kickstand scandal

May 25, 2005

By Todd Bensman

Investigative Producer

CBS-11 News

For the past six months, a sexual misconduct investigation known as

"the kickstand scandal" has embroiled the Dallas Area Rapid Transit

police motorcycle unit in allegations of on-duty sex, extortion and

illegal steroid use, according to internal records obtained by CBS-11

News.

To date, DART has fired two of the six motorcycle officers who came

under investigation, although for reasons not directly related to the

scandal. A third has resigned. DART has disciplined two others.

The investigation involves allegations that a married female corporal,

who remains with the department on paid leave, had separate sexual

relationships with four of her male subordinates last year and whether

a supervising sergeant knew of the conduct but failed to report it.

The female corporal alleged that the sex was not consensual; the four

male officers said it was. A final DART investigative report obtained

by CBS-11 News backs the men.

In either case, the situation has had an impact on taxpayers and

public safety. Since the corporal brought her allegations forward last

December, DART has spent more than $101,000 in tax money to hire

Dallas law firm Hughes & Luce, to conduct a "sexual harassment"

investigation of the woman's claims. Six motorcycle squad officers,

including a supervising sergeant, were placed on paid administrative

leave for five months, costing at least $102,000 in salary alone.

Their absence further stretched an already shorthanded agency's

ability to patrol the region's freeway commuter lanes and answer crime

calls on DART property.

Asked if he was disappointed about the situation and explicit officer

testimony about sex, DART Police Chief Juan Rodriguez said, "I'm very

proud of the police department. I'm very proud of the officers. We

have a lot of very talented, seasoned officers.

"They have done a great job for the safety of the public," Chief

Rodriguez said. "I'm proud of what they do and proud of what they are

doing today."

SEXUAL CONDUCT AMONG OFFICERS 'UNDISPUTED,' REPORT SAYS

Records show the DART investigation began in December 2004 when the

female corporal alleged that four of her male subordinates on the

squad had forced her on duty to perform non-consensual sex acts, some

of them in DART restrooms and facilities. The female corporal also

raised a host of other misconduct allegations against the male

officers.

In January, DART administrators hired Hughes & Luce to handle only the

investigation of her claims of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

The department's internal affairs division has handled the non-sexual

misconduct allegations.

The law firm's investigation ended this month with a final summary

report obtained by CBS-11 News. The Hughes & Luce report concluded

that the female corporal willingly carried on separate sexual

relationships with the four male motorcycle officers – and most likely

initiated them - over a period of several months last year. Records

indicate that the relationships ended in about November when the men

found out about each other. Weeping in her car, she lodged the

allegations the next month during an emotionally turbulent telephone

call to a close female friend who also was her supervisor.

The Hughes & Luce report said the woman's claims that the sex was

nonconsensual were "inherently implausible." It cited her payment of

hotel room bills, cell phone records showing she repeatedly called the

men while they were off-duty, that she sent electronic photos of

herself undressed to some of the men by cell phone, and "consistent"

officer testimony about her behavior toward them.

The report also noted that throughout the investigation the corporal

and her attorney at the time did not cooperate with repeated requests

to provide corroborating evidence to support her various claims.

During the investigation Hughes & Luce noted that the female corporal

was "undergoing counseling, was on medication and had difficulty

recollecting some of the events which occurred." The report indicates

that a lie detector test she attempted to take went awry because of

the woman's "reported current condition," a reference to medication

and stress.

"It is undisputed that (the female corporal) and the officers had

multiple sexual encounters," the report concluded, in part. But the

corporal's "contention that she was forced to be an unwilling

participant in multiple sexual acts is inherently implausible…Further,

(the female corporal's) explanation as to why she engaged in multiple

sexual encounters with the other officers is similarly implausible."

The report added that the credibility of the corporal's allegations of

nonconsensual sex was diminished by the fact that she did not complain

until months later and continued having sexual relations with one or

more of the officers long after the alleged nonconsensual incidents.

The female corporal's responses during interviews with Hughes & Luce

lawyers complicated their efforts to ascertain the veracity of the

woman's story, the report states.

"In that interview, (the corporal) consistently answered 'I don't

remember' to many questions which sought facts in addition to her

original statement given to us," the Hughes & Luce report states. "Her

explanation for this is apparently that a combination of the trauma of

the events...and her current medication prevent her from recalling

additional infromation as to what occurred."

DART has a pending internal affairs investigation of the corporal that

is focused on possible code of conduct violations, including whether

she has been truthful. The corporal remains on paid administrative

leave. The woman's current lawyer in the internal affairs matter says

she stands by her initial allegations that she was an unwilling

participant in sex with the men. Attorney Lance Wyatt also questioned

the thoroughness and credibility of the Hughes & Luce investigation,

which he said reached pre-determined conclusions to protect DART.

"They are very quick to come to a conclusion and then let's support

that conclusion with evidence," Wyatt said. "The evidence will support

what (the female corporal) had to say, and I think they know that it

will support what she has to say."

DART spokesman Morgan Lyons said the agency "stands by the investigation."

MALE DART MOTORCYCLE OFFICERS FIRED, DISCIPLINED

The Hughes and Luce report also questioned the credibility of the male

officers' claims that none of the sex occurred on DART property during

on-duty hours, acts which could lead to swift discipline or

termination. Records obtained by CBS-11 show that the woman claimed

sex acts with the men occurred in secured DART facilities, including

women's restrooms along the DART rail line, once at Fair Park during

motorcycle training and once behind DART police headquarters.

To a man, they described to investigators sexual encounters that only

occurred at hotels and in personal vehicles, off-duty. In one

instance, a male officer described to investigators an encounter in

the parking lot of a North Dallas synagogue, where the female corporal

was working an off-duty security job. But the Hughes & Luce report

questioned whether the male officers told the truth about always

having sex away from DART property.

