Attorneys for a group of defendants arrested by a Baltimore police sergeant can view the internal affairs files for more than 30 complaints against him and use them to challenge his credibility, a city judge has ruled.
Sgt. Joseph Donato’s record includes excessive-force and false-arrest complaints that were sustained by internal affairs investigators. Prosecutors are required to disclose potentially relevant material to defendants but had not revealed these cases. They said in court this month they did not believe they were required to turn over the files, which are protected under the state’s personnel laws.
In his ruling, Circuit Judge John S. Nugent concluded that the files were “pertinent to the defendants’ cases.”
His decision comes as both prosecutors and defense attorneys are reviewing scores of cases stemming from the work of seven city police officers indicted on federal racketeering charges. Some charges have been dropped and a guilty plea overturned amid questions about those officers’ credibility. Donato is not among the indicted officers.
Critics have claimed police and prosecutors overlooked or sought to suppress information about problem officers.
Nugent’s order turns over 33 complaints against Donato, an officer since 1994, that were lodged from 2007 to 2016. The files remain protected under court order, but defense attorneys can explore the cases and argue to a judge they should be able to mention them at their clients’ trials.
Donato’s attorney has denied the accusations against his client and said Donato was never found guilty through the internal disciplinary process of any accusations of excessive-force or integrity violations.
Deborah K. Levi, the public defender who led the effort to get Donato’s files, said the judge’s decision to release them “begs the question of how many other officers’ internal affairs files are out there that we are entitled to and not getting.”
The Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office has said it has improved the process for informing defense attorneys “whenever there was an issue of credibility or integrity as to an officer.” But the office has argued that allegations of excessive force don’t fall under the disclosure requirement.
State’s attorney’s office spokeswoman Melba Saunders said Tuesday that it was prosecutors who “proactively” filed a motion requesting the court to review Donato’s personnel records.
“In the pursuit of justice and in fairness, we consolidated all the cases in which this officer was listed as a witness, including those where the defense had not yet subpoenaed the records, because we felt the need to obtain guidance from the court as to what we should legally disclose,” Saunders said.
At least some of the allegations against Donato previously surfaced in 2013 in a civil lawsuit filed against Donato and other officers in U.S. District Court that was eventually dismissed. Those records show numerous complaints that were sustained by internal affairs investigators.
In one case, Donato was one of two officers charged by internal affairs with excessive force and neglect of duty for allegedly sending a young man into a coma after kicking him in the eye and head, dragging him into a bathroom and beating him with their service radios, according to documents from a civil lawsuit against Donato in which the plaintiff was granted access to his file.
In sworn statements, the officers denied beating the victim and said he had fallen down the stairs. But, according to the plaintiff’s summary in court records, the incident was caught on surveillance tape.
In another case, according to documents from the civil lawsuit, internal affairs investigators brought charges against Donato for striking a 24-year-old man with his service radio, causing injuries that required facial sutures. Donato again said the man fell down the stairs, according to court records.
Another sustained charge was an incident in which he allegedly arrested a woman to intimidate her into not making a complaint against him.
Through an attorney, Donato has maintained his innocence in those cases.
“Sgt. Donato has never been found responsible for any use of excessive force or any charge impugning his integrity,” attorney Chaz Ball said. “He is a dedicated public servant who has spent his career trying to make this City safer for its law abiding citizens.”
When internal affairs investigators decide a complaint is warranted, or sustained, the accused officer can go before a police trial board to contest the result. The final outcomes of the complaints against Donato were not disclosed in the federal court records.
The defense attorneys represent clients charged with drug and firearms charges, some of whom have been arrested several times in recent years. Donato is typically one of three to six officers listed as police witnesses in the cases in question.
One of the defendants is Eric Rose, who was arrested by seven officers, including Donato, on charges of firearm possession with a felony conviction. Rose also has a pending drug case. He was convicted in 2003 of attempted second-degree murder and received 15 years in prison.
Christopher Kemp, another one of the defendants challenging Donato’s internal affairs history, is facing charges of firearm possession with a felony conviction and has a prior armed-robbery conviction in which he received 15 years in prison, with 10 years of the sentence suspended.
The day after the March 6 hearing on Donato’s personnel file, he was transferred from his longtime assignment in the Police Department’s Central District to the Southwestern District. Police have declined to discuss the move.
Records show Donato earned $125,000 last year, including more than $31,000 in overtime pay.
By Justin FentonContact Reporter
Source .baltimoresun.com
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