THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 10, 1994 TAG: 9409100229
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
A second former Smithfield police officer has sued the town for violation of his right to free speech, his civil rights and his constitutional right to protection of his job as a public employee.
The $2.5 million suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Norfolk on Wednesday by Edward P. Hill, who was a seven-year veteran of the force, third in command and a sergeant before he was fired Sept. 8, 1992, for refusing to obey a direct order to return police records. The suit names the town, Police Chief Mark A. Marshall and former Town Manager Elsey Harris Jr.
The suit alleges corruption in the Smithfield police force and says that Hill saw evidence of altered arrest reports, altered traffic reports and unserved criminal warrants.
It alleges wrongdoing in the Police Department involving then-Chief Claiborne A. Havens, who has since retired.
The lawsuit is similar to one filed last week by another former officer, David A. Richardson.
Richardson is asking for $500,000 in general damages, $26,000 in lost income and benefits and an undetermined amount for loss of future professional opportunities.
Both officers are asking for their jobs back.
Hill's lawsuit differs from Richardson's, however, in that Hill is suing the former town manager as well as the town and the current police chief - the man who fired both officers.
Harris, who retired in August 1992, the lawsuit says, ``ratified, confirmed, condoned, approved and accepted'' Marshall's ``wrongful and unlawful'' termination of Hill.
Andrew M. Sacks, Hill's attorney, is asking for a jury trial.
``We think it will be the first opportunity for these officers to have an unbiased view of their claims,'' Sacks said Friday.
``With a disinterested and objective fact-finder such as a federal jury, we can expect the truth to come out about these cases.''
Both men's allegations were scrutinized by the commonwealth's attorney, who eventually called for a state police investigation. State police found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the town's Police Department.
Smithfield Town Manager Kenneth L. McLawhon said late Friday that the town had not yet been served with Hill's suit.
However, he said, his office had picked up a copy and turned it over to Town Attorney William Riddick III.
Riddick said both lawsuits would be turned over to attorneys at the Virginia Risk Management Insurance Co., which will be representing the town. by CNB