The fact that there is a constitutional violation and it may have had an effect on the trial, or on the fairness of the trial, that is what will give you a new trial, Curhan said. When the board met, it rejected the recommendation of the hearing officer without explanation. That he was given another chance to try to prove his innocence that hes maintained for 21 years. District A-7 East Boston. But Boston Police Detective Daniel Keeler, who worked the original murder investigation, said he had no doubt that Ellis was guilty and told Judge Carol Ball as much during the hearing for a new trial. "Years after the investigation into his murder, reprehensible, extensive, and. Walter Robinson led that coverage as the Spotlight team's editor. Lopes ultimately admitted involvement in more than 20 shootings, including three fatalities, and received a sweetheart deal of 10 years in prison. 772 , 778 (1989). At a trial in Federal District Court, the Government outlined its case against seven present and former Boston police detectives accused of systematically extorting money and favors from the owners of some of this citys most popular restaurants and nightclubs. In November, jury members again blamed Keelers investigation, after they acquitted James Bush for the murder of three-year-old Malik Andrade-Percival. 3. Officer Walter Suprey, an officer with the department . Donnel Johnson was released from Jail. However, on the side of his actual work, Detective Walter, along with his partner Detective Kenneth Acerra, took part in misappropriating cash and narcotics that they seized while executing falsified warrants. OneGlobereport called Mulligan an old-fashioned, bare-knuckles sort of cop headstrong and street-savvy and blunt., Most people take the family first and their job second, Michael Carroll, then-vice president of the detectives union, told the Globe the day of Mulligans murder. Mulligan was rumored to be part of that corruption, even at . PULIDO and PIZARRO have been BPD officers since 1996 and CARRASQUILLO since 1999. Subsequently, three officers were found liable by a jury of beating Cox in 1995. The three corrupt police detectives, who were involved in the investigation to "varying degrees," were Detectives Kenneth Acerra, Walter Robinson and John Brazil, Pappas said. Children's Hospital/Boston Medical Center. BOSTON - Over 300 federal, state and local law enforcement officers carried out arrests and executed search warrants early this morning in Operation Concord, a large-scale collaborative investigation into the violence and distribution of drugs by the Woodward Avenue and Hendry Street gangs and their associates who terrorized the residents in Bowdoin-Geneva section of Dorchester and the Uphams . In addition to the headline-grabbing acquittals, still other issues haunted Keeler. Boston police allowed a detective to participate in the 1993 investigation into the murder of another detective, John J. Mulligan, though police had been told that the pair had robbed a drug dealer together, newly released Boston police records show. Profitieren Sie von der globalen Reichweite, datengesttzten Erkenntnissen und einem Netzwerk von ber 340.000 Content-Anbietern von Getty Images, die exklusiv fr Ihre Marke Inhalte erstellen. *Sgt. Mulligan, of West Roxbury, joined the Boston Police Department in 1966 and apparently loved his job. Walter V. Robinson, editor at large for The Boston Globe, offered his thoughts on the future of investigative journalism during a talk he gave at Harvard Kennedy School about his newspaper's coverage of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and the movie that is based on the investigation.An audio file of the taped conversation is offered through Harvard's Shorenstein Center on Media . }Customer Service. Curhan said the reports, by themselves, will not lead to a new trial and the issue that is created by the reports is not whether Ellis is guilty or innocent. Sean Ellis embraces his sister, Lasalle Ellis, in the courtroom at Suffolk County Superior Court on Dec. 18, 2018, one day after Suffolk County District Attorney John Pappas said he would not retry Ellis for the 1993 murder. A string of scandals has the Boston Police Department reeling, and the worst may be yet to come. Conclusion. If it was exculpatory it should have been turned over in 1993, and if it is still exculpatory, it should be turned over in 2014.. Walter Robinson, a former Boston police officer, appeals from the denial of his application for accidental disability retirement benefits. Read On for full details-, By: DAVID S. BERNSTEIN, Boston Phoenix9/13/2006 339 , 342-344 (2000). But when his request was denied, he took the matter to court, where a judge dismissed it, calling the case moot.. Investigators, at the time, said only three employees were in the store at the time of Mulligans murder. Daniel Keeleris a 27-year BPD veteran. He retired two