Posted on 11/21/2001 6:28:17 AM PST by sakic
A Denver police officer embroiled in a bitter dispute with his former wife faces disciplinary action after his wife was arrested the night before a court hearing involving their divorce. Valerie Serna, 38, contends that her former husband, officer Thomas Steen, also 38, had his friends on the force jail her so she would miss the hearing. Steen, an officer in District 1, appeared before the deputy chief Tuesday for a pre-disciplinary hearing. Three other officers who were involved in some way in the arrest last year also appeared Tuesday for hearings, Deputy Chief Dave Abrams said. He declined to release their names or any information, saying it was a personnel matter.
But Serna had plenty to say.
"It was horrible and that's your Denver police," she said.
Steen, through his attorney, declined to comment. Denver court records reveal a trail of acrimony between Steen and Serna, who ended their 12-year-marriage on May 5, 2001. She has two restraining orders against him and neither is allowed to contact the other. In addition, Serna called police after she discovered wiretapping equipment in her attic, where she also found tape-recordings of her phone conversations.
Steen pleaded guilty this month of a misdemeanor charge of possession of wiretapping equipment. He received unsupervised probation and was ordered to pay a $500 fine to Project Safeguard, a domestic violence group, court records show. Abrams said the wiretapping conviction was not part of the disciplinary hearing.
The deputy chief has made a recommendation to the manager of public safety on what discipline, if any, the four officers should receive. He said that recommendation is not public unless the officers appeal. Serna said she was asleep last October when police came to her home with a warrant for her arrest on grounds she some six weeks earlier had violated the no-contact order.
Serna said the contact was unavoidable. She was dropping their son off at his school and her husband, who was working, had pulled over a car in the area. Serna said she had to stop in front of the cruiser. Serna said after her arrest her attorney called Internal Affairs. A week earlier, she said she had filed a complaint with Internal Affairs to say her former husband was stalking her.
An Internal Affairs sergeant interviewed her at the jail and she was released. She was never charged, court records show.
"They made it all go away," she said.
Although in a small respect I can understand. The family law courts of this land are EXTREMELY CORUPT and BIASED. These courts are still completely and totally discriminatory. I know, I spent years in court trying to convince a judge that I know what is best for my children. He even threatened my ex-wife and myself saying if he ever saw us in court again he'd take care of us. This is in the State of Idaho.
I'll bet there are milliosn of stories out there about how corrupt the courts are towards fathers.
If so, speak up...
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