Chief denies celebrity treatment of Goodrich
Posted on 01/30/2003 2:20:59 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Chief denies celebrity treatment of Goodrich
Bolton criticized for saying player should've been 'dragged down the street in handcuffs'
01/30/2003
Dallas Police Chief Terrell Bolton said this week that if he had had his way, Dallas Cowboys player Dwayne Goodrich would have been paraded in front of cameras after turning himself in following the hit-and-run deaths of two good Samaritans this month.
The chief denied that the Police Department gave Mr. Goodrich celebrity treatment when it allowed him to return home after a meeting at his attorney's office with investigators to give a statement about his role in the accident. The chief said police didn't have enough evidence after the incident to arrest him.
Some people also have criticized the department for transporting Mr. Goodrich to a more discreet entrance at Lew Sterrett Justice Center during his arrest.
| Jacquielynn Floyd columns | ||||||||||
|
Police Department spokeswoman Janice Houston said the chief understood the remarks to have been made in confidence to 40 or so media representatives.
There was no mention before or during the event that Chief Bolton's remarks were not to be made public.
On Wednesday, Chief Bolton declined through Ms. Houston to elaborate on his statements. Ms. Houston said the chief did not want to prejudice the case with his opinion.
Reed Prospere, Mr. Goodrich's lawyer, said he doesn't think the chief's comments would poison the jury pool in his client's case because "very few people in the city take him seriously."
"It once again shows me how out of tune he is, not only with his department, but with the reality of how things work in the criminal justice system," Mr. Prospere said. "I just think it's sad when you've got good officers as you do in the city of Dallas that they have to work with irresponsible comments from an out-of-touch superior."
Demont Matthews, 23, and Joseph Wood, 21, died after they were struck by Mr. Goodrich's BMW about 2:15 a.m. Jan. 14. The two men had pulled over on Interstate 35E to help a motorist trapped in a burning car after an earlier accident with a tractor-trailer cab.
Witnesses told police that Mr. Goodrich's speeding car veered between the burning car and a concrete freeway wall, striking Mr. Matthews, Mr. Wood and a third good Samaritan who was treated for a broken leg.
Mr. Goodrich, 24, told police that he was the driver and sole occupant of the car, according to court documents made public last week. He faces two counts of manslaughter and three counts of failure to stop and render aid. He is free on bail.
Michael Linz, a lawyer affiliated with the American Civil Liberties Union, said the chief's comments were "wholly inappropriate."
"Everyone accused is entitled to the benefit of the doubt," he said. "... [Mr. Goodrich is] presumed innocent until convicted. What a comment like this engenders is the 'perp walk,' which is a display of the defendant in front of the media."
He praised the department's discretion in handling Mr. Goodrich.
"I'd say what ... [Mr. Goodrich] received was common courtesy," Mr. Linz said. "I would like to see people who are not celebrities extended the same courtesy."
Chief Bolton also said Tuesday at the seminar that he was frustrated with the timing of the hit-and-run accident. The day before the accident, the chief had unveiled an anti-speeding initiative that includes safety rides, in which officers in patrol cars drive side-by-side on busy freeways at the posted speed limit, forcing drivers to slow down.
Lt. John Branton, head of the Dallas police traffic unit, said he has been surprised by the public criticism of the department in the hit-and-run case, given that detectives were able to get a written statement from Mr. Goodrich.
"We think we've done some pretty good work here," he said.
When Mr. Goodrich was taken to jail, Lt. Branton said, detectives were surprised by the number of media members awaiting their arrival. He said his detectives, unlike some others in the department, were not accustomed to the media attention and decided to enter a different way.
"In the future, if we transport somebody, we'll just walk through the crowd," Lt. Branton said. "We'll just abide by ... [the Sheriff's Department's] rules."
But he said he thinks transporting suspects through a crowd can be a security risk and cited Dallas' most famous case, in which club owner Jack Ruby killed the only suspect in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy during transport through the Police Department's basement.
"We lost Lee Harvey Oswald in our sally port in 1963," he said.
Staff writer Tanya Eiserer contributed to this report.
E-mail jtrahan@dallasnews.com
Police Department spokeswoman Janice Houston said the chief understood the remarks to have been made in confidence to 40 or so media representatives.
There was no mention before or during the event that Chief Bolton's remarks were not to be made public.
He's talking to FORTY reporters and thought they wouldn't print it?...
Words escape me.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
