Trial Board

A Baltimore police officer has been exonerated of using excessive force in a violent struggle nearly two years ago on McElderry Street that had racial overtones.After four days of testimony from nearly two dozen witnesses, a Police Department trial board took just an hour yesterday to find Officer Nicholas J. Tomlin innocent of any wrongdoing in the May 1990 incident near Oldtown Mall.Officer Tomlin, 24, who is white, was accused of using excessive force in the arrest of Robert Washington, 23, who is black.

A Circuit Court judge upheld Monday the Baltimore police commissioner's firing of a city officer who was caught on video berating and pushing a 14-year-old skateboarder at the Inner Harbor three years ago and failed to document it in a report. The ruling by Judge Sylvester B. Cox sets the stage for an appeal, which lawyers said is likely, promising continued debate over Salvatore Rivieri's actions and his vitriolic lecture on parenting and youthful indifference that was watched by hundreds of thousands of people on YouTube.

A police trial board has recommended that a 31-year-old Annapolis officer be suspended for 10 days without pay for failing to keep his K-9 dog on a leash and filing a false report.Officer Keith L. Brown was also found guilty of unbecoming conduct by the three-member board Friday, but five other charges against him were dismissed. Police Chief Harold Robbins will review and act on the board's recommendation.A complaint was filed against Officer Brown after he left his dog with a fellow officer while investigating a shooting Aug. 25, 1991, at one of the city's public housing projects.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III overruled a disciplinary panel's recommendation Wednesday and fired a veteran officer who was caught on video berating and pushing a 14-year-old skateboarder at the Inner Harbor three years ago. A trial board consisting of three officers of varying ranks heard evidence at a hearing last month and cleared Officer Salvatore Rivieri of the most serious administrative charges: using excessive and...

A Baltimore police officer who was videotaped fatally shooting a man armed with a knife outside Lexington Market in August faces dismissal after a trial board found him guilty of shooting at his wife and another man in 1995.Officer Charles M. Smothers II, who has been on the force four years, was in tears yesterday after a trial board recommended that he be fired for the assault. He was suspended with pay, pending action by Police Commissioner Thomas C. Frazier.The trial board, a three-member panel of police officers, found Smothers guilty of three administrative charges stemming from a complaint that he fired his service weapon at Michael Scott, a Baltimore County police officer, and Smothers' then-girlfriend, Linda Callwood Smothers.

A city attorney resigned Thursday immediately after failing to persuade an internal disciplinary board to recommend firing a police officer convicted of administrative charges of assaulting a man outside a Federal Hill pizza shop in 2005. The attorney, Sandra Holmes, got a partial victory in her case against Officer Michael D. Brassell - an assault conviction and a recommendation to the police commissioner that Brassell be suspended 60 days without pay. But the board found the officer not guilty of lying to investigators, which carries an automatic termination.

A former Baltimore police officer who was fired in 1998 after allegations she made false statements is being rehired after a department trial board cleared her of wrongdoing. Christine P. Boyd, 28, who had patrolled North Baltimore, was fired in February 1998 when a three-member administrative hearing board found her guilty of four counts of lying to officers. The officers were investigating a complaint that she threatened a civilian during a neighborhood dispute. Boyd, who was arrested three times during her four-year career, filed an appeal in Circuit Court after her dismissal.

Almost a year after department charges were filed, a Howard County police trial board has cleared two officers of using excessive force in the 1990 arrest of twin brothers, one of whom was later found hanged.The board ruled last night that officers Victor Riemer and Ricky Johnson did not use excessive force against Mickey and Carl Jonathan Bowie, then 19, while breaking up a loud party at a Jessup motel Jan. 5, 1990. The brothers lived in Columbia's village of Oakland Mills."I just feel relieved," Johnson commented after the verdict.

An Anne Arundel County police trial board recommended yesterday firing an officer for neglecting his duty when he did not seek medical attention for a drunken-driving suspect who died in police custody in December. The three-member board found Officer Charles R. Atwell II guilty of seven departmental charges, including failing to perform his duty and conduct unbecoming an officer in connection with the death Dec. 15. Philip A. Montgomery, 20, a Calvert County electrician's apprentice with a history of mental illness, died of antifreeze poisoning in a Southern District holding cell about six hours after Atwell mistakenly arrested him for drunken driving.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III overruled a disciplinary panel's recommendation Wednesday and fired a veteran officer who was caught on video berating and pushing a 14-year-old skateboarder at the Inner Harbor three years ago. A trial board consisting of three officers of varying ranks heard evidence at a hearing last month and cleared Officer Salvatore Rivieri of the most serious administrative charges: using excessive and...

