tacoma Police Department?
MR. GILES: From March 30th, 1970 through January 14th, 2000.
Q And what rank did you retire at?
MR, GILES: Police patrol officer,
================
<SNIP>
===============
Q And how would you characterize your relationship with him?
MR. GILES: Friendly,
================
<SNIP>
===============
Page 5
MR. GILES: I didn't know him away from work until he showed up one
night at New Horizons but I never had anything to do with him. He was
pretty much of a, uh - had his own circle of friends that he dealt with
and didn't, uh, really - I didn't hang with that kind of crowd -- uh,
that, that group of people. It was just - well, you-know, in
departments.
Q Who was your supervisor at the time that you retired, your
last supervisor?
MR. GILES: The sergeant was Dave Frost. The lieutenant was--don't know,
can't recall.
Q WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT BEFORE WE WENT ON TAPE ON WHY WE'VE
ASKED TO CONDUCT AN INTERVIEW WITH YOU BOTH TODAY. AND IT'S WITH REGARD
TO ALLEGATIONS THAT CAME OUT OF THE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION IN THE CID
INTERVIEW THAT WAS CONDUCTED IN WHICH YOU ALLEGED THAT MEEKS -- THERE
WAS A PHONE CONVERSATION IN WHICH HE THREATENED THAT THERE WOULD BE
PORNOGRAPHY FOUND ON YOUR COMPUTER AND THEN THE INVESTIGATION THAT
SHOWED THAT THERE WAS PORNOGRAPHY ON YOUR COMPUTER. CAN YOU RUN US -
IS THAT A NO? THAT'S NOT CORRECT?
A {INAUDIBLE WORD, UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Q OKAY, I'M SORRY, I THOUGHT THAT'S WHAT YOU HAD SAID. Okay.
Maybe you should just tell us what you alleged and --
A Okay.
Q -- and how all of that information -
A Okay. The, um, uh - I was fired in March of '99 and, um, I
believe that that firing was due to, um, Greg Hopkins - Officer Greg
Hopkins, um, in that he was doing things that I felt were at the very
least unethical. Um, but at the --but possibly even illegal....
================
<SNIP>
===============
Page 6
. ...And in the midst of that, I started getting real cold, cold
shoulders from Hopkins. I was getting, um, a lot of resistance from him
and then, uh, following my end of February class, I went to work and,
uh, my files had been pulled from my - my whole file drawer had been
pulled from my desk and my desk sat in the hallway...
================
<SNIP>
===============
...because Hopkins was kind of cold about this, I come in after working
my tail off at this, uh, these classes and, um, and I have to start
preparing for the next class because I was doing a monthly and, uh,
Howatson says, uh - calls me into his office and says, "you need to
go down to the Chiefs office right away, um, they're waiting for you."
And I said, "they're
Page 7
...I went to the Chiefs office and, um, uh, waited for over an hour,
actually, because he was not waiting for me, he was in a meeting. When
he came out of the meeting, um, he asked me into his office where he
handed me a termination letter. And, um, it declared that I was
essentially, uh, uh, inept and, and, uh, um -
================
<SNIP>
===============
...I think it was the next day or the day after they went and retrieved
some stuff from the substation, um, some of my personal items but, um
- anyway, when I, uh --I was so shell-shocked by this whole thing, I
really just didn't see this coming. I felt that I was absolutely in the
right doing what I was doing, trying to work for a fair representation
of our community's resources and private industries and not show
favoritism and, um, I'm fired.
...SO, UM, I GOT TO THINKING ABOUT THIS AND I THOUGHT, "YOU KNOW, THIS
IS REALLY WRONG." AND SO I CALLED IA, INTERNAL AFFAIRS, FOR THE TACOMA
POLICE DEPARTMENT AND DETECTIVES IHLEN AND MILLER CAME TO THE HOUSE
AND, AND, UH -...
================
<SNIP>
===============
...And took, um, a statement from me and you have a copy of that...
Page 8
...In the complaint I mentioned - and I'll reiterate that also that
there were times when Meeks was aware of certain things going on and he
just said things like, "yeah, I'll talk to him about it." Um --
================
<SNIP>
===============
...by that time, Meeks had no - was no longer a lieutenant. He was -
he'd been, um, promoted to captain and he was, I believe, at that time
captain of op south - operation south. And within the police structure
- police department structure, they divide, um, the one and the two
sectors into ops north, uh, under one captain and two in the three --
the three and the four sector under, um, ops south. Now, I worked out
of the one sector office so I had - SO IN TERMS OF LINE OF COMMAND,
THE OPS SOUTH CAPTAIN WOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH MY, UM - WITH ME AT
ALL, TOTALLY OUTSIDE THE LINE OF COMMAND. SO, UM - AND I DON'T
REMEMBER AT THIS POINT WHO OPS NORTH WAS AT THAT POINT, UM, IF THE -
IF THAT WAS MARK LANGFORD OR WHO WAS CAPTAIN WAS AT THAT POINT. BUT I
HAD NO CONTACT WITH HIM. SO WHEN I, UM, WHEN I FILED THE REPORT WITH
IA, UM, THEY SAID, "WE'LL GET BACK TO YOU."...
Q How long after that from the date that you received your
termination letter did you file the complain with IA?
A Um, three days, two days.
================
<SNIP>
===============
Page 9
...I think there was like four different points that they considered in
my complaint and found each one of them to be, I think, unfounded or
- I don't remember which word they used. But in any case, THEY
WEREN'T GOING TO TAKE ANY ACTION. BUT WHAT, WHAT WAS SO DISTURBING
ABOUT RECEIVING THIS LETTER WAS THAT IT WAS SIGNED BY BILL MEEKS AND HE
WAS ACTUALLY NAMED IN THE COMPLAINT IN THAT I HAD TALKED TO HIM ABOUT
MY CONCERNS REGARDING HOPKINS AND HE FAILED TO TAKE ANY ACTION. SO THEN
-- AND THEN HE'S THE ONE, ALTHOUGH HE'S NOT THE IA COMMANDER, HE'S THE
OPS SOUTH COMMANDER THAT, THAT DETERMINES WHETHER THERE'S CHARGES OR
WHETHER THERE'S ANYTHING GOING ON THERE AND HE'S - UH, WHY - I DON'T
KNOW WHY HE WAS INVOLVED WITH THIS.
================
<SNIP>
===============
Q Okay. And so then when you filed the complaint and you listed
him as being a part of that complaint, not that you were complaining
against him but because you were complaining against Hopkins, and Meeks
was to have taken action or said he would take action. And in his role
as captain of ops south, part of that is reviewing IA complaints?
Page 10
A No.
Q It's not?
A No.
Q Okay.
A There is a captain in charge of IA.
MR. GILES: Can I interject? Structural points of the Tacoma Police
Department is that IA is a separate entity of its own; it answers to
the Chief of Police.
================
<SNIP>
===============
Page 12
A So when -- okay. So that was -- that was how Meeks was
involved with my IA complaint but I still don't understand why he would
be the one that sends me the determination letter, um, uh, following
the investigation.
Um, so - but even prior to receiving that letter, 'cause I'm getting
ahead of myself. Meeks called me to, um, say that he'd heard about my
IA complaint...
================
<SNIP>
===============
...And he said, "and I also understand that you filed a lawsuit," which
I -- which I had with, uh, um - against the City...
================
<SNIP>
===============
...Then, um, Meeks calls and says - calls me at home, "how you
doing?" You know, he's doing this, like, we're old buddies and, and
he's got a lot of concern for me and then, uh, uh, he says, "well, you
know, um, when they took your computer back down to, uh, uh, Human
Rights" - 'cause Human Rights bought the computer for me as part of the
grant - um, "when they took that down there, they had to strip
everything out of it because you handled sensitive police information."
I had access and all that stuff. So he says...
================
<SNIP>
===============
...he said that when Dave Whitenberg (phonetic) - I think is the name
of the person who handled our computer problems for the police
department - um, Dave Whitenberg had found, when he was emptying my
computer of all the sensitive information, he found just, uh, an
incredible
Page 13
amount of pornography that had been downloaded off the Internet. And I
said, "Bill," excuse my language. I says, "Bill, that is bullshit. Why
would he say something like that?" And he goes, "Moe, I was there. I
saw it." I said
================
<SNIP>
===============
no, that couldn't be either because my computer was not even hooked up
to Internet access." He said, "Moe, they all are." I said, "no, no." I
had not at that point in my life, I had never been on the Internet...
================
<SNIP>
===============
...there was no pornography on that computer unless in my own naive-
naiveness, someone else was able to access through my computer that in
~ that stuff. But there was no way
================
<SNIP>
===============
..My, my computer was not locked up; it was in the hallway on my desk,
um, so I imagine if somebody knew what they were doing, they could get
on to the Internet, um, you know, on a late shift when, when there's
very few people in that station. Uh, the station was accessible to, um,
police employees 24 hours a day. Um, but there were - not to the
public. So - but there's no way I --there's no way that I could
believe that that - there was pornography on my computer.
================
<SNIP>
===============
Page 15
Q When Meeks called that one week prior to you receiving the
determination on the status of your complaint - and that's a
complaint against Hopkins; is that correct?
A My IA complaint, yes.
Q Did he mention the lawsuit during that telephone conversation?
A Yes. He, um - as a matter of fact, he said, uh, um, that he'd
heard rumor that I'd actually filed a lawsuit. Now, the trouble that I
have is that I was, um - I wanted to give the City a chance to see - or
the department a chance to see that there was something wrong going on
here, so I didnt contact Tom Dinwiddie immediately, um, uh, but because
the IA determination took over two months, um, I, I, I had, um,
essentially lost faith that there was gonna be any real action that
way. And when I talked to Dinwiddie, you know, he said, "well, time is
really of the essence because you have to do certain things within
certain amounts of time. So, um, you can't wait for the determination
on the IA to come through because you don't know how long they're gonna
take." And so - and they might have guidelines but there's nothing, you
know, that - that's mandatory about that so, um, uh, so he - we
filed, um, with the intent to, um, you know - the intent to sue. And
so t -- it was - it was - it became common knowledge.
================
<SNIP>
===============
Q And he was your attorney?
A Yes. And I have his file. He doesn't have anything of mine any
longer. After talking with Meeks, um, and receiving the letter signed
by Meeks, um, and the
Page 16
threat about the pornography stuff, um, I was pretty much in the midst
of a nervous breakdown. So, um -
Q And let me ask you: Why do you believe that Meeks was
threatening you by telling you he - that pornography had been found
on your computer?
A I think he wanted me - I know he wanted me to drop the suit.
He clearly said, um, "Moe, I'm not gonna be able to keep this out of
the public, public knowledge. I've been able to hide it so far but it
will come out if you pursue this."
Q And do you know why he would care about the City of Tacoma or
TPD being sued?
A Because his name was in there. He failed to supervise Greg
Hopkins. Greg Hopkins was getting rich off of money out of - that
came out of the, the public trough, Um, Meeks seemed to think that it
was okay for that to happen, um, as long as nobody else knew about it.
================
<SNIP>
===============
Page 16
Q Before we started, you talked a little bit about New Horizons.
And can you provide me - and Lee, you can jump in or both of you - the
relationship or Meeks' involvement and what happened? And what I'm
trying to do is identify when - and I know there was an incident with
New Horizons and Bill Meeks and the time frame with that with respect
to you being terminated. Can you kind of give me a rundown of what
occurred and the timing of that?
================
<SNIP>
===============
Page 17
MR. GILES: I, I do the, uh, orientations for new members. And in order
-- unless I'm not there, they have to go through a school of mine.
Q And if he was your lieutenant in '98, that would have been the
summer of 97 in which he was first observed at New Horizons?
================
<SNIP>
===============
Q And for the reviewer, can you tell me, just very briefly, what
New Horizons is?
A It's an adult s- - uh, couples club.
Q Trying to think of how to ask this. Did Meeks -- was he
concerned that both of you being employees of Tacoma Police Department
at the time would pose any type of threat to him -
A Oh, yeah.
Q - being involved in that?
MR. GILES: Yeah. He, uh, at--the night that he showed up at the club,
uh, another member - because I was doing orientations and there was a
considerable crowd there, uh, and, and new members, potential new
members said that "there's somebody that wants to talk to you," and I
found him hiding behind a curtain. And he said to me at that time, "you
better not bum me on this." And I told him, I said, "hey, this is my
club. You better not burn me on
Page 18
this," and just walked off. And that was the total extent of that, that
night.
