HARTFORD >> Prosecutors on Monday said the government’s civil rights case against one-time East Haven Police Officers David Cari and Dennis Spaulding will show the two worked under the cover of law so they could break it.
The officer’s defense team argued the government is not telling the whole story.
Monday featured opening statements in U.S. District Court and testimony from a nun who acted as a legal adviser to a priest arrested in February 2009 after he videotaped the officers’ visit to a Latino-owned convenience store.
Tuesday will feature testimony from a fellow East Haven officer, a superior who worked above them.
But first Cari and Spaulding watched prosecutor Krishna Patel tell the jury about a “case about the use and abuse of police power” in her opening statement.
Alex V. Hernandez, Cari’s attorney, told jurors in his statement about the government’s “failure to tell them of important information” and that “you will hear no evidence he (Cari) profiled, no evidence of him (Cari) being violent to anyone and no connection between him (Cari) and his fellow officers to engage in a conspiracy.”
Hernandez also claimed prosecutors reached a deal with the Latino owners of the store in order for them to testify, but told jurors he would not elaborate until later in the trial.
Cari, now retired, and Spaulding are two of four East Haven police officers indicted in January 2012 following a U.S. Department of Justice probe into racial profiling allegations. They are charged with conspiracy against civil rights, deprivation of rights for making arrests without probable cause and destruction of records during a federal investigation.
Spaulding, who is suspended from the force, also faces charges of unreasonable force by a police officer.
His attorney, Frank J. Riccio, said in his opening remarks that he agrees “no one is above the law, not a citizen, undocumented alien, residential alien or even a priest.
“The government claims it’s (the indictment) the gospel truth and I’m not here to solve the mystery but to determine what occurred.”
Patel told jurors that the charges revolve around three specific incidents. The first was the Nov. 21, 2008, arrest of Moises Marin, the owner of the La Bamba restaurant, who prosecutors claim was beaten and jailed by Spaulding after he took photos of Spaulding sitting in his cruiser in Marin’s parking lot.
The second incident occurred on Jan. 21, 2009. Prosecutors allege Spaulding and Officer Jason Zullo arrested Jose Luis Albarracin and two friends in the La Bamba parking lot under false pretenses. Spaulding is accused of filing a false arrest report. Zullo, named in the indictment, pleaded guilty last year to a single count of filing a false police report after his cruiser was involved in a collision with a motorcycle.
Zullo will not be sentenced until the trial of Spaulding and Cari is finished.
The third incident occurred at the Latino-owned My Country Store at 677 Main St. on Feb 19, 2009. Cari arrested Rev. James Manship, pastor of St. Rose of Lima Church in New Haven, after Manship began videotaping Cari and Spaulding directing store employees to remove license plates attached to the wall.
Licensed immigration attorney Sister Mary Ellen Burns described at-length Monday her legal resume and her ties to Manship and the church. She acknowledged parishioners in the predominately Latino church had complained to Manship about the police in East Haven. Burns said she joined Manship in at least two meetings prior to his arrest where they spoke with Latinos and determined that one way to prove police harassment was to start filming.
From there, Hernandez questioned her about whether she thought communication was important to her job. She agreed, “not just religiously but in everyday lives,” she pointed out, and from there he led her to disclose that East Haven police officers were never invited to the two meetings.
Burns told Hernandez she warned Manship about interfering with police business but Hernandez then repeatedly questioned the extent of her criminal law background.
More questioning led to an event not mentioned in the indictment.
Days before the My Country Store incident, Manship reportedly filmed Spaulding conducting a traffic stop. Spaulding’s report indicates Manship was standing between 5 and 10 feet away from his police cruiser. He told Manship several times to back away from his police cruiser, warning him about interfering.
“Are you familiar with state statutes on stalking,” Hernandez asked Burns, to which she replied positively.
Another round of questioning dealt with Manship’s handheld 3-inch long camera, which Cari in his report claimed Manship was concealing. Hernandez had Burns answer questions about Manship’s height and the size of his hands. She estimated he stands at least 6-feet, 5-inches tall.
“Yes, I imagine his hands are proportionate size to his body,” she acknowledged.
In the video Cari can be heard asking Manship why he is filming.
Prosecutors later pointed out that the evidence bag holding the camera, which was in police possession for several weeks, did not list the times it was removed and inspected.
A second witness who oversees the software used by the East Haven Police Department also testified Monday. Timothy Murray, of East Haven-based NexGen Public Safety Solutions, said his company specializes in providing software for fire and police departments. As chief technology officer has can view whatever appears on department computer screens.
Murray confirmed to prosecutor Richard J. Schechter that printed copies of in-cruiser computer correspondence between Zullo and Spaulding were accurate. The messages, archived since February 2009, show car-to-car chats. One message from Spaulding, posted more than a week after the My Country Store incident, shows he told Zullo “we are cops, we provoke, that’s our job, not to sit on our heels.”
Hernandez pointed out there was no evidence the message referred to the incident.
Monday’s trial saw several supporters and family members of Cari and Spaulding attend, including East Haven Police Detective Robert Ranfone. In an unrelated case, Ranfone was named in a lengthy internal affairs probe stemming from a January traffic stop in New Haven. Ranfone is currently awaiting a disciplinary hearing regarding the matter.
The trial will continue Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.
Murray will return to complete his testimony and several new witnesses will appear, including East Haven Police Capt. Joseph Slane and Sgt. George Kammerer.
Marin, the man prosecutors allege was beaten by Spaulding, will also testify.
The fourth officer arrested, Sgt. John Miller, pleaded guilty to lesser charges and will testify at a later date.