years ago, a department spokeswoman said. Keeler is the perfect example of the highly decorated cop who is also despicably dirty. We fully intend to present that evidence to a new jury if necessary.. On Tuesday, a Superior Court Judge granted Ellis a new trialhis fourth in so many years. Therefore, when Detective John Mulligan, another alleged dirty cop like him, was killed while on duty, Walter made sure to be on his murder case. Roxbury Crossing, MA 02120. In July 2000, the feds nabbed notorious gangbanger Augusto Lopes in a sting; Keeler convinced Lopes to give up information on a host of others. But Murphy stood trial, was . He became a detective four years later. At the time of his third trial who exactly pulled the trigger and took Mulligans life had never been officially established, the Globe reported. The shooting was ruled justified, and the man was later convicted of murder. Robinson is not "irremediably" prejudiced by the failure to hold another hearing now. Busted. Edith Kinney Gaylord Visiting Professor in Investigative Journalism, Cronkite School of Journalism, Arizona State University. He also admitted that he failed to report the illegal income he stole on his 1992 tax return. Heres five things to know about the case and the details surrounding it: The front page of The Boston Globe, the day after the murder of Boston Police Det. 2. Boston Globe editor-at-large Walter Robinson, right, and far left, Michael Keaton playing him in 2015 Academy Award-winning film Spotlight. The next step was an evidentiary hearing held on August 20, 1996, where a hearing officer appointed by the Boston Retirement Board (board) determined that Robinson had failed to prove that he was permanently disabled due to work-related PTSD. Robinson joined the Boston police department (department) in 1970. On May 14, 1996, a regional medical panel certified that Robinson was permanently disabled due to the work-related PTSD. Walter V. Robinson, Boston Globe editor-at-large. Robinson's early lyricist education was enriched by the mentorship of world-renowned Jewish lyricist E.Y. Together, we can create a more connected and informed world. In the Lopes cases, jurors overwhelmingly rejected Lopes as a liar, handing down acquittals in every case in which he was the crucial witness. Walter Robinson @WalterVRobinson May 23, 2022 Good luck trying to contact @raileurope if you have a problem! For the reasons set out below, we vacate the judgment on the ground of mootness. Related: Walter V. Robinson: For Father And Son, A Shared Anguish; In these circumstances, the application of the mootness doctrine is warranted. Joseph Murphy, a criminal defense lawyer, was indicted on charges that he participated in an extortion scheme with two Boston police detectives. Ellis was arrested hours after the burials of Kirk and Brown. 1999, a white Boston Police patrolman, Daniel A. Wallace, was disciplined for hanging a makeshift noose over a motorcycle belonging to a black lieutenant. After their pleas, Marquardt resigned from the department, a police spokeswoman confirmed. 617-343-4500. send an email. Walter F. Robinson Jr. and Kenneth Acerra both served three years in prison following their 1997 guilty pleas in U.S. District Court in Boston. Walter has worked at The Globe for more than three decades and is a Boston local, through and through. That came after police discovered he used weapons, ammunition and BPD gear such as caps and windbreakers with the department logo to pull off armed robberies. Keeler and Detective William Maloney, working on a tip, quickly arrestedDonnell Johnson. This eight-part true-crime documentary series does so by highlighting not just racial injustice but also the rampant culture of corruption in the police force. Walter works as Editor-at-Large at The Boston Globe, since May 2014. I dont think hes fully paid for what he did., Prosecutors at the time also fired back, saying that Balls findings did not present one single piece of evidence that contradicts the strong evidence that proved Ellis guilt at trial., In our judgment, this was a conviction based on direct, reliable, corroborated evidence, Jake Wark, a spokesman for then-Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley, told the Globe. One relative told theGlobe that Ellis was questioned by police about his and Kirks presence at the Walgreens the night of the murder only after the two sisters were killed. Stream GBH's Award-Winning Content For Parents And Children. Support GBH. But a detectives name is built on closing cases, not on what happens to those cases later. