The Washington Post
June 3, 1978, Saturday, Final Edition
Police Brutality Charge Probed by Grand Jury;
Grand Jury Probes Charge of Fairfax Police Brutality;
Fairfax Officers to Testify
BYLINE: By Jane Seaberry, Washington Post Staff Writer
SECTION: Metro; C1
LENGTH: 718 words
A federal grand jury has begun an investigation into
allegations that three Fairfax County policemen needlessly beat a 16-year-old
youth they were arresting and that a county police trial board may have
attempted to cover up the incident. The officers - one of whom was earlier
exonerated by a county police trial board composed entirely of police officer -
have agreed to appear voluntarily before the grand jury, county officials
yesterday told a federal judge in Alexandria.Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank W.
Dunham said the grand jury "will not only focus on the conduct of these
three officers, but the conduct of the officers who reviewed" the incident.
The jury is attempting to determine "if the police trial board acted
properly or swept it (the incident) under the rug," Dunham said.
Disclosure of the grand jury investigation came yesterday
morning as lawyers for the county attempted to quash a subpeona for a transcript
of a statement that one of the officers made to the trial board. The officer,
Keith M. Florence, made the statement under a grant of immunity from state
prosecution and under a threat of losing his job, Jack Gould, assistant Fairfax
County attorney, told U.S. District Judge Albert V. Bryan Jr. Dunham said he
did not know what Florence said in the statement and that was why the
government was attempting to obtain it by a subpoena. The trial board's
proceedings are closed and Fairfax police have refused to release details of
their internal investigation into the incident.Bryan refused the county's
request, but set limits on the use of the statement in the investigation.
Dunham had said that the statement would be used only to check on the officers'
testimony before the grand jury and would not be used at any trial, if the
officers are indicted.The incident, which Gould said marks the first time
federal authorities have investigated the county police for their conduct,
grows out of the Jan. 6 arrest of Howard L. Cadle at roller skating rink in the
Franconia section of the county.Witnesses to the arrest have said they saw
policemen hit Cadle repeatedly on the head and shoulders with their billy
clubs. Lacy Cadle. The youth's father, filed brutality charges against the
three officers, but on March. 29, Fairfax County Chief Col. Richard A. King
dismissed the charges.King said he accepted the decision of the trial board
that found that Florence did not use "excessive physical force" in
arresting Cadle. Brutality charges against the other two officers. Robert T.
Hubbard and James F. Kelly Jr., were dismissed without a trial board hearing
because of what King said was insufficient evidence.All three officers are
currently on duty on the Fairfax County force.The grand jury probe is itself an
outgrowth of an FBI investigation of the arrest, a Justice Department source
said. It could not be learned yesterday who initially requested the
investigation.A Justice Department official said that the department receives between
12,000 and 15,000 complaints a year against police officers, but that only
about 80 of the complaints are taken before a grand jury. About 60 of the cases
result in indictments, the official said.The official said the federal
investigation is being conducted under the 1968 Civil Rights Act which makes
officers who violated the civil rights of an individual subject to a fine of up
to $1,000 and a year in jail."We're no different from any other police
department in the country," said Fairfax Chief King yesterday. The grand
jury investigation "of itself is not a conviction or a trial," he
said.Since King dismissed the brutality charges, Cadle's father has filed a
$20,000 damage suit against the officers in federal District Court.In their
answer to the suit, the officers denied Cadle's version of the incident. They
said in court papers, however, that "any injury or damage suffered
by" Cadle was caused by his "wrongful acts and conduct and the
willful resistance to a peace officer" in the discharge of his duties.The
force used by the officers "if any . . . was reasonable and necessary
under the circumstances" and was caused by Cadle's assault and battery on
the officers, according to the court papers. Their actions were lawful and in
self-defense, the officers said.