================
<SNIP>
===============
MR. GILES: She, it was a woman.
A, uh, uh, a member of club and I don't recall her -
================
<SNIP>
===============
MR. GILES: Yes. It appears that she's a friend with Meeks, uh, knows
him from somewhere. And, uh, evidently got him or brought him there or
whatever it was. But, but directed me to, to the guy hiding behind the
curtain.
Q And then tell me again about the conversation that occurred.
================
<SNIP>
===============
MR. GILES: Bill Meeks, um-hmm. Um, I was rather shocked, although there
are considerable amount of employees from various agencies that belong
to that organization, uh, but I was a little shocked to see him up
there, Uh, but any rate, uh, he told me, he says, uh, "you better not
burn me on this." And I looked - I was rather surprised because that
wouldn't even be an option. Um, we do protect ourselves quite well, our
anonymity -
A We being club members.
MR. GILES: Yeah. Club members in general. So I told him, I said, "well,
geez, Lieutenant, you better not burn me on this one either." And that
was -we laughed and that was the end of our conversation that night and
he
Page 19
disappeared off into the darkness.
================
<SNIP>
===============
Q And did he know that Moe was there or did he see her that night
or --
MR. GILES: Oh, I would imagine. We, uh, we do the orientations
c--pretty much collaborative so ...
Q "We" meaning you -
MR. GILES: You--Moe and I.
Q Okay. And would he have attended that orientation that -
MR. GILES: Yes.
Q -- evening then?
MR. GILES: Bill Meeks has to attend that or- -- had to attend the
orientation in order to stay, whether you are a guest or a potential
member.
Q And Moe, do you remember -- well, you didn't know him - who he
was.
================
<SNIP>
===============
A We barely got inside the door before this woman, club member,
came and said, "somebody wants to talk to you." Because Lee has a very,
uh, easily identified voice, uh, some - he - Bill heard his voice
and went to hide. And so I wasn't aware of what was going on at all
until after Bill and Lee had finished this brief conversation and Lee
said, "there's another TPD here." And I said, "oh, who?" And he told
me, uh, it was Biil Meeks and I said, "oh, you know, uh, I think I've
seen him but I don't think we've ever met. I don't think we were ever
introduced or anything."
Page 20
===============
<SNIP>
===============
Q Okay. When did he learn, as far as you know, that you were an
employee of TPD's?
A Um, that night OR THE PREVIOUS PARTY THAT HE ATTENDED. I- --
I'm not sure which.
Q SO WHEN HE BECAME YOUR LIEUTENANT, HE WAS AWARE -
A WE HAD ALREADY MET AT NEW HORIZONS -
Q Okay.
A - when he became my lieutenant,
Q And if you could, maybe go over the incident - let me ask you
this: What is Lee Giles - Lee Giles, I'm sorry - Bill Meeks' current
standing with New Horizons?
A His, uh, membership was terminated. He and his wife were, uh
-- did not have the kind of, uh, social skills necessary for that
environment.
Q And can you describe the incident that --
A There was -
Q - led up to that?
A There was first an evening, uh, um - the first incident was,
uh, Mrs. Meeks, um, Dorothy, uh, was, uh, in the dining room and she
drank too much, um, way too much. And then, um - and got upset. And
Bill Meeks was with another woman in kind of the, the play area of the
facility, we call it. Does that -- do you understand what I mean by
that?
MR. GILES: It's where sexual activity occurs.
Q Okay.
A Then, um, when -- so Dorothy got drunk, she got upset, she
went to go get Bill and when she got into that play area, um, my
understanding was she, uh, made quite a scene and embarrassed the, uh,
other member that was involved -- the woman that was involved. And, um,
then vomited several times
Page 21
in several areas, uh, on her way out the door, failed to clean up after
herself, failed to notify the, um, caretakers, um, people were, uh,
falling down stairs because of this and, um, it was, in general, very,
very unpleasant.
At this time, they were - their membership was suspended, um, I
believe, for six months and then it was - but it was probably about a
year from then that, uh, Bill and Dorothy returned to the club, Um, and
apparently, something they said or did offended someone else. I'm not
aware of what the circumstances are but it was at that time that their
membership was terminated.
===============
<SNIP>
===============
Page 22
Q So let me - I want to make sure -- you have indicated this:
It's your belief that Meeks attending or being a member of New Horizons
had nothing to do with the conversation about pornography on your
computer?
A I can't say that Because maybe he thought that I did that sort
of thing. UM, MAYBE HE THOUGHT THAT DID - I DID THAT AT HOME SO,
THEREFORE, HOW COULD HE KNOW FOR SURE THAT I DIDN'T DO IT AT WORK. I
DIDN'T --I HAD NEVER BEEN ON THE INTERNET, UH, NOR DO I LOOK AT
PORNOGRAPHY.
Q What I want to make sure - I think what you're indicating to
me is that you believe that Meeks threatened you with finding
pornography on your computer because of the complaint that you filed
with Hopkins -
A Yes.
===============
<SNIP>
===============
Page 23
MR. GILES: ...I, uh, had to make some stops out at the, uh, central
station, which is, uh, the old State Patrol headquarters, wherever that
is, 38th and -
A Puget Sound.
MR. GILES: - Puget Sound. I was walking through the halls and he
said, "Lee, come in the office." Bill Meeks was -- "Lee, come in the
office." So I went in and he said, "shut the door." So I shut the door.
And he says, uh, "you going to club tonight - or this weekend?" I said,
"well, yeah, probably." And he says, "you know, they found a lot of
pornography on Moe's computer." And I said, "bullshit, Bill, there's no
way. She didn't have computer access." He said, "well, they did," and
that was it.
===============
<SNIP>
===============
Page 23
A I had already filed the IA complaint.
===============
<SNIP>
===============
Page 24
Q Did you ever see any documentation or report to the effect that
pornography was found on that computer?
A No.
Page 25
Q Did you ever have any conversation with the Human Rights
people who received that computer?
A No.
Q Did you have any discussions with Dave Whitenberg ~
A No.
Q - who allegedly found that information -
A No.
Q - on the computer?
A No.
Q Did you have any other conversations with any other TPD
employees or personnel who would have information about pornography on
that computer?
A No.
Q So the only person that you had any conversation with about the
pornography on the computer was Bill Meeks?
A And Lee Giles,
Q Okay.
A Of course, we were dating at that time. I was - uh, all of
these things happened two months after I'd been fired. And, um, you
know, once you're fired from the police department, you don't go
wandering back to see your friends. And, you know, and it goes back to
knowing that there's like this undercurrent of smut that travels
around. So I always wondered, you know, who did he say that to? Who did
Bill Meeks say that to? How many people heard that lie and believed it?
Q Did you subsequently drop your lawsuit?
A Yes.
Q And why was that?
A Well, in combination, first of all, it was never supposed to
become public information that I belonged to a swingers club or to an
adult social club. I don't, um, I don't publish that sort of thing. I
have family and friends in this town that really don't need to have
that information and would probably not understand
Page 26
what that means to me. So, um, that's not - that's why people who
belong to New Horizons tend to be rather, um, uh, protective of their
identities. Um, the rest of the world isn't gonna understand probably;
we're just this small group of people. So I, um - and Meeks, of all
people, was so very concerned that someone would find out about him
participating in the club and, uh, that he had several other groups
that he named that he was participating with. Um, groups that we've
never had any connection with at all.
===============
<SNIP>
===============
Q ...And I had asked you -- you'd said that because of your
lawsuit - you dropped the lawsuit because of the, basically, the fear
of public knowledge of your involvement with New Horizons; they
wouldn't understand. And --
A On top of that, I think that when, uh, a dis- when a fired
employee is accused, especially by the police department, of doing
something wrong, um, it's almost that you are guilty until proven
innocent. And, um, and I also know that our, um, our News Tribune, our
-- I mean, there's just this very, uh, uh, Tacoma's a very big small
town. Word, word travels fast. And if I was gonna get another job and I
still have concerns about that, that if I'm going to ever be able to
support myself, um, I really need to take care that it doesn't get
worse than it already is.
===============
<SNIP>
===============
Page 26
SERGEANT O'SHANNON: I think we just want to clarify this up, it's been
kind of out there. Do you believe that Meeks purposely put pornography
on
Page 27
your computer?
A I don't know that there was ever pornography on my computer.
Um, I don't know that there ever was. Uh, if there was, I think he put
it there. If there wasn't, um, which, as I said, I had no indication
that it even had Internet access but if th- - if there wasn't, it was
~ it was a lie on his part in order to manipulate me.
SERGEANT O'SHANNON: The reason for termination - I'm sorry. Did I
misunderstand? Did you say on the letter of termination that it said
that pornography was found on your computer or no -
A No.
SERGEANT O'SHANNON: - it was found -
A It was -
SERGEANT O'SHANNON: - when they - okay. There was never an IA
investigation since -
A No.
SERGEANT O'SHANNON: --there was a letter of termination? Okay. I
misunderstood.
A It was just a threat, a verbal threat on his part.
SERGEANT O'SHANNON: Okay.
A And, um, and, of course, the only reason that this comes out
now is because of the lawsuit that I read about in the newspaper by Jim
Swilley who was a Tacoma police officer terminated, um, recently and,
uh, terminated by Bill Meeks. And one of the allegations that Meeks
made about him was that he had pornography on his computer. Um, that
was the only reason I ever got involved with this.
===============
<SNIP>
===============
Page 28
Q And just a little bit on the Swilley deal, we talked before we
went on tape and you had indicated that the only reason you even were
in contact with the Patrol about Meeks telling you that pornography had
been found in your computer, was because you read an article in the
paper in which Swilley had made a complaint; is that correct?
A Yes.
Q And -
A Swilley had, um -- I can't remember if this is the one.
Swilley had, uh, had, um, filed a lawsuit for, uh, wrongful
termination, I believe, if my memory comes back to me. I don't -
apparently I don't have the article with me right now. But, uh, because
that was in the paper and because it was Meeks saying that about this
guy that was fired, um, I just felt that it was, um, incumbent upon rne
to come forward and say, "um, hey, if he says he didn't have
pornography on his computer, I say I don't too. I say no, that it
didn't happen to me even though I was threatened with that," um, and it
may not have happened with him. But I understand that wasn't the case
now. So I just should have given it more time and I'd have never ended
up here at all so ...
Q And what do you mean you found out that's not the case now?
A I believe there was another article in the paper that said,
uh, that he admitted to looking at pornography on his, uh, mobile data
terminal. So ...
MR. GILES: You know, which has Internet access.
Q Is there anyone else we should talk to that might have
information related to this?
A Um, Joan Shields. Uh, I don't know how you would reach her.
She lives in Gig Harbor. She's retired. Uh, she was the owner of, um, a
screening service called Tenant Screening Services. And she sold that a
few years ago and retired. Um, but she, uh, she would probably discuss
her concerns....
===============
<SNIP>
===============
Page 29
Q And getting back to the letter that you received of
termination, prior to receiving that letter, had you received any
counseling or did anyone talk to you about concerns they had about your
performance that ultimately resulted in your termination?
A No. I had, um, a conflict with Human Rights, um, um, and had,
uh, some problems with the, um, the - my counter part at Human
Rights, uh, Pegge Michal, P-e-g-g-e, M-i-c-h-a-l. She's no longer with
the City. There's no - it's M-i-c-h-a-l. And then, um, um - anyway,
that was handled very poorly on both our parts, um, but my
understanding was that that was all, uh, all water under the bridge.
So, um, we were up and moving.
Then, um ~ but I - there was - I don't think there was ever a time
when, um, Meeks came to me and said, "gee, there's a problem with what
you're doing or with what you're not doing, um, there's this, there's
that." I mean, there's just no way. I was late on a, um - on the J-
- Jan- on the December, um, '98 report, um, going to Human Rights
but I was given an extension on that because of the, uh, be- -
because of a disappearance of a three-year-old child from a bowling
alley. What was her name? Teeka, Teeka Lewis.
MR. GILES: Teeka Lewis.