The officers only acknowledged having sex with the female corporal "to

an extent which seems calculated to allow each of them to avoid

discipline," the report concluded.

"Each stops short of admitting (the female corporal's) specific

allegations of sexual conduct which could cause discipline or

termination – namely, conduct while on duty or while at DART premises.

The investigation team finds these portions of the officers'

statements not credible. We believe that, more likely than not, sexual

activity occurred on duty and on premises as alleged by (the

corporal.)"

"This conclusion is based upon logic, the respective demeanors of

these witnesses and upon our conclusion that (the corporal) has no

known motivation to lie about this issue. She describes conduct which,

if consensual on her part, would subject her to significant

discipline."

Despite questions about the men's credibility, DART internal affairs

investigators said they had no evidence to prove they lied about

having sex at DART facilities. The department cleared the men of those

counts, as well as the squad's sergeant. The sergeant, Michael Oswalt,

had been accused of failing to report the sexual conduct once he

became aware of it.

Under department guidelines, Chief Rodriguez has the authority to

order all of the officers to take polygraph tests. But he did not,

spokesman Morgan Lyons said. Through their attorneys, all four of the

male officers, and their sergeant, declined requests by Hughes & Luce

to voluntarily take lie detector tests, the law firm's report states.

DART internal affairs investigations went on to clear the four male

officers of other serious allegations, as well. Those allegations

included sexual assault, physical assault, steroid use, and extortion.

Sgt. Oswalt was cleared of knowing about, using or failing to report

alleged steroid abuse.

Veteran DART motorcycle officers Derek Wayne Johnson and Billy Still

were terminated for billing DART eight hours they had not actually

worked so they could attend a friend's funeral. A third DART

motorcycle officer resigned during the investigation. Officer Homer

Hutchins and Sgt. Oswalt received counseling for using profanity on

the job, records show, and remain on the department.

The fired officers, Johnson and Still, are appealing their

terminations on grounds that they mistakenly filled out their time

cards for working a day they had actually used to attend a friend's

funeral, with permission from supervisors. Their attorney, Phil

Burleson, Jr., said his clients may not have exercised good judgment

in their private lives but they violated no department policy that

warranted termination.

Burleson said he suspects the firing of Johnson and Still on the time

card allegation was a flimsy pretext to get rid of the officers for

their private sexual conduct.

The time card issue, he said, "simply could have been cleared up. It

happens, as I understand, all the time in the department. It's a very

common issue and that's why it seems so harsh."

STEROID ABUSE, OTHER ALLEGATIONS INVESTIGATED, NOT SUSTAINED

Under the heading, "Other Investigations," the Hughes & Luce report

states: "This investigation focused solely on allegations of possible

sexual harassment. Accordingly, the investigators have considered

allegations of other issues and possible misconduct only to the extent

that this evidence was relevant to our sexual harassment

investigation. Information about these issues is available to DART."

When she first came forward with her story of sexual harassment by

subordinates, the corporal listed steroid abuse among a host of other

serious misconduct allegations. The woman described to investigators a

meeting at which she claimed to have seen a number of officers joking

around about how they inject each other with steroids.

But DART internal affairs investigators cleared all of the officers

after they flatly denied using steroids or joking about them, records

show.

Chief Rodriguez said he was satisfied with the investigation into steroid abuse.

"We have closed that investigation. We are through," Chief Rodriguez said.

None of the officers were ordered to take drug tests for steroids.

"That would be a decision for the executives of DART to be making, not

the chief of police," he said.

DART internal affairs investigators also sought to determine whether

one of the officers extorted money from the female corporal and

physically assaulted her during their relationship. She accused

another officer of sodomizing her in a DART restroom. According to

internal affairs records, there was insufficient evidence to support

any of those claims.

Chief Rodriguez said he did not believe the kickstand scandal had an

adverse impact on the cohesion and effectiveness of his motorcycle

unit.

"No, I'm not concerned about that," he said. "I've met with the

officers. I've met with the command staff, and we continue to be

focused on our mission to provide services to the public."

Chief Rodriguez said he had no plans to report the findings of the

investigation to his officers or the public.

THE CLUB SUAVEMENTE SCANDAL

The so-called "kickstand scandal" is not the first DART investigation

that has sidelined so many officers at once and resulted in firings

that have gone unreported to the public.

CBS-11 News learned during the course of its investigation that In

late 2003, five other DART police officers were placed on paid

administrative leave after they were caught working unauthorized

security jobs at a notorious northwest Dallas nightclub called Club

Suavemente. The now-shuttered nightclub was well-known at the time for

its parking lot homicides and brisk trade in drugs and prostitution.

Department Internal affairs records show that the DART officers were

found out during a Dallas police undercover vice sting operation.

According to records, informants initially reported that off-duty DART

officers were believed to be providing "protection" for the club's

illegal activities, and DART set up a surveillance operation to watch

the officers work. Chief Rodriguez was present on the night internal

affairs investigators rushed into the parking lot and demanded the

officers relinquish their weapons.

Internal affairs investigations found that the officers had

deliberately deceived supervisors to work early morning security

shifts that paid $50 an hour cash. Two were fired in early 2004 for

violating department off-duty work policies. But the records do not

contain evidence that officers knowingly protected illegal activity.

DART police policy forbids off-duty work for businesses that sell

alcohol. During the course of the investigation, officers testified

that they knew of many other DART officers were similarly working at

such establishments, and they named names. It remains unclear whether

the investigation expanded.

Asked about the Club Suavemente investigation, Chief Rodriguez said

the police department has implemented additional checks of off-duty

work applications to insure that officers are following the rules.

He also said the two investigations involving a dozen of the

146-officer department does not indicate an unusual discipline problem

on his force.