The internal affairs files for 10 of the 15 officers identified by the Chattanooga Police Department as having sustained allegations of untruthfulness and misrepresentation revealed that the allegations were sustained as recently as this year.
The officers were reassigned following a request from a representative of the Eastern District of the U.S. Attorney's Office for a list of officers who had sustained allegations of misrepresenting the truth.
According to previous statements made by union representatives and attorneys for the officers, after the first 10 officers were reassigned, some of the allegations were from 11 and 14 years ago.
Janie Varnell, an attorney with the firm Davis & Hoss, who represents one of the unions as well as several of the officers, said in a telephone interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press, that "the last five" officers identified after an internal audit by the Chattanooga Police Department were those whose cases occurred "14 and 18 years ago."
"Some cases are old, and others are not 11 and 14 years old," Chattanooga Police Assistant Chief Jerri Sutton said in an email to the Times Free Press. She added that "all of them occurred during administrations prior to Chief (Celeste) Murphy's."
The names of the additional five officers have been requested by the Times Free Press. As of Friday, they have yet to be released by the city or the Chattanooga police.
Internal affairs files released to the Times Free Press revealed that 10 of the officers had sustained such allegations between 2017 and 2022.
Former Master Police Officer Charles Ballard worked with the department from Jan. 31, 1997, to Aug. 17, 2022, according to records released by the city to a private citizen, who then provided them to the Times Free Press. He sustained allegations of misrepresentation in 2018.
According to Ballard's internal affairs summary file, the allegations were:
-- Unsatisfactory performance, sustained Aug 31, 2018.
-- Misrepresentation, sustained Aug 31, 2018.
-- Improper procedure, sustained Aug 31, 2018.
No narrative of the violations was provided. The result was a 50-hour suspension.
The 2022 Chattanooga Police Code of Conduct lists unsatisfactory performance as "unwillingness or inability to perform assigned tasks, the failure to conform to work standards established for the employee's rank, grade or position, the failure to take appropriate action on the occasion of a crime, disorder or other conditions requiring police attention, repeated infractions of rules, regulations, directives or order of the Department."
Officer Celtain Batterson was under investigation in 2020 for excessive force and misuse of department equipment after he and a second officer were in pursuit of a suspect who had run a red light in the Brainerd area -- resulting in a vehicle crashing into a home during the incident.
Batterson's internal affairs file showed violations involving the following policies::
-- Pursuit violation, sustained Sep 18, 2020.
-- Extra employment violation, sustained Sep 18, 2020.
-- Submitting department reports, sustained Sep 18, 2020.
-- Misrepresentation, sustained Sep 18, 2020.
-- Improper procedure, sustained Sep 18, 2020.
The result was a 70-hour suspension.
The code of conduct manual describes untruthfulness as "any answer, response, or piece of material evidence which is determined to be false or fabricated," while the 2020 code of conduct manual states that misrepresentation is a misstatement, or an incomplete statement, of a material fact that results in the misunderstanding of what actually transpired but does not rise to a level classified in the policy as untruthfulness. That may generally apply to information and matters internal to the department.
Officer Gregory Stroud, who was arrested and charged with simple assault in 2020 -- charges that have since been dropped and his record expunged -- sustained allegations in 2017 and again in 2020 for misrepresentation.
"Police Code of Conduct has a discipline scale that ranges from positive discipline to termination," Sutton said in response to Times Free Press inquiries about keeping an officer on the force should they be arrested and charged after a domestic assault incident. "Criminal offenses are a violation of policy and the employee information guide of the city of Chattanooga. Each case is judged on the circumstances involved, and discipline is issued according to the discipline matrix, which considers the offense, recurrence and law. Every employee is afforded due process."
Stroud's internal affairs file showed he had sustained the following allegations:
-- Improper investigation, sustained Oct. 24, 2017.
-- Result: Disciplinary actions: none.
-- Misrepresentation, sustained Dec. 16, 2020.
-- Result: 20-hour suspension.
Submitting false reports is defined as: The written or electronic documents submitted by employees shall be truthful and complete, and no employee shall knowingly enter or cause to be entered inaccurate, false, misleading or improper information, or submit reports containing material omissions, according to the 2022 code of conduct manual.
Officer Jonathan Adams' internal affairs file showed he had sustained the following allegations:
-- Submitting false reports, sustained Oct. 13, 2021.
-- Reporting for duty, sustained Oct. 13, 2021.
-- Unbecoming conduct, sustained Oct. 13, 2021.
The result was a 160-hour suspension.
Officer Jarelle Wolff's internal affairs file showed he had sustained the following allegations:
-- Submitting false reports, sustained May 27, 2020.
-- Misrepresentation, sustained May 27, 2020.
-- Unsatisfactory performance, sustained May 27, 2020.
The result was a 120-hours suspension.
Officer Michael Hogsed's internal affairs file showed he had sustained violations involving the following policies:
-- Submitting department reports, sustained May 20, 2020;
-- Use of force violation / no injury / improper application, sustained May 20, 2020;
-- Misrepresentation, sustained May 20, 2020.
The result was a 3o-hour suspension.
Officer Zachary Smith's internal affairs file showed he had sustained the following allegations:
-- Improper procedure, sustained Feb. 4, 2022.
-- Misrepresentation, sustained Feb. 4, 2022.
The result was a 40-hour suspension.
Sgt. Bobby Adams' internal affairs file showed he had sustained the following allegations:
-- Improper procedure, sustained Feb. 4, 2022.
-- Misrepresentation, sustained Feb. 4, 2022.
-- Supervisory responsibility, sustained May 26, 2022.
-- Insubordination - Level II, sustained May 26, 2022.
-- Misrepresentation, sustained May 26, 2022.
The result was a 50-hour suspension.
Sgt. Zachary Fuller's internal affairs file showed he had sustained the following allegations:
-- Misrepresentation, sustained Sept. 7, 2019.
The result was a written reprimand Sept. 7, 2019.
Officer Michael Keef's internal affairs file showed he had sustained the following allegations:
-- Submitting false reports, sustained Feb. 11, 2021.
-- Improper procedure, sustained Feb. 11, 2021.
-- Unsatisfactory performance, sustained Feb. 11, 2021.
The result was a 40-hour suspension.
A 1963 Supreme Court case, Brady v. Maryland, established that a prosecutor is required to disclose to the defense if a police officer involved in the case had lied or committed acts that could undermine their credibility during the investigative process of the case or their testimony in court. As a result, each state is to keep a database, or "Brady list," of officer names.
According to the website Brady-Giglio List, the consequences of being on the list include possible termination if the officer is no longer credible to give testimony at court, along with lasting stigma, job limitations, as well as advancement limitations. Once the internal affairs investigation is completed, and determined that the allegations were unfounded, the officers or their attorney can request their names to be removed from the list, according to the website.
As of Thursday, all reassigned officers were given the option to return to their enforcement duties, according to Kirsten Yates, the communications director for the city of Chattanooga. After the resolution was agreed upon, a news release issued by the department said any officer who, beginning Aug.17, has any such allegation sustained would be terminated.
Contact La Shawn Pagán at lpagan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow her on Twitter @LaShawnPagan.