A Lewis. Was that it? Anyway, they, um ~ it was, uh, uh, it was
a situation where, like, ad hands were dedicated to that effort to find
that child and they
Page 30
were -- they had records people who were supposed to have been helping
me out with putting together information, uh, for this report -
end-of-the-year report, um - oh, also, the, uh, August of '98, um, my
computer crashed and I had no idea what happened but my -- everything
was gone. Every bit of data that I had in that computer was stripped
out and I was told by Whitenberg that it was, uh, contaminated with a
virus.
So I was literally -- I mean, really, really catching up on over a
year's data to put back in there while doing all of the work that I
already had, uh, to get ready for my end-of-the-year report. So I was
given additional time because, uh, I was supposed to have some help
from records and records was dedicating every spare moment to this
emergency around this child's disappearance. So, um, so I was later
than my extension. Um, could have been the reason I was fired but that
wasn't articulated in my termination letter. Um, what they talked about
was, was things that - you know, I've never had an employer say that I
was negligent, never, never. Um, I am - I'm a hard worker. I -- you
know, every job I've ever had I've been a hard worker. And, um, it was
very offensive.
===============
<SNIP>
Cloud
used against them...
That's just the way it is.
Judge frees evidence in sex case
KAREN HUCKS; The News Tribune
Published: September 29th, 2006 01:00 AM
Pierce County deputy prosecutor John Hillman failed to convince a judge
Thursday that evidence in the Lee William Giles case is so "graphic,
disgusting and disturbing" that defense attorneys shouldn't have
copies of it.
Hillman asked Superior Court Judge Lisa Worswick to reconsider her
ruling last week that said Hillman must copy the child pornography
found in the retired Tacoma police officer's home and give it to the
defense.
"The particular items of evidence that defendant Giles selected for
his own sick pleasure demonstrates untrustworthiness and a depravity
rarely seen even in a criminal justice system overwhelmed with child
sexual abuse cases," Hillman's motion stated.
Prosecutors say Giles and his girlfriend, Maureen Wear, created more
than 20 videotapes of themselves performing sex acts with children.
They said there also are "actual, marked court exhibits from child
rape cases," including graphic footage of a criminal defendant in a
1991 Pierce County sheriff's case repeatedly raping a young girl over
a period of years.
Other exhibits are photos of a child undergoing a rape examination at
the hospital and other materials Giles allegedly obtained from law
enforcement evidence rooms or the Superior Court clerk's office.
Hillman wanted defense attorney Michael Schwartz and Giles, if
necessary, to go to the county's property room to see the videos and
photographs.
Schwartz said defendants have a constitutional right to see evidence
that will be used against them.
He said Hillman's argument that Giles was particularly depraved
doesn't work.
"You don't get to pick and choose which defendants get to see the
evidence and which don't," the attorney said.
Worswick stuck with her initial ruling that allows defense attorneys to
have copies of the material, but requires that they keep them in their
possession and not leave them with the defendants.
Giles was arrested in early August and charged with seven sex crimes
after a relative of Wear's told police the retired officer raped him
repeatedly in the 1990s and early 2000s. The young man was a boy at the
time of the alleged abuse.
Giles confessed to abusing the boy when questioned by detectives,
according to court records filed in the case.
Wear also is charged with sex crimes in that case. Both she and Giles
are being held in the Pierce County Jail.
Giles and Wear will face additional charges, though Wear's case is on
hold while experts determine whether she's competent to stand trial.
Hillman said Worswick agreed last week to defense lawyer Mary Kay
High's request to send Wear to Western State Hospital for a 15-day
mental health evaluation.
Giles will be arraigned Wednesday, likely on charges pertaining to
additional alleged victims. Hillman said he isn't sure yet what
specific crimes he'll charge.
Karen Hucks: 253-597-8660
karen...@thenewstribune.com
st: department, scum
Cloud
NEWS AGENCIES MENTIONING THERE WOULD BE OR WAS AN OCT 5 ANTI-WAR
PROTEST IN TACOMA.
Seattle Times
KTVZ, OR
KOMO, WA
kgw.com
KNDO/KNDU, WA
Seattle Post Intelligencer
PR Newswire (press release)
Port Angeles Peninsula Daily News, WA
Hmmm....
Cloud
According to the New Takhoman this past week, beastiality is a facet of
the Giles case.
I think we oughta move the case to Texas and let Texas handle him.
Cloud
New conduct complaint tool goes live Oct. 11
CITY OF TACOMA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 10, 2006
MEDIA CONTACT
Tansy Hayward, City Manager's Office, thay...@cityoftacoma.org,
(253) 591-5133
Karrie Spitzer, Community Relations, karrie....@cityoftacoma.org,
(253) 591-5790
On Oct. 11, 2006 the City will offer a new conduct complaint tool to
reinforce the City's expectation for quality services. The Conduct
Complaint Management System (CCMS) is a Web site -
http://www.cityoftacoma.org/complaints - that citizens and City
employees can use to raise concerns about employee conduct.
The CCMS reinforces the City's expectation for quality services and
accountability in the conduct complaint process. The Web site will
increase transparency by creating a single list of all conduct
complaints and by providing a summary of complaint outcomes for public
view.
Once a complaint has been logged, people can use the Web site to follow
the progress and result of a complaint investigation. In addition to
tracking complaints logged directly by citizens, the CCMS will include
entries made by employees that have received a conduct complaint
reported to them by a member of the public. The CCMS is not designed to
take service requests or complaints about services provided - service
complaints will continue to be addressed by service providers through
tacomaservices.org.
The new system will not change the way external or internal complaints
are investigated, but will provide a tracking system to account for
complaints and their outcomes. Outcomes of these investigations will be
available to the public, but at no time will any names that could lead
to the identification of an individual be included on the Web site.
Each complaint submitted into the CCMS will go through three phrases:
pending verification for complaints awaiting referral; under
investigation; or resolved. Once a complaint is resolved, a summary of
the outcome will be available for viewing.
"This is a great step forward in creating an environment of
transparency for our citizens and employees. It will help ensure that
our employees serve our community with the highest levels of integrity
and respect," said City Manager Eric Anderson.
For more information about the system, call (253) 591-5133. To log a
conduct complaint on the CCMS Web site visit,
www.cityoftacoma.org/complaints.
http://www.cityoftacoma.org/Page.aspx?hid=4136
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From: The New Takhoman <takh...@harbornet.com>
http://www.geocities.com/newtakhoman/
Subject: Vol. 6, No. 191
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006
Image: http://www.geocities.com/newtakhoman/images/101106.gif
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City launches Community Based Services newsletter
Tacoma Daily Index
Oct 06 2006
The City of Tacoma recently launched CBS Works, an e-mail newsletter
that will help you stay up-to-date on the development of the innovative
Community Based Services pilot program.
CBS Works is a monthly publication containing updates on how Tacoma
community members are banding together and partnering with the City of
Tacoma on neighborhood improvement in four target areas: Tacoma Avenue,
Bryant, Edison and Jennie Reed.
To subscribe to CBS Works, go to http://www.cityoftacoma.org/cbsworks
and select "subscribe" near the top or at the bottom of the Web
site.
http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/
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OTHER CITY OF TACOMA NEWSLETTERS
http://www.cityoftacoma.org/Page.aspx?nid=78
Cloud
JASON HAGEY; The News Tribune
Published: October 12th, 2006 01:00 AM
...It's intended to partly fulfill a City Council decision to
establish citizen oversight of the Police Department, but the system is
designed to accept complaints about any city employee, not just police
officials. The other part of the police oversight system - creation
of a five-member citizen committee - is nearing completion, said
Mayor Bill Baarsma... "This is a great step forward in creating an
environment of transparency for our citizens and employees," City
Manager Eric Anderson said in a statement. "It will help ensure that
our employees serve our community with the highest levels of integrity
gained momentum after Police Chief David Brame killed his wife and
himself in 2003, creating an upheaval in City Hall that included the
firing of longtime City Manager Ray Corpuz...
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6158221p-5388632c.html
Cloud
Participating in the check presentation were (L-R) Joe Adams, president
of MWH Constructors; City Council Member Rick Talbert, the center's
Executive Board chair; Director Susan Adams; and County Council Chair
Shawn Bunney.
http://web.bcnewsgroup.com/portals/uploads/tacoma/.DIR288/FJC_CHECK_WEB.jpg
Family Justice Center receives substantial gift
Tacoma Daily Index, WA
Oct 13 2006
On Wednesday, Oct. 11, Tacoma City Councilmembers Connie Ladenburg and
Rick Talbert presented a check in the amount of $15,000 to the Crystal
Judson Family Justice Center on behalf of a donation from
Colorado-based MWH Construction.
"At MWH, our vision is to help build a better world through our work
and through local community involvement," said Joe Adams, president
of MWH's construction unit. "Thanks to a contract recently awarded
to MWH by the City of Tacoma, some of our employees will have the
privilege of living and working in this great city for the next several
years helping to upgrade the infrastructure that provides wastewater
services to residents. As a new member of the community, it was very
important to us to make a contribution to a local organization focused
on helping people who live in Tacoma. There are a number of
organizations deserving of support, and we elected to make a $15,000
donation to The Crystal Judson Family Justice Center, which provides so
many needed services that offer hope and safety for victims of domestic
violence."
The Crystal Judson Family Justice Center is funded and operated jointly
by Pierce County and the City of Tacoma. Located in a remodeled former
funeral home basement, its budget includes key federal funding obtained
with the assistance of U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell and Congressmen Norm
Dicks and Dave Reichert.
Modeled after a San Diego program that features a one-stop concept, the
FJC brings together under one roof two groups of partners,
community/nongovernmental and criminal justice. Services are free and
include victim advocacy, safety planning, electronic filing for
temporary protection orders, criminal and civil legal services,
housing, emergency assistance and chaplaincy services.
The FJC was named in honor of Crystal Judson who was tragically shot to
death by her husband, Tacoma Police Chief David Brame, in April 2003.
The community response and concern for domestic violence led to the
establishment of the Crystal Judson Family Justice Center. The center
has served more than 730 clients since opening in mid-December of 2005.
Clients visiting the center receive assistance with protection orders,
military issues, housing, family law and criminal justice issues,
safety planning and more.
The money will be used to assist victims in a variety of ways, from
paying for lock changes to assisting with temporary shelter or
relocation expenses, transportation and other basic needs.
http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=748330&more=
Batman
How nice. Now they're using the place as a pawn in contract
negotiations. To bad they couldn't contribute to something all
citizens will use. Everybody in town takes a shit and the sound of
that toilet flushing is like a cash register to them. Must have been a
woman that negotiated the terms of the contract otherwise the
construction gang would have found something a lot better to donate
their money to. Maybe with 15 grand the center can put up a website
now. When you start getting money in the manner of this "gift" they
should have to show where that money is going. In fact, considering
the origin of majority of their operating budget I think they should be
required to provide details on where the money is spent. How many
victems use the center on average each week? What is the average cost
per user. Judging from the advertisment for the facility director the
staff is extremely over paid and underworked.
Cloud
Cloud
Cloud wrote:
<SNIP>
> Judge frees evidence in sex case
> KAREN HUCKS; The News Tribune
> Published: September 29th, 2006 01:00 AM
>
> Pierce County deputy prosecutor John Hillman failed to convince a judge
> Thursday that evidence in the Lee William Giles case is so "graphic,
> disgusting and disturbing" that defense attorneys shouldn't have
> copies of it.
>
This is good reporting!
EXCERPT FROM ARTICLE:
..."Every one of us is a little bit stunned that some of the stuff
we're alleging was in Mr. Giles' possession at home appears to have
come from court files and official proceedings," [Deputy prosecutor
Mary] Robnett said. "But I don't think we can say with a straight
face 'We're trustworthy, we work in a secure building,' when
we're dealing with a case where it appears that some of this stuff
may have come into someone's illegitimate possession from a
legitimate law enforcement source"...
Who gets to have child porn evidence?
KAREN HUCKS; The News Tribune
Published: October 15th, 2006 01:00 AM
Pierce County prosecutors don't want to give out child pornography.
Not even to defense attorneys.
The prosecutors say it's a crime to distribute sexual images of
children. They say it hurts the victim every time the photos and videos
are copied, shown or shared. They say it's distasteful.
Criminal defense attorneys counter that they need to have all the
evidence against their clients to prepare for trial. They say the
Constitution guarantees that people accused of crimes can see the
evidence against them. They say that showing clients the evidence in
private is sometimes the best hope of getting guilty clients to plead
guilty.