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility at GBH, Transparency in Coverage Cost-Sharing Disclosures. Patterson was convicted of first-degree murder, armed robbery, and illegal possession of a firearm and sentenced to life in prison in Feb. 1995; however, he was granted a new trial after the. Robinson, who serves as editor-at-large for The Boston Globe, has been teaching at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2016 as the Donald W. Reynolds Visiting Professor, helping students with business and investigative reporting. A report on the allegation that Detective Walter Robinson and Mulligan robbed a drug dealer at gunpoint in 1991 was prepared by the Police Departments Anti-Corruption Unit in November 1993, but was never provided to the defense lawyers of the man convicted of Mulligans murder. The real-life 'Spotlight' journalist shares stories of his career. A Suffolk County grand jury returned an indictment charging officer PAUL DURKIN, 49, with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for allegedly firing his Glock .40-caliber service weapon at fellow officer Joseph Behnke outside Behnkes West Roxbury home. But his reputation in the department faltered in the years before his death. Toggle primary navigation. In this diversity action, Plaintiff Walter Robinson alleges that Defendants, The Globe Newspaper Co. ("Globe") and reporter Mitchell Zuckoff ("Zuckoff"), defamed him in a series of articles appearing in the Boston Globe and The Boston Sunday Globe between February 10, 1996 and March 6, 1996. Max file size: 824 x 1100 px (2.75 x 3.67 in) - 300 dpi . Defendants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. Elliss first two trials in January and March 1995 both resulted in juries voting 9-3 to convict. LeBlanc, a key witness at trial, testified the fingerprint belonged to Cowans. Homicide gave Keeler nearly free rein over dozens of homicide investigations. v. Walter's of Hadley, Inc., 403 Mass. Follow us so you don't miss a thing! Now, with last months charge that he swiped shades from Newbury Street boutique Solstice, Keeler may have finally stepped beyond the pale even by BPD standards. But Keeler, who extracted the information, was never even listed by prosecutors as a potential witness in any of the subsequent trials in fact, his name is noticeably absent from almost all of their voluminous materials. After their pleas, Marquardt resigned from the department, a police spokeswoman confirmed. Thomas R. Matheson who failed to report the seizure of $10,000 from a suspected drug dealer during a 1988 Dorchester raid. See Sugrue v. Contributory Retirement Appeal Bd., 45 Mass. September 24, 2022. Now, Ellis, who spent over 22 years behind bars and whose attorneys had long sought that fourth trial, is telling his story in a new Netflix documentary that hit the streaming service Wednesday, Trial 4.. Earlier this month, the Herald reported drugs had gone missing as police moved mountains of seized cocaine, heroin, marijuana and other drugs from one section of the warehouse to another. The evidence is compelling. Robinson joined the Boston police department (department) in 1970. He was indicted on theft, extortion and conspiracy charges, allegedly stealing more than $250,000 in 56 incidents in the early 90's with partner Detective Kenneth Acerra. In the investigations that followed, both Walter and Kenneth were present whenever a witness was giving a statement, as if to see if they could maybe identify or be influenced into identifying the suspects as Sean Ellis or Terry L. Patterson, the two men they had already arrested. Editor at large @BostonGlobe. * Sgt. While investigating the murder of Jose Deveiga, two officers under Keelers command pulled an innocent man from his home, in his underwear and bound in handcuffs, with television cameras rolling. Nine women and seven men were . Homicide for his remarkable track record of clearing more than 200 murder cases. 376 , 380-381 (1984); Matter of Sturtz, 410 Mass. In 1992, he was branded as a problem officer by the department, whose internal audit found he ranked fifth out of its 1,950 officers for having the most complaints filed against him. From the beginning of the investigation, the apparent criminal misconduct of Detectives Acerra, Robinson, Brazil, and Mulligan gave the surviving partners a motive to cover up any evidence of their own crimes and to contribute to a quick arrest and conclusion to the investigation so that it did not turn in their direction, Ball wrote, according to the Globe. Kenneth Acerra of Newton and Walter Robinson of Belgrade, Maine, had been charged with a 27-count indictment, including stealing guns and drugs. Keeler was later assigned to a regular homicide squad. Keeler won a dismissal of that suit, but was a key player in another lawsuit, in which homicide detectives particularly Keeler were accused of abusing the court-overtime system. Five months after Sean was convicted, the Boston Globe 's investigative Spotlight Team broke the story of corruption in Boston's Area E-5 station housethe base of operations for Mulligan and. These guilty pleas were the equivalent of final convictions and automatically triggered the pension forfeiture statute. Thus, in 