St. Paul cop on leave amid claims she lied to grand jury
An investigator with the St. Paul Police Department has been placed on paid leave after federal judges rebuked her for lying to a grand jury concerning a sex trafficking case. The investigator also lied during a detention hearing.
Prosecutors in St. Paul are now trying to determine what to do with other cases that the investigator was involved with, as other allegations of misconduct have surfaced from a previous sex trafficking case in 2008 that involved the same investigator.
Defense attorney David Komisar said that the investigator should face consequences for lying in court as she was the lead agent in the current case. Yes, lying to make sure that defendants are all sent to prison is illegal.
The sad part is, that perjury is not considered as serious. However, imo I believe that if someone lies on the stand for whatever reason, especially when it comes to an innocent person facing a possible life sentence or even just 10-20 year sentences. That whoever lies on the stand to bring such an outcome should be punished alot more than 3 days or a week. I mean make the perjury fit the consequences of the person facing prison time. I bet you’ll get a more honest outcome. If someone lies in an investigation or court and puts an innocent person in prison for a lengthy amount of time, then whoever committed the perjury should face a lengthy sentence as well. I’d say 5 years for perjury that resulted in someone being imprisoned for 20 yrs. Lol I know for a fact things would then be different.
All her cases should be thrown out or all the convicted should get a new trial. They should be released without bail awaiting a new hearing. And of course if all the evidence they have is her testimony, the people should be set free unless there is other evidence beyond her word.
I totally agree, Cherokee. And she should be indicted as well. I generally allow that cops should be given deference when they operate in a grey area. However, when the “good guys” step into the black and become the bad guys, they should be hammered.
Veritas.
Good to see someone finally called out for there reprehensible conduct . This is so common ,the public would never believe it. This one just go called out. There is a guy in prison in Kansas City that they are going to release in a few weeks that has been there for 43 years for a murder in 1978. Prosecutors admitted they know he is innocent. It’s taken about a year sense they admitted it and there still trying to figure out how to release him.
David
Well if they are admitting that, the guy is going to get a pay day like no other. But that still does not give him back those missed 43 years. And speaking from experience, prison does something to you. I did not let it change my core goodness, but it did open my eyes to the evil that walks among us.
Not all of the bad guys were the inmates. I saw prison guards do unspeakable things to people, in fact it nearly happened to me. I thank God every day for getting me out of prison with all my fingers and toes and no extra scars.
I also saw how easy it was to go in with a 5 to 10 year sentence and end up being in their for 20. Just like cops there were good and bad correction officers. I still remember one Sgt. who was a big ole Teddy bear and he loved us all to death. He use to sneak us extra food in the dining room lol
FAC, I’m surprised you haven’t posted this story;
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/09/17/west-virginia-police-chief-allegedly-rapes-girl/
Maestro
That is one of the top 50 most bizarre stories I have ever read.
Ok maybe in the last month. There has been a lot of weird stuff goin on lately. I think the World is going to Hell in a hand basket. The registry might end up being the least of our problems eventually.
Paid leave for lying to a jury, isn’t that moronic. How many innocent people are in prison because of her? It’s a crime if we lie to law enforcement; however it’s fine when law enforcement lies with impunity. Gee our government at it’s finest.
It’s about time. In my case, the FDLE lied even when they didn’t need to. My lawyer told me ahead of time what they would do at each stage, and how they would lie to ensure getting a warrant, and how they would claim “corrupt audio” when he filed for the “said admittance” in discovery. And every one of his predictions were 100% accurate. It was as if FDLE were running on a script, and the judge never questioned it.
The disturbing part was not that they lied, we all know they do. It was that no one ever questioned why in almost every case of CP, the audio recording has become corrupt after they got their warrant.
It’s about time, and I applaud that judge for calling her out for her lying. If more judges would do that, there might be less of it because of the potential punishments.
ABC, you wrote: “It was as if FDLE were running on a script, and the judge never questioned it.” This is the primary problem! The judges just go along! In my case, the feds lied to a federal judge to get a search warrant, then they lied to a different judge and grand jury, then they lied to yet another judge and my trial jury. None of these judges stopped to really examine the false testimony. And it’s all on the record with other evidence and facts that contradict the lies. I appkuad the judge(s) on this case who decided the St Paul officer for lying.
Bob
It makes you wonder sometimes if law enforcement has some dirt on some of those judges. “Make the case go our way or we will bring up “That incident”. “You know the one”.
ABC
As a former cop, I can tell you cops will lie to their own Mother if it means saving their jobs or saving a case from collapsing. On numerous cases I refused to testify because I knew I could not lie to cover other officers butts. Some called me out for not telling on them but then I would have gotten a beat down in a dark alley somewhere.
My hard, but necessary solution was to resign. I could no longer take the nightmares and bad nights sleep. Not all cops are like that. But for every good cop, I would say the years take a toll on a lot of them and turn them. I use to have a debate with other officers on the pros and cons of a big department vs. a small department.
That’s a shame, it really is. I have a friend who is a cop and he says the same thing. He became a school resource officer so that he wouldn’t get caught in the same situation, having to lie to cover someone else.
In my case, not knowing anything about the law, I did agree for them to “look though” my laptop. But AFTER they did a forensic scan on my laptop and two external hard drives, they had me sign a consent to electronic search.
Rule number one is never to give consent to a search. The moment you do, you lose constitutional protections and any Fourth Amendment defense. Police have been known to plant evidence (gasp, that can’t be). They will often use the “what are you hiding” ruse to obtain consent. The point is not to resist authority, but to remind those in authority as to the limits of that authority.
Veritas.
Something else I thought of that I keep forgetting to mention. Isn’t it odd that some states have no statue of limitations on sex offenses.
And yet when I tried to go back and challenge some of my charges with new evidence, I was told by the judge “Too much time has passed, the statue of limitations has expired”.
Well I tried to file in while locked up and I was told “Wait until you get released”. Yeah I was set up to fail. Such dishonesty from the courts. Great examples of integrity and the oaths that you took.
CherokeeJack
It’s good to hear your comments from a perspective of someone who has been on both sides of the fence. Your viewpoint is appreciated. Thanks. Just wish it could be shared with a bigger audience.
David
Although there are and always have been some good cops around, when push comes to shove, almost no officer is going to side with a suspect. Case in point, the George Floyd case. I am glad I was not there as an officer. I know the feeling that something is not right but if you speak up, your career is over. You are in a “No win” situation. I saw this first hand so many times that I asked to be transferred out of patrol.
I LOVED patrol. I loved to stop and talk to people and let them know they could trust me and that all cops were not bad. But when you are forced to choose between a fellow officer and a civilian, you are put in a situation that someone is going to hate you whichever way you go.
We hear the “Thin blue line” mentioned. Well the line is NOT thin. If you are not with the police then you are the enemy. (Not my words). A lot of officers have a mentality that they are in a battle field on every shift and all the civilians are potential felons that just haven’t been caught yet.
And do not even get me started on all the jokes you had to endure on a shift. I heard so many racial jokes that I became numb to them. Sex jokes, racial jokes, Jokes about woman and then of course were making fun of handicap people. We would go on a call with someone who had cerebral palsy and some of the officers would be behind a patrol car making fun of the person .
I do not even know how I made it through the years I was on the force without doing something I regret to one of these so called professionals. AND this is not unique to police. I was also an EMT for many years and the amount of people that were made fun of was sickening. When I complained I was told that is how they cope with the day to day traumas they see??? Really ?