On Friday, prosecutors asked the Washington State Supreme Court to
decide who's right.
Deputy prosecutor Kit Proctor, who heads Pierce County's appeals
unit, hopes the state's highest court will overturn a Superior Court
judge's ruling in a high-profile child sex case. Judge Lisa Worswick
ruled in September that prosecutors have to give defense lawyers
representing retired Tacoma police officer Lee William Giles Jr. copies
of photographs and video tapes featuring child rape and molestation
that they say were found in his home.
Giles, 61, and his girlfriend, Maureen Wear, 46, are charged with
multiple counts of child rape, molestation, sexual exploitation and
possession of child pornography.
Deputy prosecutor John Hillman told Worswick the evidence is so
"graphic, disgusting and disturbing" that defense attorneys
shouldn't have copies of it. Worswick placed several restrictions on
the evidence, but said attorneys Michael Schwartz and Mary Kay High can
have copies.
MIXED MESSAGES FROM JUDGES
Not all Pierce County Superior Court judges agree with that stance.
Last Tuesday, Judge Thomas Larkin ruled in another child pornography
case that prosecutors didn't have to make copies of photograph
evidence for accused child molester Michael Allen Boyd and his
attorney. Boyd, 54, is charged with more than two dozens crimes -
child rape, molestation, exploiting children and possession of child
pornography.
Larkin said Boyd's attorney, Barbara Corey, can look at the images in
the case and can make a copy of the hard drive that an expert can work
on, but only in a secure location. She'll have at least two chances
to view the hard drive.
The judge said Corey can't - as she says she needs to - take the
images back to her office and work on them in between other cases.
That's similar to the ruling Judge Vicki Hogan made in the sexual
exploitation case of Stanley Scott Sadler last spring. Hogan ruled that
the state had to provide a laptop to the defense attorney - Schwartz
- to show to his client at the jail. But Schwartz didn't get to
keep copies.
In another case, that of Neil Grenning, who was convicted of raping,
molesting and exploiting two young boys he knew, Worswick ruled that
Grenning, his attorney and a defense expert could view the photos in a
secure spot in the County-City Building. But they couldn't make
copies.
Federal authorities clarified their stance on the issue this year. The
Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 includes a provision
that defense lawyers can't have copies of child pornography evidence
in federal cases. They have to go to an FBI office and view it there.
Local prosecutors say that's telling. Defense attorneys point out
that it doesn't apply to state cases.
"The reason we need guidance from the appellate courts is we have our
Superior Court bench all over the place," deputy prosecutor Sunni Ko
said. "It's the same motion, the same basis of argument. It just
kind of depends on who you're in front of."
THE ARGUMENT
Schwartz said he needs to see all the evidence against his clients. And
he needs to talk about it with them without a cop or a prosecutor
nearby.
"One of the best reasons to show it to them is to talk to them about
pleading guilty," Schwartz said. "You can't do that with
(someone) standing over your shoulder."
Corey said that as a sole practitioner she'd like to have evidence at
her desk so she can go back and forth between her many cases. She said
she also needs copies of photographs to show to victims and ask them if
Boyd took the photos, because he says he didn't.
Washington state law says it's a felony for someone to knowingly
possess sexual depictions of children. There's only one exception:
law enforcement doing an investigation.
Schwartz noted that the court clerk takes possession of the photos
during trial, and the jury gets to take copies of the evidence back to
the jury room for deliberations. In some trials, the public can sit in
the courtroom and see the photos as they're shown to jurors. (Just
seeing child pornography isn't a crime. It's possessing it that's
illegal.)
"They keep making this argument, but then when you get to trial they
show it to everyone, for hours," he said.
Defense lawyer Philip Thornton, who isn't involved in either case,
said he's offended by the idea that defense attorneys can't be
trusted with evidence but prosecutors can be.
"I'm an officer of the court," Thornton said. "They're
officers of the court. I follow the rules of the court."
Judges can place many limitations on how the evidence copies should be
handled, he said.
Deputy prosecutor Mary Robnett, who heads the special assault team,
said every time evidence is copied or changes location, there's a
risk of losing it.
"It really is true that the victims are revictimized every time this
is reproduced or viewed," Robnett said. "If you think about how
horrible it would be to be the victim, it would hurt, regardless if
it's a defense attorney preparing for trial."
Prosecutors aren't saying defense attorneys can't see child
pornography - just that they should have to go down to the property
room to look at it there.
If defense attorneys need to have their clients there to look at it,
authorities can make those arrangements. The Tacoma Police Department
has a room where an officer could look in a window and make sure the
evidence isn't being destroyed without being able to hear what the
attorney and the client are saying.
"Why they think they're entitled to copies of all this contraband
is something we don't really understand," Ko said. "You can
provide effective representation without having the murder knife in
your office 24 hours a day. What, you want the corpse in your office,
too? Come on."
GILES CASE PROMPTS CHANGES
Robnett said the Giles case is changing things.
Court documents say Giles had court exhibits from child rape cases -
taken from the law enforcement evidence rooms or the court clerk's
office - in his house.
Investigators don't know how the 30-year police veteran got the court
exhibits they say he had.
Robnett said she likely will institute a new rule for prosecutors and
law enforcement in coming weeks. Prosecutors likely won't be able to
keep such photos at their desks anymore.
"Every one of us is a little bit stunned that some of the stuff
we're alleging was in Mr. Giles' possession at home appears to have
come from court files and official proceedings," Robnett said.
"But I don't think we can say with a straight face 'We're
trustworthy, we work in a secure building,' when we're dealing with
a case where it appears that some of this stuff may have come into
someone's illegitimate possession from a legitimate law enforcement
source."
Karen Hucks: 253-597-8660
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6166325p-5394333c.html
Cloud
So am i.
THANKFULLY he's not aiming at rejoining TPD (he couldn't.)
But I have a pet-peeve about cop-hoppers
and the agencies that recieve them.
Hopefully he's knocking his head against a brick wall and his hope is
all in his thick head.
And KCSO is under so much HEAT for harboring
bad cops right now that
I just cannot imagine
it's a real possibility.
Hope he doesn't bust his eardrum
or crack any ribs
in the process.
Then again, he'd maybe pick up some
EMPATHY.
Cloud (bgaloyo)
Just Mel
pictures and say" yes, he/she took those pictures? " I would bet in many
cases they would say "I don't remember" because Abused kids and even adults
often have warped feeling about the abuse, and sometimes feel partially at
fault.
<shaking her head in the ignorance of allowing yet another abuse of victims.
This is going to be a hard one.
'Wish we could just take em out back and do what we do to vicious dogs.
"Cloud" <cloud...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1160952632.1...@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
Cloud
Just Mel wrote:
> Can you imagine what pain it would cause, for a victim to have to view those
> pictures and say" yes, he/she took those pictures? " I would bet in many
> cases they would say "I don't remember" because Abused kids and even adults
> often have warped feeling about the abuse, and sometimes feel partially at
> fault.
> <shaking her head in the ignorance of allowing yet another abuse of victims.
> This is going to be a hard one.
> 'Wish we could just take em out back and do what we do to vicious dogs.
> "Cloud" <cloud...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1160952632.1...@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> >
It was such a relief to see there were some grounds to fight it on...
the article was good - did a good job of introducing the (basic)
principles of law.
I look at this demand to STUDY the pictures at their CONVENIENCE as a
legal chess move more than a need.
Just Mel
is spent.news:1160949973.9...@f16g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
Cloud
Ex-officer drops suit against department
KAREN HUCKS; The News Tribune
Just minutes before jurors were supposed to hear opening statements in
his lawsuit against the Tacoma Police Department, former officer Jim
Swilley changed his mind.
The officer, fired in 2001 for having pornography on his work computer,
agreed to drop his lawsuit Wednesday morning, provided the city
didn't try to recoup attorney fees from him.
"He still thinks he was treated wrongfully," said Swilley's
lawyer, John Stocks. "He didn't want to go through a three-week
trial of having mud hurled at him."
Swilley made his decision after Waldo Stone, a substitute Pierce County
Superior Court judge, ruled the city would get to tell jurors about
suggestive e-mails Swilley exchanged with a woman that apparently
resulted in pornography appearing on the officer's work computer.
Swilley claimed the only pornography on his computer came unsolicited
and that he didn't know why the sender had sent it.
But Jean Homan, attorney for the city and police department, said the
e-mail exchange showed he did want the photos, which were "home-grown
pornography, and we're talking some pretty graphic stuff."
Homan said evidence also shows that Swilley was spending a lot of his
duty time on the Internet some days, reading e-mails, checking the real
estate market and visiting online chat rooms, and that then-police
Chief Jim Hairston had the right to fire him.
Homan said the city was pleased with the outcome of the case.
Swilley, who was a Tacoma officer for four years, sued the Police
Department and city in 2003, saying his bosses fabricated facts to fire
him after he refused to cover up for supervisors who forced him to make
an unwarranted arrest.
Karen Hucks: 253-597-8660 karen...@thenewstribune.com
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6177557p-5402489c.html
Cloud
Trib left out a couple words:
MEEKS
&
BRAME
STATEMENT
Dwight L. Cornell
February 4, 2004
Case No.: 03-1300
Q = Sergeant Rob Huss A = Dwight L, Correll
Q. I'm Sergeant Rob Huss of the Washington State Patrol. The date
is February 4th, 2004, and the time is 10:45 a.m. The OPS number is
03-1300. I am interviewing Dwight Correll. This is a witness interview.
Also present during the interview is Sergeant Kandi Patrick. This
interview is taking place via the telephone with -Dwight, you're down
in Oregon; is that correct?
A. That's correct.
Q. Okay. And we're in our office of professional standards up
here in Lacey, Washington.
A. All right.
Q. Dwight, do you understand this interview is being
tape-recorded?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. And do we have your permission to do that?
A. Yes.
Q. And do you understand that this is a witness interview?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And the purpose of this interview is to discuss
administrative allegations lodged against Tacoma Police Department or
City of Tacoma employee or employees. So -
A. All right.
Q. Would you please state your full name and spell it, please?
A. It's Dwight, D-w-i-g-h-t, Correll, C-o-r-r-e-l-l.
Q. What's your middle initial?
A. L , like in Lincoln.
Page 2
Q. Okay. And Dwight, I'm going to just make a reference - if
you want a copy of this document, I'll be happy to send it down to you
there either via fax or via the mail. But basically, it's a letter from
City Manager James Walton, City of Tacoma.
A. Okay.
Q. It provides formal authority for the Washington State Patrol
to conduct an administrative investigation on behalf of the City of
Tacoma. So ...
A. I trust you. I don't think you'd be calling me up,
Q. Well, I appreciate that.
A. All right.
Q. Dwight, how long did you work for Tacoma Police Department?
A. Oh, from, uh, Valentine's Day 1978 until March 15th of, uh,
2002.
Q. March 17th, 2002?
A. One, five.
Q. Okay.
A. Fifteen.
Q. Okay. And what was your position with Tacoma PD?
A. My first four years, approximately, I was a patrol officer
and from then on, uh, I was a detective.
Q. We're just making some notes here so if you don't hear
anything for a bit.. .
A. No problem. I've done a few of these myself,
Q. Okay. Where were you a detective at? Specifically, what --
A. Which division?
Q. Yeah.
A. Oh, primarily, um, the criminal investigation division.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<SNIP>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Page 12
Q. All right. I'm going to continue down with some other
clarifications here. During your July 16th, 2003, interview with
criminal investigators, you related information surrounding the
termination of TPD officer Ken Swilley for allegedly having pornography
on his computer.
A. Right.
Q. But you indicated that the pornography had been placed on
Swille's computer by William Meeks. Is that correct?
A. Right. And, um, in the meetings that I had with Vogel -- Vogel
is the one that -actually, we had talked about the Meeks, uh -
possibility he was involved in swinging with, you know --
Q. Right.
A. And we talked about what Terry Lee had told me about Angela
McFadden. And then it was Vogel who came back to me and told me about
them running an article about this officer's wrongful termination. And
this woman calls in and she was a civilian employee from, I think,
personnel or human relations. Human relations, I believe. And she
worked at one of the substations where Meeks worked. And, uh, she and
her - and her boyfriend were involved in the swinging lifestyle. And
they were at New Horizons. They bumped into, um, Meeks and his wife and
the next thing she knows, bam, she's terminated. She filed a wrongful
termination suit. And then Meeks approached her and told her, you know,
"you don't want to do this because if you do this, um, you're going to
be prosecuted. We found pornography on your computer." And she said,
"oh, that's bullshit." She says, "I'm not even hooked up to the
Internet. Am I gonna be so stupid I'm going to bring that stuff in
Page 13
on a disk and put it on my computer?" And he said, "hey, look, we've
got it and you, you know, and, and, and we've got enough of a case
that, uh, you could go to prison." Well, he intimidated her and she
backed off.