1997, a federal grand jury handed him a 27-count indictment that included extortion and conspiracy. For this reason, my office will file paperwork today ending the prosecution of Mr. Ellis for first-degree murder and armed robbery., Pappas noted however that Elliss two convictions for possessing the murder weapon and Mulligans pistol remained undisturbed., He also acknowledged that the decision to drop the more serious charges had to do with three corrupt police detectives. Pappas said prosecutors did not believe Mulligan was involved in the corruption, but it is now inextricably intertwined with the investigation and critical witnesses in the case.. Read More about BPD Officers Dealing Drugs. For PR Pros Overview; Media Database . 1. Mit unserem einfachen Abonnement erhalten Sie Zugriff auf die besten Inhalte von Getty Images. After Robinson tendered his resignation, his superiors urged him to seek professional help. As matters stand, moreover, a remand would be an exercise in futility. Therefore, he cant collect it. I wanted them to become involved in their community, in cleaning up their buildings and taking pride in their neighborhood.. Full story on Detective Keeler from the BOSTONPHOENIX, Read the full story about BPD Drug Dealers. Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis. Arrests and acquittals. Defense attorney Rosemary Scapicchio finally succeeded last fall in securing a hearing for her client, 40-year-old Sean Elliswho for 21 years has maintained his innocence. Any determination of medical eligibility under 7(1) therefore would be purely academic. The Boston Herald also ran this story, and both papers buried it inside, about this one lawyer, Eric MacLeish [played in the film by Billy Crudup] who basically sent out a press release saying . Walter Robinson, a former Boston police officer, appeals from the denial of his application for accidental disability retirement benefits. Mulligan, a 27-year member of the police department, was shot as he worked a private security detail at a Walgreens drugstore on American Legion Highway in Roslindale early on Sept. 26, 1993. Ct. 1 , 4-5 (1998). If he does, it will reopen a dark chapter involving three Boston detectives: Kenneth Acerra, Walter Robinson, and John Mulligan. 2. In December 2004, a jury acquitted one of the two men accused of killing 10-year-old Trina Persad in 2002. @Blackstonian on twitter. Prosecutors have long said that even with the compelling corruption evidence introduced in recent years, there remain elements of the case that support the case against Ellis. Black Cop Beaten by fellow officers Copyright 2017Blackstonian | Prophecy Communications | Site by JL, Mass Police Reform Announces 1-844-BAD-APPL Police Misconduct Tip Line. 58 , 59-60 (1991). Dr. Walter M. Robinson is a Pediatric Pulmonologist in Nashville, TN. During the film, Keeler celebrates his apparent solving of a brutal murder: the beheading of William Leyden. Additionally, Sanchez the key eye witness who identified both Ellis and Patterson as the two men she saw around Mulligans car and Acerra knew one another, GBH reported. Sean Ellis has spent more than half his life behind bars for a murder he insists he did not commit. Ct. 147 , 152 (1995). #ada-button-frame { Scapicchio said that the substance of the 1993 report was published by the Boston Globe in 1996, prompting Elliss trial attorneys to ask Boston police for any reports about the relationship between Mulligan and Robinson, a request that a judge denied. Chapter 1: Execution-Style Murder 52m In 1993, the execution-style killing of a Boston police officer sets off a frantic citywide search for suspects. He was with Terry L. Patterson, also 19, of Hyde Park, who was convicted of murder in the case but later had his conviction overturned on appeal, according to theGlobe. Boston police were on to the three detectives as early as 1991, but the Anti-Corruption Unit files were kept hidden until this August. See Building Commr. Another case, from a 1998 murder, ended in acquittal after the key witness recounted on the stand how Keeler helped him clear up some pending charges, and offered to use his influence to obtain a green card contradicting Keelers claim under oath that he gave no assistance or promises to the witness. Ellis was later charged with assault and battery, family abuse, and threatening to commit a crime and was placed on probation, the Globe reported. 2:25 NEW YORK Not many people can say that Michael Keaton is their doppelgnger. But the passage of more than two and a half decades has seriously compromised our ability to prove it again. 