Attorneys who represent Baltimore police officers at disciplinary hearings say their clients are being treated unfairly because the department's top lawyer is prosecuting cases while simultaneously advising the independent panel judging the accused. At a hearing last week, the lawyer for a city officer found guilty of assault said the Police Department's legal affairs chief, Mark Grimes, repeatedly helped the hearing's chairman rule on defense motions during a proceeding called a trial board.

A city attorney resigned Thursday immediately after failing to persuade an internal disciplinary board to recommend firing a police officer convicted of administrative charges of assaulting a man outside a Federal Hill pizza shop in 2005. The attorney, Sandra Holmes, got a partial victory in her case against Officer Michael D. Brassell - an assault conviction and a recommendation to the police commissioner that Brassell be suspended 60 days without pay. But the board found the officer not guilty of lying to investigators, which carries an automatic termination.

Baltimore police Lt. Robert R. Richards, who has had a stormy relationship with the department, has been found guilty of several infractions by a trial board and is awaiting word on whether he will be fired. A three-member board, composed of a Baltimore County lieutenant and a captain and lieutenant with the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, tried Richards on 14 charges this month. He was found guilty of nine, including making false statements and insubordination, said his attorney, Domenic Iamele.

In a ruling issued yesterday, a Baltimore Circuit Court judge backed the city Police Department's decision to fire a lieutenant who was caught at an underground strip show while on duty last year. Lawyers for Lt. John Mack had appealed the decision of a departmental trial board, which found the lieutenant guilty of 38 misconduct charges and urged his firing in October. Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris, who earlier had told a City Council hearing that Mack was in a "whorehouse on duty," fired the officer.

An Anne Arundel County police trial board recommended yesterday firing an officer for neglecting his duty when he did not seek medical attention for a drunken-driving suspect who died in police custody in December. The three-member board found Officer Charles R. Atwell II guilty of seven departmental charges, including failing to perform his duty and conduct unbecoming an officer in connection with the death Dec. 15. Philip A. Montgomery, 20, a Calvert County electrician's apprentice with a history of mental illness, died of antifreeze poisoning in a Southern District holding cell about six hours after Atwell mistakenly arrested him for drunken driving.

A Washington police officer testified yesterday at a trial board hearing that he told Anne Arundel police that a drunken-driving suspect - who later died in police custody - might have drunk antifreeze. Philip A. Montgomery died on the floor of a Southern District cell, more than six hours after he was arrested by Officer Charles R. Atwell II on drunken-driving charges. Whether Atwell heard the District of Columbia officer and didn't call for medical help is central to department charges lodged against the 14-year veteran of the force.

A hearing for two Howard County police officers facing excessive force charges has begun with the same acrimony that has prevailed between police officers and some residents since a Columbia teen-ager was found hanged last year.Two key foes, defense attorney Clarke F. Ahlers and Maryland NAACP President the Rev. Robert Wright, engaged in a brief staring match in front of the trial board before the proceedings began.The stare-down ended after Ahlers asked the board whether it would summon a police officer to protect him from Wright, a witness in the case.

The Howard County sheriff is considering imposing a stiffer punishment -- perhaps even dismissal -- than a trial board recommended for two top deputies who mimicked Nazi behavior in the office, the deputies' lawyer said yesterday.A trial board recommended Jan. 7 that Maj. Donald L. Pruitt, 40, and his twin brother, Sgt. Dennis L. Pruitt, be demoted one rank, fined $200 and required to undergo cultural sensitivity training.But Michael L. Marshall, attorney for the brothers, said Sheriff Michael Chiuchiolo called him this week to say he was considering increasing the punishment for the deputies, who have been suspended with pay since the allegations surfaced last spring.

A Baltimore police trial board unanimously upheld yesterday the firing six years ago of a police sergeant accused of sexual harassment, closing for now a troublesome disciplinary case. Former Sgt. Leslie Edwards had twice won court orders to retry his misconduct case, which began a decade ago. Edwards, who is black, has argued that the department discriminated against him. Yesterday, after losing for a third time at a departmental trial board, Edwards vowed to sue the department again.

A former Baltimore police officer who was fired in 1998 after allegations she made false statements is being rehired after a department trial board cleared her of wrongdoing. Christine P. Boyd, 28, who had patrolled North Baltimore, was fired in February 1998 when a three-member administrative hearing board found her guilty of four counts of lying to officers. The officers were investigating a complaint that she threatened a civilian during a neighborhood dispute. Boyd, who was arrested three times during her four-year career, filed an appeal in Circuit Court after her dismissal.