Now, Vogel said that this woman called in and, and related that story
to the newspaper -- somebody on the newspaper. Okay? And I asked Vogel
- I said, you know, "did you talk to her?" He says, "yes." I says, "I
would like to talk to her." I says, "she doesn't have to reveal her
identity to me, but I'd like to hear that story from her personally
because in her telling it, it might h- - might help me pick up on some
other information she had." Now, um, Larry Ihlen is a retired detective
from the City of Tacoma, and Larry Ihlen was in Internal Affairs. And
Larry Ihlen knows that woman's, um, identity because when Larry Ihlen
was in Internal Affairs, he was charged with investigating that.
Q. Okay.
A. And I told Larry Ihlen the story and he says, "well, I know
who that is because I was in charge -- charged with, uh, in- -
investigating." She - apparently she made a complaint or it, it got
to the police department in the form of a complaint and he was charged
with, um, investigating it. He was not aware that she backed off
because Meeks blackmailed her, but he knew, um - he knew some detail or
something -what was going on there and that she was claiming that she
was wrongfully, um, terminated. And we, uh, we kind of had that
conversation in short passage. I had to get to a doctor's appointment
But Larry could flesh that out. He could tell you who she is and
probably put you in touch with her.
Q. And you're indicating that all the information relating to this
female employee that was terminated, Ken Swilley, that was all
information that we were initially provided by Ken Vogel from the TNT?
A. Right. And then I, some months later, um, shared it with Larry
Ihlen and Larry Ihlen told me that, "oh, I know who that woman is
because I investigated her claim that she was wrongfully terminated."
Page 14
Q. Did you ever have any communications with Ken Swilley or this
female employee regarding these -
A. No.
Q. -allegations?
A. No, I never did. Uh, Vogel asked her and she declined to talk
with me.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<SNIP>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Cloud
Cloud wrote:
> Ex-officer drops suit against department
> KAREN HUCKS; The News Tribune
> Published: October 20th, 2006 01:00 AM
> http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6177557p-5402489c.html
Ex TPD Swilley letter to FBI Ferbrache bk7 p294
October 1,2003
Special Agent Mark Ferbrache
FBI-Seattle Office
1 HO Third Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98101-2904
(206) 622-0460
RE: City of Tacoma information
Agent Ferbrache,
My name is Jim Swilley and I believe I have information which may
assist you within your investigation into the Tacoma Police Department
and the very corrupt way in which they conduct business. I worked for
TPD and truly care about the citizens of Tacoma. I believe they're
actions against me will provide you are very real insight as to how
this department and the city operates everyday in an unethical manner.
I recently learned of the situation involving TPD Officer Joe Bundy and
Sergeant Bob Blystone, as to the arrest of a prominent businessman
Leroy Pardini. To say the least, I was not shocked or surprised by what
transpired with the Bundy case. I personally know Joe Bundy and he is
indeed a very professional officer and has complete knowledge of his
position. I also know Sgt. Blystone, who during my employment was known
as one of the good ole boys, and could do no wrong and could just about
do anything he wanted with no questions asked.
<SNIP>
...As to other information, IA Sgt. Fred Scruggs, also has some issues
as well. I was told recently by a long-time TPD officer that Scruggs
also never passed his psychological test and was hired anyway, much
like David Brame. I was told that there are other long- time officers
with TPD who may fall into this as well. I was also advised that
Scruggs has an outstanding gambling debt exceeding S 100,000.00 to the
local casinos and is considered a good ole boy as well.
Also an issue which I was advised of involves the former Asst. Chief
John Batiste, who was appointed by David Brame.
To begin with, Batiste was a Captain with the Washington State Patrol
and was on the board which interviewed the chief candidates during the
time Brame was going for the chiefs job. The next thing you know,
Brame gets the chiefs and <BIG BLACK BLOTCH> from WSP, only to be
hired by Brame as an assistant chief.
Batiste apparently had a history with Fircrest officers for domestics
with his wife. A former Fircrest Police Officer advised me that while
in his admin uniform, Batiste went to the Fircrest PD and confronted a
Fircrest Officer about his suspicions of his wife having an affair with
this officer. Obviously the situation got out of control and Batiste
assaulted another Fircrest officer by poking him in the chest. The
Fircrest chief was called and when contact was made with Batiste the
situation continued. Apparently nothing was said publicly. However the
Fircrest chief told Batiste that he (Batiste) would have to tell Brame
what occurred before he did. Well Batiste never told Brame and when the
Fircrest chief told Brame, Brame allowed Batiste to resign.
It clearly appears as though Batiste was given the asst. chief slot
over other very qualified candidates within the department as a reward
for Batiste support for getting Brame the chiefs' job.
There is indeed a lot of corruption and unethical practices occurring
within the City and the Tacoma Police Department. No matter my personal
outcome of my situation, I feel the citizens of Tacoma need Federal
assistance in getting their city back to the way it should be.
As for the current acting chief, he is a good ole boy as well like many
others their. An example of how involved the good ole boy system is at
TPD is when my union board voted on whether or not to represent me,
even after the union attorney stating the city was wrong, 8 of the 11
members voted not to support me, 8 good ole boys out of 11... It goes
very deep there and I wish you luck.
Truly,
JIM SWILLEY
Cloud
> Cloud wrote:
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<SNIP>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> STATEMENT
> Dwight L. Correll (corrected spelling)
> February 4, 2004
> Case No.: 03-1300
> Q = Sergeant Rob Huss A = Dwight L, Correll
>
>
> Page 12
>
> Q. All right. I'm going to continue down with some other
> clarifications here. During your July 16th, 2003, interview with
> criminal investigators, you related information surrounding the
> termination of TPD officer Ken Swilley for allegedly having pornography
> on his computer.
>
> A. Right.
>
> Q. But you indicated that the pornography had been placed on
> Swille's computer by William Meeks. Is that correct?
>
> A. Right. And, um, in the meetings that I had with Vogel -- Vogel
> is the one that -actually, we had talked about the Meeks, uh -
> possibility he was involved in swinging with, you know --
>
> Q. Right.
>
Meeks must have things on a lot of people OR something devastating to
command
to come up SO often,
from SO many,
doing such OVER THE TOP things
http://groups-beta.google.com/groups/search?q=meeks+brame+OR+tpd&start=0&filter=0
- and
yet
remains at
TPD.
As long as he has that GRIP,
as long as he's still there,
there is NO chance that TPD is cleaned up.
Just one citizens thought. I could be wrong, but it's how it looks to
me.
Cloud
> Cloud wrote:
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<SNIP>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> STATEMENT
> Dwight L. Correll (corrected spelling)
> Case No.: 03-1300
> Q = Sergeant Rob Huss A = Dwight L, Correll
>
>
> Page 12
>
> Q. All right. I'm going to continue down with some other
> clarifications here. During your July 16th, 2003, interview with
> criminal investigators, you related information surrounding the
> termination of TPD officer Ken Swilley for allegedly having pornography
> on his computer.
>
> A. Right.
>
> Q. But you indicated that the pornography had been placed on
> Swille's computer by William Meeks. Is that correct?
>
> A. Right. And, um, in the meetings that I had with Vogel -- Vogel
> is the one that -actually, we had talked about the Meeks, uh -
> possibility he was involved in swinging with, you know --
>
> Q. Right.
>
Cloud
Mayor of Tacoma & David Brame's former college professor
http://www.crystalbrame.com/Voices/SILENT_WALL_entry.htm
Tacoma police chief's wife says he pointed a gun at her
David Brame denies allegations, says it was she who abused him
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER By RUTH TEICHROEB
Friday, April 25, 2003
...The wife of Tacoma police Chief David Brame has accused him in court
documents of pointing his service revolver at her and trying to choke
her during two separate incidents in the past six months... Mayor Bill
Baarsma, who sits on the City Council's public safety committee, was
surprised at the allegations but said they were a "private matter"...
"He's been an outstanding chief," Baarsma said. "Unless there's a
complaint filed with the city manager as to his performance, I'm not
prepared to comment"...
City won't investigate police chief
Stacey Mulick; The News Tribune
April 26th, 2003
...Friday, the couple's allegations against each other were publicized
by a Seattle newspaper, television and radio stations... Mayor Bill
Baarsma said he did not want to comment on Brame's personal life, but
added, "The professional end of Dave's relationship with the city has
been absolutely stellar."...
Council responds with sadness, praise for 'stellar' chief
KRIS SHERMAN AND SUSAN GORDON; The News Tribune
April 27th, 2003
...As a shocked city coped with the news that its police chief shot his
wife and killed himself, Tacoma City Council members grieved for all
involved and wondered how it could happen to a "stellar" law
enforcement officer. "It's a sad day for the city. It's an absolute
tragedy for that family. And it's personally devastating to me," said
Mayor Bill Baarsma, a longtime friend of Brame and his family(???)...
"It's one of those things where you say to yourself, 'This can't be
happening. This can't be happening.' There is an absolute sense of
feeling helpless."...
Police chief dies after shooting wife, himself
Lisa Kremer And Karen Hucks; The News Tribune
April 27th, 2003
...Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma said Brame had done well in a difficult
job. "He was appointed chief at a point at which the department was
going through a very intensive and thorough performance audit, and he
was then tasked with the responsibility of carrying out that
performance audit," Baarsma said. "That called for some significant
changes, and it required his working with the two unions that represent
police officers... He was doing a tremendous job. It required a
tremendous amount of time and effort, and it was very stressful,"
Baarsma said...
Police: Tacoma chief shoots wife, kills self
Apparent murder-suicide attempt comes after abuse allegation
MSNBC
April 26, 2003
...Mayor Bill Baarsma told a television station, "He was a proud and
loving father. It was a beautiful couple."...
Acting police chief put on leave
Stacey Mulick; The News Tribune
May 2nd, 2003
..."My head's spinning. What's next?" Baarsma said. "The city manager
said to me that he had good reasons to take the actions he did, and
that it was appropriate, given this additional information... "The red
flags are coming up," the mayor said. "Now, we're finding out more
information that's coming fast and furious."...
Local leaders pray for healing, guidance
Steve Maynard; The News Tribune
May 3rd, 2003
...Projected on a huge screen, Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma prays for the
city, the police and the Brames at the Pierce County Prayer
Breakfast... "Heal our city, O God," said Baarsma, reading a prayer
written by his wife, Carol. "Give us hope in the midst of all this
darkness. Shine your light of truth on the hidden cancer of evil;
reveal what is wrong so we can make it right. Give strength and wisdom
to those who lead."... Baarsma prayed for God to "open our eyes so that
we will not again be blinded by those who would deceive." He asked God
to "reach out to Crystal Brame as she lies in that hospital bed. Let
her feel your comforting presence in the dark corners of her coma. Heal
her wounds so that she will again be able to nurture her precious
children."...
Tacoma council will examine city manager's part in naming chief
By ELAINE PORTERFIELD AND JEFFREY M. BARKER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Saturday, May 3, 2003
...Baarsma said he's upset he didn't learn about the rape allegations
and other problems before Brame was hired. He said he should have been
informed by city staff of most of the problems. "I'm disappointed and
frustrated," the mayor said... Crystal Brame remains in Harborview
Medical Center in serious condition with a head wound. The week has
taken a toll on everyone, said Baarsma, who appeared tired and
strained. He said he was watching television Thursday night when a
reporter said that Crystal had squeezed a loved one's finger and opened
an eye. "I just burst out crying," he said. "It's been a hellish
experience for us down here."
Brame's wife dies; Tacoma in turmoil
By David Postman and Ray Rivera
Seattle Times staff reporters
May 04, 2003
...Yesterday, Baarsma responded to a report in The News Tribune in
which unnamed city government sources said the city attorney rejected
advice the day before the shooting that the chief have his gun taken
away. "I opened up my newspaper this morning and that was the first I
heard about it," Baarsma said. "And at this point I'm numb. I guess I'm
no longer stunned, I'm just numb." Before yesterday's City Council
meeting, Baarsma conceded that the council should have acted sooner.