231 , 235 (1976); Home Gas Corp. of Mass. He was convicted in 1995 for fatally shooting Boston detective John Mulligan. Among those who have been accused of derailing the initial murder case is Walter Robinson, and heres all that we know about him. Instead, the legal issue is whether a jury could have been swayed by the information to possibly reach a different verdict, he said. Boston Police Headquarters. Placed on injured-on-duty status, Robinson began attending weekly psychotherapy sessions with Dr. John Greene, a clinical psychologist. Rollins released the list comprised mostly of officers from the Boston Police Department and state police late Friday night. The trio helped secure witnesses and physical evidence from Mulligans murder, Ball, the Suffolk Superior Court judge, wrote in 2015. In April, 1995, Robinson told his superiors that he was no longer able to work because of severe emotional distress brought on by the stress of his work. Robinson insists that he must have a hearing now to preserve the evidence relating to his medical eligibility. The 25-year pursuit of a man authorities allege was responsible for the 1993 killing of Boston police Detective John J. Mulligan ended Monday, when Suffolk prosecutors said they would not retry. He agreed and was allowed to withdraw his resignation. In September 2002, Keeler shot a murder suspect (John Powell) in the head in the middle of a busy street (Humboldt Ave., Roxbury). His conviction sat on the theory of felony murder, according to the Globe. Keeler, department spokespeople, and other sources agree that the transfer was voluntary, but no one has provided a detailed explanation for the change. In July, the men were arrested in an FBI undercover sting operation after they had traveled to Miami, Florida to receive a $35,000 payment for protecting what they believed to be 100 kilograms of cocaine. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. If at any point we had any reason to believe that Mr. Ellis was wrongfully charged or convicted, we would have acted on it immediately.. Boston Police Detective Walter F. Robinson Jr. leads Terry L. Patterson out of West Roxbury District Court after his arraignment on Oct. 5, 1993 for the murder of Detective John J. Mulligan. The stories drew national attention and won the paper a Pulitzer. LeBlanc, who was first assigned to the ID unit in 1985, was suspended for 10 days in 1992 after he was caught pantless and drunk while off-duty on the banks of the Charles River, police sources confirmed. Over a week after Elliss arrest on Oct. 6, 1993, his mother, Mary Jackie Ellis, struggled to comprehend how her son was charged in such a horrific crime. "You had to be very, very careful because of its power, and in this case it meant for us getting documents." -NPR Get free summaries of new Massachusetts Appeals Court opinions delivered to your inbox! During his medical leave, Robinson was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 'Trial 4 is an eight-part docu-series that follows Sean K. Ellis, who spent around 22 years in jail after being wrongfully convicted of murdering Boston Police Detective John Mulligan, on his journey for justice. Her aunt had been romantically involved with him. Public Records requests. Please try again later. Although prosecutors intended to bring Ellis back to court after his release in 2015, charges against him were withdrawn in December 2018. He then attended Boston's New England Conservatory of Music Graduate School in Music Composition. Robert E. Anthony Historian. In the 25 years since Det. The result was Tuesdays surprise decision by Judge Carol Ball to grant Ellis a new trial. He was relentless.. Even before the Solstice incident, Keeler had been unable to avoid controversy within the relative quiet of district D4. The eight-part docuseries will feature Sean Ellis as he faces his fourth trial 25 years after he was first tried in 1995 as he may end up going back to prison. United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Kenneth W. Kaiser, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Albert Goslin, Superintendent in Chief of the Boston Police Department, announced today that ROBERTO "KIKO" PULIDO, age 41, of 57 Leighton Road in Boston, CARLOS A. PIZARRO, age 36, of 8 Lenoxdale Avenue in Boston, and NELSON CARRASQUILLO, age 35, of 101 Gallivan Boulevard in Boston, were charged in an Indictment with one count of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine and more than 1 kilogram of heroin. That alibi in fact, the very fact that the questioning took place was never passed on to the prosecutors, as required by law. After discussing 12 years of Keeler cases with prosecutors, defense attorneys, investigators, and others and reviewing court documents, transcripts, and other case materials one detects a distinct pattern, particularly in high-profile cases, such as those involving murdered children. (A judge later called the episode deeply troubling: Maloney was suspended for 30 days but Keeler was not disciplined.) more info here. In 1998, Robinson and Acerra pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from a 27-count indictment, including that they stole over $200,000 and took bribes in exchange for offering lenient sentence recommendations, according to the Associated Press. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images . Bei kommerzieller Verwendung sowie fr verkaufsfrdernde Zwecke kontaktieren Sie bitte Ihr. Keeler was also rebuked for a December 2003 incident in which he ignored a suspects request for an attorney while questioning him in his hospital bed. Mulligan invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when he went before a grand jury; he was not charged with a crime. Receive the latest news and breaking updates, straight from our newsroom to your inbox. Find out more about BPD Drug Evidence Tampering. Many doubt that Keeler would have left without a fight. They knew that the people they had working on the Mulligan task force, in particular, Detective Robinson, was accused of participating in a robbery with Mulligan.. In that same case, the defense attorney forced Keeler to admit to making false statements in an affidavit seeking search warrants which some consider even more damaging to his credibility in future trials. Sean Ellis is guilty, he said. The hearing officer recommended that Robinson's application for accidental disability retirement benefits be denied. The city paid the beaten officer, Michael A. Cox, $1 million for his injuries. * Officer Thomas Traynor, who was sent to the ID unit from Area A-1 in December 1996 after a federal drug informant claimed he drank beer with Traynor and his partner in their cruiser outside a downtown after-hours police club just before he got into a fatal accident on Route 128. Where Is Trial 4s Rosemary Scapicchio Now. Never forgotten by the Officers of the Boston Police Department. To prepare for the role of real-life reporter Walter Robinson, Birdman 's Michael Keaton spent several hours with the man to learn his mannerisms and Boston accent. Research that trawled through a litany of official . John Mulligan, as seen in 1978. Keeler still had dozens of cases awaiting trial and some prosecutors in Conleys office admit that they became increasingly reluctant to have Keeler testify, as defense attorneys gained more and more ammunition with which to cast doubt on his integrity and methods. Menu. They were actually named as the individuals hanging near Mulligan's rented SUV. Attorney Stephen Hrones sued Keeler in 2003 for slander. Sean Ellis has spent more than half his life behind bars for a murder he insists he did not commit. Walter Robinson resigned from the Boston Police Department around that same time, and in 1998, he pleaded guilty to reduced federal charges. The tips said the pair believed the detective had harassed a teenage female relative all information Elliss defense did not receive, Ball said. John Mulligan. Federal prosecutors have also appeared unwilling to use him in court. As part of a plea agreement, the two fired officers pleaded guilty to one count each of civil rights violations, extortion and tax violations. He was ordered to serve 22 years but was soon released based on good behavior and time already served. Ball wrote that the prosecution was in a rush to judgement with Elliss arrest and subsequent conviction. LOWELL A . One Schroeder Plaza. All three had also been the detectives later accused of joining Mulligan in robbing the suspected drug dealer just a little more than two weeks before his death. In 1995, following Terrys conviction and Seans first trial, Walter told his superiors that he was no longer fit to work because of severe emotional distress. All three were placed on administrative leave shortly after their arrest in July 2006. of Retirement, 432 Mass. Over the years, Keeler has become the subject of several lawsuits. Two Boston Police Department officers are on administrative leave after they were arrested in two separate incidents, officials said Monday. The Boston police anti-corruption unit is investigating whether cops stole the drugs that are missing from a Hyde Park evidence warehouse jeopardizing ongoing criminal cases in the latest embarrassing blow to a department already rocked by scandal. The 2015 movie about the reporting, "Spotlight," won Oscars. Boston Police / Officers Arrest Suspect in Possession of a Loaded Firearm in Jamaica Plain March 01, 2023 At about 4:32 PM, on Tuesday, February, 28, 2023, officers assigned to District E-13 (Jamaica Plain) responded to a radio call for a found weapon at 401 Centre Street in Jamaica Plain. See Malone v. Civil Serv. Conleys office said the records were privileged and only released this week because Ball ordered them to be turned over to Elliss defense. The indictments did not, however, end activity related to Robinson's application for accidental disability retirement benefits. Daniel Dovidio began serving a 45-day suspension in 2001 after an internal investigation showed he allowed officers to lie in their reports about the 1995 beating of Sgt.