|
Police
Corruption
| Prosecutorial
Misconduct
| What You Can Do
| Statistics
| True
Stories
| Wrongful
Convictions
Reversed |
Links
Story from the Wednesday, October 27,
2004 Edition of the Chronicle Telegram
Lawsuit Takes Aim at Dennis Will
Brad
Dicken, The Chronicle-Telegram
ELYRIA — An Elyria police officer suing the city and police
Chief Michael Medders wants to add county prosecutor candidate Dennis
Will as a defendant in the federal lawsuit, contending Will forced
officers to behave unprofessionally in his dual role as an Elyria
police captain and an assistant county prosecutor.
Officer Hetzel See alleges Will ordered officers to testify before
county grand juries in cases they had not worked. He also contends Will
had officers use their court time to campaign for local politicians and
appear in a campaign television commercial for a judicial candidate
while on duty. U.S. District Magistrate Judge William
Baughman has yet to rule on the Oct. 21 motion on whether to allow See
to include Will in the lawsuit.
See alleges that Medders and Will conspired to punish him for his work
as a union leader and for telling a confidential informant wearing a
wire that the department’s top two officers could not be
trusted. He initially filed the $6 million lawsuit in October
2003, a little less than a year after an arbitrator ruled that See had
been unjustly terminated as a police officer in November 2002. The
reasons given for his termination were insubordination, violation of
departmental policies, unbecoming conduct and unsatisfactory
performance.
The lawsuit alleges See had been denied his constitutional right to
free speech by Medders and the city. Will, a Democrat, said
Elyria Law Director Terry “Pete” Shilling advised
him not to comment on the lawsuit. Will did say, however, that he found
the timing of See’s action
“suspect.” See, however, said the
decision to add Will as a defendant had nothing to do with
Will’s race against County Prosecutor Gary Bennett.
“I wanted Will to be included in the beginning,” he
said. “But I was advised at that time that it would be better
to wait.” See said his former attorney, Geoffrey
Smith, urged him not to include Will in the lawsuit until after the
election. See said he believes Will offered Smith a job with the
prosecutor’s office if Will wins the election, an allegation
Smith denied.
“I indicated to him that I felt that Dennis Will was a good
candidate for the prosecutor’s office, and he
didn’t agree with me,” Smith said. “We
clearly had a difference of opinion.” See said he
does not support Will’s bid to become county prosecutor and
worries that Will could abuse his power and not keep police in check if
he is elected. “Personally, I don’t think
he’s a very good candidate,” he said.
Jillian Davis, one of See’s new attorneys, said the city knew
See planned to amend the complaint. “The
claim’s a good claim and it’s been the intention
all along to include Mr. Will,” she said.
“We’re not under any obligation to wait until after
the election.” Schilling declined comment on the
lawsuit, as did Bennett.
Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chronicletelegram.com.
|