"Absolutely, there should have been a meeting early on discussing who
knew what when?" he said. The council yesterday did not question City
Attorney Robin Jenkinson about whether top human-resources officials
recommended pulling Brame's gun and badge on April 25, the day before
the shooting. ...
Crystal Brame dies; council supports Corpuz
Lisa Kremer; The News Tribune
Sunday, May 4, 2003
...Mayor Bill Baarsma said he received word of Crystal Brame's death
when the city clerk interrupted the executive session and handed him a
folded slip of paper. "I opened the paper and read it to the council
members," Baarsma said. "'Crystal Brame has died.' We were all
devastated. There was just stunned silence. Nobody said anything for
like three minutes."... When the mayor called the council back into
public session he asked for a moment of silence "to convey our thoughts
and prayers to the family of Crystal Brame, to her children and to the
men and women who served on the thin blue line." Baarsma could be heard
quietly weeping during the silence. His wife, Carol, also was there.
"We're absolutely broken-hearted," she said. "We all prayed for a
miracle that didn't happen"...
Four Tacoma officials will tell public about former police chief
Associated Press, NWCN
05/22/2003
..."This is an extraordinary time and an unbelievably horrific event
which has occurred," Mayor Bill Baarsma told about 75 people who
attended the council meeting Tuesday night. "In the end, the truth will
set us free."...
Two versions of Brame meeting
Official says he urged Tacoma chief be stripped of gun; attorney says
he didn't
Jeffrey M. Barker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Reporter, May 31, 2003
One city department head flatly contradicted another here yesterday as
the Human Resources director said he had strongly urged that police
Chief David Brame be stripped of his badge and gun the day before Brame
shot his wife and killed himself.... Bill Baarsma said yesterday he
didn't know whom to believe -- the city attorney or the Human Resources
director. "There's no shades of gray here," he said. "This particular
meeting will be subject to intense scrutiny by our investigative
teams"... "I do believe that on the following weekday, the 28th, Mr.
Brame would have been put on leave," Baarsma said yesterday. "I do
believe that."
Councilwoman says Tacoma will pay a lot
By Jeffrey M. Barker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Reporter, June 11, 2003
..."I think we just have to stand up and say, 'This is what we did,' "
McGavick said. "We should admit guilt for some of our processes that
failed." When asked about McGavick's comments, Mayor Bill Baarsma shook
his head and gestured with his hands as if he were throwing in the
towel. "She admitted guilt?" he asked, then walked toward acting City
Manager Jim Walton. The room was then cleared of the public for a
planned closed session to discuss labor negotiations. Later, the
council held a closed executive session during its regular meeting to
discuss the claim filed by the Judson family. McGavick was interviewed
before that discussion. Council members were reportedly advised not to
talk about the claim... The city carries only a $5 million insurance
policy. It was lowered from $20 million just eight months ago because
of skyrocketing insurance costs, Baarsma said. He said $75 million
would represent 45 percent of the city's operating budget...
Cloud
News Columnist
253-597-8657
peter.c...@thenewstribune.com
Yes, Tacoma's dangerous, but cops should help
Peter Callaghan; The News Tribune
Published: November 7th, 2006 01:00 AM
Carol McLaughlin knew it would have been easier to let it go.
A spate of crime in her small South Tacoma apartment complex was
worrisome enough. She didn't need to take on the Police Department.
But the more she thought about it, the angrier she got. So she called
me to talk about a recent encounter between her neighbors and some
Tacoma cops.
The neighbors were frustrated by attempted break-ins of cars and
apartments. When officers arrived on that mid-September evening, the
residents gathered around, talking about the people they suspected and
wondering why more couldn't be done.
"What do you expect," one officer told the group. "You live in
Tacoma."
McLaughlin was floored.
"You can't blame Tacoma," she recalled telling the officer.
According to McLaughlin, the same officer replied, "Yes I can. I used
to live here. Why don't you move?"
Other neighbors confirmed the conversation but didn't want to speak
on the record. One said she called a desk sergeant that night to
complain.
But McLaughlin decided to speak out.
"It shouldn't be their job to tell us it's hopeless," she said.
It isn't hopeless, but it isn't easy either. A recent report by
Morgan Quitno Press ranked the city as the most dangerous in the state
and 46th most dangerous city in the country.
If this were the first time I'd heard a story like this, I might have
been willing to accept the initial assertion by police spokesman Mark
Fulghum that one officer on the scene said he heard nothing
inappropriate at the apartment complex and that there was no record of
a complaint.
But it wasn't the first time. Occasionally, residents have told
similar stories.
One was former Tacoma School Board member Angela Strege, who said she
called police after a stolen car smashed through a fence at her house
near Fern Hill. When she asked if the officer was going to take
fingerprints to find the thief, she says he declined before telling her
and other neighbors who had gathered: "What do you expect, living in
a neighborhood like this?"
Strege said she remembers it clearly because that was the night she and
her husband decided to move.
Tacoma City Councilwoman Connie Ladenburg is chairwoman of the Public
Safety Committee. She said she understands that cops can get as
frustrated as residents.
"But that's certainly not the message we should be giving the
citizens," said Ladenburg, who represents the neighbors on the
council. She also works with Safe Streets, which helps neighbors work
with the police to make their neighborhoods safer.
Suggesting that people move "isn't dealing with the problem,"
Ladenburg said. "The problem isn't the law-abiding citizens. The
problem is the criminals."
Ladenburg said she has not heard complaints like this and hopes that
means it isn't a big problem. She does hear complaints that it takes
police too long to arrive after a call.
"Often time there are calls of higher priority," she said. "But
when they do respond, they should give it the attention it deserves."
Police Chief Don Ramsdell said last week he doesn't know what
happened between his officers and the neighbors that night. That's
why he has ordered an internal investigation into the complaint.
"That's not the opinion of most officers," Ramsdell said.
"Obviously there are more dangerous parts of the city than others.
Regardless, everyone needs to be treated with respect. That's one of
the values of our city and our department."
On Monday he sent a memo to all personnel about how they speak to the
public: "Comments such as these can be construed as discourteous and
uncaring, and can reflect unfavorably upon ourselves and the
department, which is not the image we want to portray," he wrote.
Peter Callaghan: 253-597-8657
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/columnists/callaghan/story/6218425p-5432458c.html
Department doesn't follow up with hope or advice
Re: Peter Callaghan's column on Tacoma police (11-7).
DEBRA MCGUIRE; Tacoma
Published: November 9th, 2006 01:00 AM
Please don't even get my neighbors and I started about the TPD. I and
many of my neighbors at a small Tacoma-area apartment complex have all
had to endure our vehicles being stolen regularly in the past few
years, with no hope or advice being offered by the responding officers,
and no response given to our numerous inquiries by Chief Don Ramsdell.
It's good to know he responds to questions from someone. I would
personally like to say that I thought I would never have a lower
opinion of the Tacoma Police Department than I did in the aftermath of
the David Brame scandal, but I was wrong.
I would like to thank Callaghan for his article on this topic. Please
keep us posted; I would like to see many follow up stories on this
topic.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/letters/story/6221971p-5435217c.html
tacoma police Officers should not be denigrating neighborhoods
Re: Peter Callaghan's column (11-7) regarding attitude of some Tacoma
Police officers.
LYNN REEVES; Tacoma
Published: November 9th, 2006 01:00 AM
First, I would like to say that I appreciate and respect the TPD.
Overall I think they do a great job. That being said, I was not
surprised to read about the comment a police officer made to Carol
McLaughlin. I have also received a similar comment but mine came from
911 dispatch when I called to report some criminal activity occurring
on my block in East Tacoma.
This happened three years ago so I do not remember the exact wording
but essentially I was told that I should expect that kind of activity
because of where I live. I was shocked and angry. Here I am, a
concerned and active citizen trying to help make my neighborhood a
better place (which it is now) and I get told that.
I also attended a large Safe Streets meeting on the East Side last year
and heard from other citizens that had similar comments made to them
from 911 and police. The citizens of Tacoma have been told many times
that the police cannot make our neighborhoods safer all on their own.
We are told that we need to be vigilant and report crime and suspicious
activity when we see it. We should not have to hear our neighborhoods
be verbally degraded when we do so.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/letters/story/6221968p-5435176c.html
Cloud_Writer
the Tacoma Police Department. 2006."
Image:
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/stories/2006/nov/12/12_OFFICER_REMEMBERED_11-12-2006_D690B8L.jpg
Grave marker given for Tacoma police officer killed in 1925
Seattle Post Intelligencer - Nov 11, 2006
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 11, 2006 · Last updated 2:08 p.m. PT
TACOMA, Wash. -- A Tacoma police officer killed in the line of duty
more than 80 years ago has been recognized for his service with a
long-awaited headstone placed at his grave.
William Wickman, 30, died in a motorcycle accident in 1925 while
chasing a speeding motorist. His young widow was caring for the
couple's two daughters, ages 4 and 9 when Wickman died, and didn't have
money for a grave marker.
At a memorial service Friday, three dozen Tacoma police officers, city
officials and Wickman's family huddled together as an engraved black
granite stone was placed at his graveside at Oakwood Hill Cemetery.
"Now, we have a beautiful stone memorial," Kay Kenison, one of
Wickman's two granddaughters, told the audience. "We are just really
honored at this whole thing and really appreciative."
The service was punctuated by a 21-gun salute from the police
department's honor guard, and a bugler played taps. Police chief Don
Ramsdell presented Kenison with a folded American flag.
"I am just so sorry my mom and aunt are not around anymore," said Russ
Ratcliffe, one of Wickman's grandsons. Wickman's oldest daughter, Lois,
died in 2000; his youngest, Dolores, last year.
Wickman's was one of four names engraved on a wooden plaque hanging in
the Tacoma police department in 1986 when officer and police historian
Erik Timothy found it. He'd been researching the department when he
learned the four officers had been killed in the line of duty.
"William Wickman was the first officer on the list but nobody knew
anything about him," he said.
Timothy's research started slow because most police personnel records
from before World War II had been lost in a fire, and Wickman's death
wasn't in official police records or in newspaper archives.
He eventually learned the plaque listed the wrong date for Wickman's
death. Using two newspaper articles he compiled details of Wickman's
short police career.
Wickman joined the Tacoma Police Department on Oct. 23, 1924, working
as a relief patrolman and prowl car officer. He later joined the
motorcycle division.
On Aug. 9, 1925, Wickman was heading north on what is now South Tacoma
Way in pursuit of a speeding vehicle. Another car headed in the
opposite direction turned left in front of Wickman.
The motorcycle hit the car's passenger side and Wickman was thrown onto
the hood, his head hitting the windshield frame.
"There was no protective gear" back then, Timothy said. "No police
training, no motorcycle training."
Two passing drivers took Wickman to Tacoma General Hospital, where he
was pronounced dead. The driver was cleared of any wrongdoing in
Wickman's death.
In 1987, Timothy searched for Wickman's family for more than a decade.
He had no luck until Wickman's daughter, Dolores Goe, attended a
memorial service for Pierce County's fallen officers.
Timothy talked to Goe, but lost track of her once she left.
While organizing a memorial service for fallen Tacoma police officers
last year, Timothy found Goe's obituary. It listed her surviving
family, including Kenison, whom Timothy tracked down.
Kenison gave the department with a picture of her grandfather on his
wedding day in 1916. It was one of few photos left of him.
Kenison met Timothy in May during a fallen officers tribute, and she
told him that her grandfather's grave had no headstone.
Timothy wanted to place a headstone at the grave as a way of honoring
Wickman's life and service to the city. With Ramsdell's approval, he
designed the marker, the cost of which was donated by Tacoma Monument.
The stone incorporates a sample of the star-shaped police badge Wickman
wore when he was an officer and today's oval-shaped badge.
"While Motorcycle Officer Wickman was pursuing a speeding vehicle, a
car turned into his path and caused a fatal collision," the stone
reads. "He is gone but not forgotten. Dedicated by his fellow officers
of the Tacoma Police Department. 2006."
