Columbus Police officers who witnessed potential police misconduct during summer protests forced to answer questions in city probe

Owen Milnes
Fri, 26 Mar 2021 01:56:13 +0000
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Investigator Richard Wozniak issued Garrity notifications, compelling the six officers to answer necessary questions to determine if any of the five Columbus Police officers under investigation for police misconduct during summer protests are guilty of criminal wrongdoing, according to a press release from the Columbus Department of Public Safety. Credit: Sarah Szilagy | Campus Editor

The independent investigator hired by the city of Columbus to look into potential misconduct by Columbus Police during the summer protests ordered six officers as witnesses to answer questions regarding the potential criminal misconduct.?

Investigator Richard Wozniak issued Garrity notifications, compelling the six officers to answer necessary questions to determine if any of the five Columbus Police officers under investigation for police misconduct are guilty of criminal wrongdoing, according to a press release from the Columbus Department of Public Safety. Under Garrity notifications, the officers’ testimonies cannot be held against them in criminal proceedings. If officers do not cooperate with the orders, they could face departmental charges of insubordination.

“Those who received the orders are strictly witness officers, not officers under investigation. Information they can provide is essential to the ability to identify officers who may have committed a crime, and necessary for any prosecution of those who might be charged with crimes,” the release states.

The release does not name the officers compelled to answer questions.?

The release states this is necessary because “Wozniak has exhausted every other means of gaining cooperation from these officers (short of them being ordered to do so.)”?

Wozniak contacted 60 officers who were identified as witnesses to potential misconduct, according to the release. As of Thursday, 55 declined to participate, with 44 doing so through their attorney.

At the time of publication, only five witness officers have agreed to be interviewed after being guaranteed they would not be criminally prosecuted, according to the release. Other identified witness officers have refused to be interviewed or provide information on “other officers who appear to have committed illegal acts.”

Officers were also provided an internal website to provide anonymous information on the incidents, the release states.?

The city also hired Kathleen Garber, a special prosecutor in the City Attorney’s office, to prosecute any officers Wozniak believed committed criminal acts.?

The release states Garber determined there is probable cause to believe some Columbus Police officers committed misdemeanor crimes and there is clear evidence many officers witnessed the actions.?

Lawyers representing the five officers under investigation — police Lt. Lowell Rector, police Sgts. Caroline Castro and Justin Coleman and officers Rufus Goodwin and Shannon Schmid — filed a complaint Friday alleging subpoenas directly related to the May 29, May 30 and June 1, 2020, incidents during Black Lives Matter protests — including the June 1 pepper-spraying of Lantern staff — were unconstitutional and in violation of federal case law and Ohio rules for criminal procedure.?

The complaint was voluntarily dismissed by the officers and their attorney(s) Monday, according to court documents.?

Garber said in a Tuesday statement she attempted to use the investigative subpoena to discover the identities of the officers in question — which is authorized in city code. However, she discovered there are limitations in the law pertaining to the statutory conduct of the municipal court.?

Because of this, Garber said she withdrew the subpoenas Friday.?

In the Thursday release, Garber said the focus of the investigation is accountability.

“No one is above the law. That includes law enforcement. If laws were broken, we will hold those responsible accountable,” Garber said. “It is concerning and disappointing that the people standing in the way of that accountability are fellow officers.”