Information from: The News Tribune, http://www.thenewstribune.com
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Officer_Remembered.html
Cloud_Writer
Cloud wrote:
> According to the New Takhoman this past week, beastiality is a facet of
> the Giles case.
...The issue has been settled in federal courts. The Adam Walsh Child
Protection and Safety Act of 2006 includes a provision that says
defense lawyers can't have copies of child pornography evidence in
federal cases. They must go to an FBI office and view it there...
Resolution of child porn dispute?
KAREN HUCKS; The News Tribune
Published: November 12th, 2006 01:00 AM
Pierce County prosecutors want Washington State Supreme Court justices
to allow them to refuse to turn over copies of child pornography to
defense attorneys in the Lee William Giles Jr. case.
Local criminal defense lawyers, some involved in the Giles case and
others not, say prosecutors should have to hand over all the evidence
in all cases, no matter how ugly it is.
Prosecutors counter that it's a crime to distribute sexual images of
children. They contend it hurts victims every time photos and videos
are copied, shown or shared, and that such evidence should be seen only
in prosecutors' offices.
The nine justices might settle the skirmish.
A commissioner for the high court temporarily halted two trials - the
Giles case and another child molestation case - until the justices
can decide next month whether to take up the issue.
On Dec. 7, the full court will consider whether to hear arguments on
the issue.
It means for now, deputy prosecutors don't have to give defense
lawyers copies of videotapes and photographs in the case of retired
Tacoma police officer Giles and his girlfriend, Maureen "Mo" Wear.
Giles, 62, and Wear, 46, are charged with multiple counts of child
rape, molestation, sexual exploitation and possession of child
pornography. Videotapes seized in the case show Giles and Wear raping
and molesting a boy related to Wear, and molesting two girls related to
Giles, according to court documents.
Deputy prosecutor Kit Proctor, who runs the county's appeals unit,
hopes the justices will overturn Superior Court Judge Lisa Worswick's
ruling that requires prosecutors to turn over the evidence.
It also means the defense attorney for accused child molester Michael
Allen Boyd still can hope to get the copies of the pornographic
evidence in the case against him.
Boyd, 54, is charged with more than two dozens crimes, including child
rape, molestation, exploiting children and possession of child
pornography.
Defense counsel Barbara Corey wants the justices to overturn Superior
Court Judge Thomas Larkin's opposite ruling that the defense
couldn't have copies of the child pornography evidence.
'A HUGE ISSUE'
Corey said the fact that two judges within weeks of each other made
contrary rulings on the same issue is telling.
"I think the court recognizes that it's a huge issue that trial
courts need guidance on," she said last week.
Proctor was happy to have gotten through the first step to a review by
the justices.
"It's a good thing, because it means we don't have to comply with
(Worswick's) order at this time," she said. "But it doesn't
really mean anything about whether the court is going to accept
review."
She said the Supreme Court could decide to take up the issue now, in
which case the lawyers in both cases would have to argue in front of
the justices in coming months.
"That's certainly my hope," she said.
The justices alternately could decide not to review the cases and both
would proceed as they are. Or, they could decide to review one case but
not the other.
settled in federal courts
Giles' lawyer, Michael Schwartz, who's happy with Worswick's
ruling, hopes the justices decline to take up the issue.
"The Supreme Court is the one that writes the procedural rules for
the court, including the rules for discovery," Schwartz said.
"They've never chosen to modify the rules to carve out this
exception for depictions of children. These cases have been around for
years, and the Supreme Court has never seen fit to do that."
The issue has been settled in federal courts.
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 includes a
provision that says defense lawyers can't have copies of child
pornography evidence in federal cases. They must go to an FBI office
and view it there.
Since the Giles case - in which he's accused of having stolen court
exhibits from child rape cases - local prosecutors are considering
imposing stricter rules about how they and law enforcement handle such
sensitive evidence.
Defense lawyers say that would make it hard for them to do their jobs.
Karen Hucks: 253-597-8660
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6227838p-5439467c.html
Cloud
who are paying for their defense, to appeal the verdict order in these
circumstances... A prompt payment of the verdict, accompanied by a
letter of apology from the city fathers and mothers, might have been a
more appropriate response to the jury's collective wisdom." The court
has now given the defendants and their counsel 14 days to show cause as
to why they should not be assessed double costs and attorney's fees for
filing a frivolous appeal...
From: "Takhoman" <takh...@harbornet.com>
Subject: Vol. 6, No. 215
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 11:49:04 -0800
Jury verdict upheld against three Tacoma cops
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a 2005 federal court jury
decision that three Tacoma police officers had violated a woman's
Fourth Amendment rights and had used excessive force against her in
2000.
The lawsuit, filed by Susan Frunz, named Sgt. Alan Morris, Sgt. Gary
Stril and Officer David Alred (Tacoma City Council Woman Julie
Anderson's former husband) as the defendants. The original judgment
against the three, which the City of Tacoma is required to indemnify,
was for $138,000 including punitive damages.
Circuit Judge Kozinski's opinion, published yesterday, is summarized
as follows.
"The facts are remarkable. Plaintiff, Susan Frunz, and her two guests
were in Frunz's home when police surrounded the house, broke down the
back door and entered. The police had no warrant and had not announced
their presence. Franz first became aware of them when an officer
accosted her in the kitchen and pointed his gun, bringing the barrel
within two inches of her forehead. The police ordered or slammed the
occupants to the floor and cuffed their hands behind their backs--Franz
for about an hour, until she proved to their satisfaction that she
owned the house, at which time they said 'never mind' and left.
As the officers doubtless knew, physical entry into the home is the
'chief evil against which the wording of the Fourth Amendment is
directed.' To safeguard the home, we normally require a warrant
before the police may enter. What extraordinary circumstances justified
sundering the privacy and protection of Frunz's home without a
warrant?"
Kozinski's opinion also gave further details of the incident.
"Earlier that afternoon, one Clinton Staples called 911 and reported
that his neighbor, who was out of town, had asked Staples to keep an
eye on his house. Staples had observed 'Susan,' the neighbor's
ex-wife, arrive in a gray Toyota ; she was in the house and the car was
parked out front. Officers David W. Alred and Alan R. Morris arrived a
few minutes later and checked the house for signs of break-in. They
then knocked at the front door and got no answer. Before leaving, the
police told Staples to call back if he saw further evidence that the
house was occupied.
About half an hour later, Staples again called 911 to report that Susan
was 'now inside the house' and had just answered the door to a
visitor. Staples also mentioned that Frunz was subject to a restraining
order which prohibited her from being at that location. In fact, Frunz
had been ceded the house during the divorce proceedings. And, while she
was restrained from going to her ex-husband's residence, her ex had
moved to California . Frunz had been living in the house for the better
part of a week.
Alred and Morris, joined by other officers (including Sergeant Gary T.
Stril) arrived at the scene forty minutes later. They surrounded the
house and, without further investigation or observation, entered and
subdued the occupants as described above. The two guests were able to
prove their identity and were found to have no outstanding warrants.
They were uncuffed and ordered to leave. The officers left Frunz in
handcuffs because she was unable to direct them to her picture ID or to
paperwork showing that she owned the house. Franz testified that she
was unable to do so because she was 'terrified' and because Officer
Morris kept threatening her and telling her to 'shut up'.
She was released only after the officers were able to reach her divorce
lawyer, who confirmed that Frunz owned the house."
Kozinski concluded his opinion with, "We have found no authority even
remotely supporting the notion that officers confronted with the
situation here were entitled to ignore the constitutional requirement
of a warrant and probable cause, or to conduct themselves as the jury
must have found they did once they were inside the house. No reasonable
lawyer would have advised the defendants otherwise.
In short, we must ask: Why is this case here? There may have been some
justification for going to trial because there were disputed questions
of fact about how the officers behaved during the course of the
intrusion into Frunz's house. But a jury made up of seven members of
the community heard the evidence and unanimously ruled in Frunz's
favor. By not only finding defendants liable, but also imposing
punitive damages, the jury determined that the officers acted in
reckless or malicious disregard of plaintiffs constitutional rights.
Only the most misguided optimism would cause defendants, and those who
are paying for their defense, to appeal the verdict order in these
circumstances. Surely, the citizens of Tacoma would not want to be
treated in their own homes the way the jury found officers Stril,
Morris and Alred treated Frunz and her guests. A prompt payment of the
verdict, accompanied by a letter of apology from the city fathers and
mothers, might have been a more appropriate response to the jury's
collective wisdom."
The court has now given the defendants and their counsel 14 days to
show cause as to why they should not be assessed double costs and
attorney's fees for filing a frivolous appeal.
Tacoma City Attorney Jean P. Homan, counsel for the defendants,
didn't know if the case would be appealed further.
Hugh McGavick, Frunz's attorney, was unavailable for comment, but was
quoted in a March 25, 2005 News Tribune article as saying, "The
Fourth Amendment continues to exist in Tacoma . The message from this
jury was: Law enforcement, TPD, pay attention. You can't just do what
you want."
Despite the fact an incident report was never filed by the officers
Homan confirmed that an Internal Affairs Investigation was never done
as neither Frunz nor her two companions requested for one.
According to Tacoma Police Public Information Officer Mark Fulghum the
three officers are still employed by the department.
In other Tacoma Police Department news 12 year motorcycle Officer Mike
Hickman has been terminated for soliciting a prostitute.
Also Detective Ed Baker was given a 20 day suspension for lack of focus
on his duties.
Alex Clayton
> ...Only the most misguided optimism would cause defendants, and those
> who are paying for their defense, to appeal the verdict order in these
> circumstances... A prompt payment of the verdict, accompanied by a
> letter of apology from the city fathers and mothers, might have been a
> more appropriate response to the jury's collective wisdom." The court
> has now given the defendants and their counsel 14 days to show cause as
> to why they should not be assessed double costs and attorney's fees for
> filing a frivolous appeal...
>
I know Sgt. Morris. I did not about this. Given some of the things he has
done I am not really surprised though. the one thing that is a shame here is
that I have to pay for their screw up.
--
GUN CONTROL: The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and
strangled with her panty hose, is somehow morally superior to a woman
explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound.
peking
Cloud wrote:
> ...Only the most misguided optimism would cause defendants, and those
> who are paying for their defense, to appeal the verdict order in these
> circumstances... A prompt payment of the verdict, accompanied by a
> letter of apology from the city fathers and mothers, might have been a
> more appropriate response to the jury's collective wisdom." The court
> has now given the defendants and their counsel 14 days to show cause as
> to why they should not be assessed double costs and attorney's fees for
> filing a frivolous appeal...
>
Why are officers Alred, Morris and Stril still employed? An attorney
sent me the published opinion. Note the comment by the officer "never
mind" after releasing Frunz and the statement by the judge that "the
jury could have found that officer A lied." Another example of
misconduct; no accountability and yet a reminder of no internal
investigation by TPD. When was the city going to reveal they appealed
this frivolous case for these officers. 100K is pretty reasonable; why
not settle; why drag it out and defend the indefensible. Did the
mayor/council approve the appeal in executive session. One must
wonder.
Read the published opinion:
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/0220FF7181EB67828825722600001255/$file/0535302.pdf?openelement
Alex Clayton
news:1163649753.9...@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
My guess as to why the 2 Sergeants are still there is part the union, and
part the fact that this is the same force that gave us a Chief who murdered
his wife. As to why they have drug this out, the same reason they drug out
the settlement with the family of the ex chief. they make a job out of
throwing tax money out the door as fast as they can. I would not be
surprised if they will still continue to fight this. After all it's tax
money they are blowing, there is no end to it.
--
"Liberalism is a mental disorder."
Michael Savage
softsofa
<alex...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>I would not be
>surprised if they will still continue to fight this.
But only until all the guilty are retired..,
[]softsofa[]
Cloud
EXCERPTS FROM THE THREE ARTICLES BELOW
Woman in child-rape case found competent to stand trial
The News Tribune
November 16th, 2006
...Both Giles and Wear have pleaded not guilty, but Wear sent a letter
to Judge Lisa Worswick earlier this month in which she confessed to
"every crime committed in Tacoma, Pierce Co., Spokane, Spokane Co.
and every area in between of every kind," and asked Worswick to
sentence her to death...
Execute me, pleads child-rape defendant
The News Tribune
November 16th, 2006
"..please send me to die by means of lethal injection as soon as
possible or any other means to die rather than live another day and
night at Western State Hospital (Jail) or the Pierce County Corrections
Center (Jail)"... "We got information she made threats of suicide
at Western State and was assaultive to staff at Western State,"
sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said. "We're doing everything we
can, but you can't save people from themselves no matter how hard you
try"...
Child-sex defendant loses on attire, bail, TV coverage
The News Tribune
November 17th, 2006
...The issue: What defendant Maureen "Mo" Wear should be allowed to
wear during her competency hearing before Pierce County Superior Court
Judge Thomas Felnagle. With her client waiting outside the courtroom,
defense attorney Mary Kay High objected to Wear appearing in court clad
in a green, padded smock reserved for jail inmates on suicide watch.
Wear is jailed on charges that she and her longtime boyfriend, retired
Tacoma police office Lee William Giles Jr., systematically abused three
children over several years. Wear, 46, is related to one of the
children, Giles to the other two... The judge decided Wear would appear
in the smock. He also denied High's request to prohibit a KIRO-TV
news crew from videotaping Wear's face during the hearing... Hillman
then tacked on nine more felony sex charges...
FULL ARTICLES:
Woman in child-rape case found competent to stand trial
ADAM LYNN; The News Tribune
Published: November 16th, 2006 03:40 PM
A woman charged in a child-rape case involving a retired Tacoma police
officer was found competent to stand trial Thursday.
Prosecutors also added nine charges against Maureen "Mo" Wear, who
already was facing eight sex crimes.
Wear, 46, is the longtime girlfriend of former police officer Lee
William Giles Jr. Prosecutors contend the pair abused three children,
one related to her and the other two to him.
Wear and Giles were arrested in August after one of the alleged victims
went to authorities. Detectives said they found videotapes in Giles'
home showing the couple abusing the children.
Wear then was sent to Western State Hospital for a mental evaluation.
Experts there found she was able to understand the charges against her
and help in her defense.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Thomas Felnagle agreed with that
finding and ruled Wear competent.
Both Giles and Wear have pleaded not guilty, but Wear sent a letter to
Judge Lisa Worswick earlier this month in which she confessed to
"every crime committed in Tacoma, Pierce Co., Spokane, Spokane Co.
and every area in between of every kind," and asked Worswick to
sentence her to death.
State law prescribes a possible death penalty only for people convicted
of aggravated first-degree murder - a charge Wear does not face.
Her trial is set to begin in January.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/updates/story/6236656p-5446070c.html
Execute me, pleads child-rape defendant
KAREN HUCKS; The News Tribune
Published: November 16th, 2006 01:00 AM
Maureen "Mo" Wear, charged in a Tacoma child rape case with
boyfriend Lee William Giles Jr., has sent her judge a letter that
brings another twist in a case that's shocked the community.
Wear, 46, is charged with eight sex crimes against three children, one
of them her relative and two of them Giles'.
She wrote to Pierce County Superior Court Judge Lisa Worswick on Nov.
5, confessing "to every crime committed in Tacoma, Pierce Co.,
Spokane, Spokane Co. and every area in between of every kind."
She also asked to be executed.
"... please send me to die by means of lethal injection as soon as
possible or any other means to die rather than live another day and
night at Western State Hospital (Jail) or the Pierce County Corrections
Center (Jail)."
After criticizing her attorney and staff members at the jail and
Western State, Wear asks the judge to "please respond directly to me
with a date to sentence me, followed by immediate execution."
Worswick has indicated she will not address the letter today when Wear
appears in court to be arraigned on new charges in the case.
The judge's assistant wrote Wear on Nov. 8, telling her Worswick had
received the letter but does not act on communications directly from
defendants. For an issue to be considered by the judge, it must be
placed on the docket, following court rules.
"You don't get to do some things pro se" - meaning by yourself
- "and some things through counsel," explained Wear's lawyer,
Mary Kay High.
The defense attorney said she had no comment about the letter
Wednesday, the day The News Tribune learned of it.
"I obviously cannot comment on client communication, whether it's
to myself or to the court," she said, adding she wasn't ignoring
the letter, "but I can't tell you what I'm doing."
Deputy prosecutor John Hillman said that, for him, it's another piece
of evidence to use against Wear in trial. Beyond that, he said, he
didn't know what the letter means.
"Maybe it means she's suicidal," he said. "Maybe it means
she's wanting people to feel sorry for her. I don't get to talk to
her. The only legal significance it really has to me is I look at is as
a confession in her own writing and, if this case ends up in front of a
jury, it's something I would definitely consider using."
Hillman plans to file additional counts against her today.
Wear returned to the Pierce County Jail on Tuesday after being sent to
the mental institution at Western State Hospital to determine whether
she was competent to stand trial.
High said psychologists at the hospital have found Wear can understand
the legal system and help in her defense. High said she has no basis to
contest the finding, and expects Wear to be rearraigned on new charges
today.
At the jail, corrections officers were checking Wear at least every 30
minutes as part of a suicide watch.
"We got information she made threats of suicide at Western State and
was assaultive to staff at Western State," sheriff's spokesman Ed
Troyer said. "We're doing everything we can, but you can't save
people from themselves no matter how hard you try."
Regardless of her request, Wear cannot prompt her own execution.
In Washington, the only crime for which someone can be executed is
aggravated first-degree murder. When defendants are charged with that
crime, only the county prosecutor can decide whether they face the
death penalty.
Giles is a 30-year retired veteran of the Tacoma Police Department
known for his work with children in elementary schools.
He is charged with 26 sex crimes against the three children and has
confessed that he raped a boy and sometimes took child pornography from
drug houses while he was on duty.
In addition to the latest twist, the case has raised a debate about how
authorities handle evidence in sex crimes.
Authorities say court exhibits from child rape cases were found in
Giles' house. Prosecutors say they might institute a new rule for
stricter controls on child pornography evidence.
Attorneys also are battling over whether prosecutors must make copies
of the child porn evidence in the case for defense attorneys and have
asked the Washington State Supreme Court to decide the issue.
Karen Hucks: 253-597-8660
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6235061p-5444810c.html
Child-sex defendant loses on attire, bail, TV coverage
ADAM LYNN; The News Tribune
Published: November 17th, 2006 01:00 AM
Before they argued over bail, trial dates and additional charges
Thursday, attorneys involved in a notorious Tacoma child rape case
debated appropriate courtroom attire.
The issue: What defendant Maureen "Mo" Wear should be allowed to
wear during her competency hearing before Pierce County Superior Court
Judge Thomas Felnagle.
With her client waiting outside the courtroom, defense attorney Mary
Kay High objected to Wear appearing in court clad in a green, padded
smock reserved for jail inmates on suicide watch.
Wear is jailed on charges that she and her longtime boyfriend, retired
Tacoma police office Lee William Giles Jr., systematically abused three
children over several years. Wear, 46, is related to one of the
children, Giles to the other two.
Giles, who spent 30 years on the force, has confessed that he raped a
boy and sometimes took child pornography from drug houses while he was
on duty, according to court records. But he's pleaded not guilty to
the 26 sex crimes with which he's charged.
The jail's mental health staff deemed Wear a suicide risk shortly
after her arrest in August, and jail officials have required her to
wear the smock to protect her from herself.
High argued Thursday that the garb is undignified and could affect her
client's ability to get a fair trial should the case progress that
far.
People who saw her client in such clothing - either someone in the
courtroom Thursday or someone who saw news media accounts of the
hearing - might draw the conclusion that Wear is dangerous, guilty or
both, High said.
That could prejudice potential jurors, the attorney added.
High asked that her client be allowed to change into the simple pajamas
issued to regular jail inmates. The two-piece sets - which come in
drab gray or bright orange - resemble the scrubs worn by nurses and
doctors.
"I don't think it's too much to ask," High said.
But Craig Adams, a deputy prosecutor who represents the jail, told
Felnagle that Wear was "dressed appropriately" for someone deemed a
suicide risk.
"We have a great concern over her stability, great concern over
self-harm," Adams said. "This is not meant to be demeaning to Ms.
Wear."
Adams said that concern was heightened after Wear wrote a Nov. 5 letter
to Judge Lisa Worswick in which she confessed to "every crime
committed in Tacoma, Pierce Co., Spokane, Spokane Co. and every area in
between of every kind" and asked Worswick to sentence her to death.
Deputy prosecutor John Hillman told Felnagle he didn't much care what
Wear wore.
The judge decided Wear would appear in the smock. He also denied
High's request to prohibit a KIRO-TV news crew from videotaping
Wear's face during the hearing.
"The presumption is this is an open courtroom," the judge said.
Wear then was led into court in the smock and shackles. Felnagle ruled
her competent to stand trial, citing a mental evaluation performed at
Western State Hospital that showed she understood the charges against
her and could aid in her defense.
Hillman then tacked on nine more felony sex charges against Wear, who
already was charged with eight sex crimes to which she's pleaded not
guilty.
High entered pleas of not guilty on Wear's behalf to the new charges
and argued unsuccessfully to have her client's bail lowered from
$500,000 to $100,000.
Wear, whose trial is set to begin Jan. 23, then was led back to jail.
Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644
adam...@thenewstribune.com
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6237142p-5446348c.html
Cloud
I think it would be good to ALSO take on a series reporting good works
of some in TPD. Not for pr sake, but to give credit to those who do
thier jobs right and well.)
When Tacoma's finest aren't at their finest
THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Published: November 16th, 2006 01:00 AM
In police work, a little bit of diplomatic sense can go a long way.
Two recent news items involving the Tacoma Police Department illustrate
the point.
On Monday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a $138,000 jury
award to a Tacoma woman, Susan Frunz, who was handcuffed and treated
like a criminal six years ago for the offense of being in her own home.
It's more complicated than that, of course. Here's what happened: A
neighbor had called, claiming that Frunz - whose marriage had broken
up - was under a restraining order to stay out of the house.
Believing a burglary might be in progress, three officers broke in
without a warrant, pointed a gun at Frunz, ordered her to the floor,
then handcuffed her to a chair for an hour before they finally
confirmed that she'd received the house in her divorce settlement.
Here's what didn't happen: They didn't check out the restraining
order, which in fact didn't exist. They didn't knock on the door
and ask her what was going on. They didn't obtain a warrant. They
didn't file an incident report on what was clearly, well, an
incident. Their superiors did no internal investigation.
It was a callous performance all around. The jury and the judges were
not amused.
Another - thankfully less expensive - mistake was reported last
week by The News Tribune's Peter Callaghan.
In this recent case, a group of citizens in South Tacoma was
complaining to officers about the break-ins in their apartment complex.
"What do you expect?" one officer told them. "You live in
Tacoma."
"You can't blame Tacoma," one of the citizens said she told the
officer. According to her, he replied, "Yes I can. I used to live
here. Why don't you move?"
So the solution to crime in Tacoma is to empty the city of its
inhabitants? That attitude makes a compelling case for encouraging
Tacoma's police force to live in Tacoma.
To be charitable, police officers - in Tacoma and everywhere else -
get frustrated, tired, angry and stressed-out. It's part of the job.
But that's precisely where the professionalism has to kick in. Police
Chief Don Ramsdell responded to the last incident by ordering an
internal investigation and sending around a memo pointing out the
obvious: "Comments such as these can be construed as discourteous and
uncaring, and can reflect unfavorably upon ourselves and the department
..."
To say the least. Ramsdell should have put more steel in that memo.
Things like this happen when police officers forget they are public
servants - a role that includes treating law-abiding citizens with
unfailing respect.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/story/6235112p-5444902c.html
kitty
Yes. Another solution is to get the Freedom Fair / Tall Ships people
to pay the city the 100k it owes us taxpayers. We'll need it to defend
TPD "frivolous" lawsuits.
Alex Clayton
news:1163821754.9...@j44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
I would much rather see them take it out of the pay of the people in charge
who made the choice to nit just write this woman a check and a letter of
apology, like they should have.
softsofa
<alex...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>I would much rather see them take it out of the pay of the people in charge
>who made the choice to nit just write this woman a check and a letter of
>apology, like they should have.
Now you want pols and bureaucrats to write letters of apology whenever
they make costly mistakes? Why the postage alone...
[]softsofa[]
Alex Clayton
news:hn7ul29b46dque2rs...@4ax.com...
LOL, I never thought of the postage. They should have to buy their own
stamps too!! <G>