Post by Shuftin on Feb 20, 2007 4:10:22 GMT -5
February 17, 2007
By BILL HUGHES
GREENBURGH - The police officer snared in a sex scandal involving allegations of a tryst in the woods with a dominatrix was ordered fired by the town of Greenburgh's Board of Police Commissioners in a decision released after business hours yesterday.
Erik Ward, who was acquitted of the criminal charge of official misconduct in Town Court in December, was found guilty of three out of seven departmental charges stemming from his interaction with Gina Pane, a professional dominatrix who was arrested on a marijuana possession charge in January 2006.
The day after her arrest, Ward met Pane at the parking lot of the Doral Arrowwood Resort and Country Club in Rye Brook, drove off for about 20 minutes, then returned and dropped her off. Ward maintains he was trying to develop Pane as a confidential informant in order to arrest her marijuana supplier. Pane testified that she and Ward drove to a secluded spot and that he masturbated while she squatted on a tree branch and defecated to satisfy his sexual fetish.
Ward, who has been suspended without pay since February 2006, was found guilty of failing to comply with departmental procedures governing confidential informants, of failing to properly report his contact with Pane to his superiors and of conduct that brings discredit upon the department. He was acquitted of the more serious departmental charges of accepting a bribe or a gift and of official misconduct.
Ward's lawyer, Andrew Quinn, said he found the ruling "baffling" and the punishment of termination excessive given that Ward was exonerated of "all the most egregious allegations" and found guilty only of procedural violations and bringing discredit to the department.
"It's as if they're holding Erik Ward accountable because this case got a lot of press and notoriety," Quinn said. "How can you hold the officer liable because of the media frenzy that followed this girl's wild accusations? If the only allegation would have been that he attempted to kiss her, do you think he would have lost his job? The decision is, at best, perplexing."
Pane's attorney, Ravi Batra, commended the board's decision and vowed to proceed with allegations in civil litigation in federal court that Ward was guilty of more serious offenses.
"First and foremost, the board has really put the honor back in the badge, and their decision has restored public confidence in the decision of the Town Board to govern and to manage its police department," Batra said. "With respect to the lawsuit that is to come, I am going to be evaluating the decision with respect to our needs."
Batra downplayed the board's dismissal of the most serious charges and reiterated previous public statements claiming that Ward is guilty of obstruction of justice for getting rid of a computer he owned and that others may be guilty of conspiracy for assisting him.
Pane was arrested Jan. 21, 2006, in the parking lot of Greenburgh Multiplex Cinemas, charged with marijuana possession and driving while ability impaired by drugs. The latter charge was dropped, and Pane is due in Town Court next week to face the marijuana charge.
Ward, who joined the Police Department in May 2000, has not decided whether to challenge his firing in state court, Quinn said.
www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070217/NEWS02/702170366/1018/NEWS02
By BILL HUGHES
GREENBURGH - The police officer snared in a sex scandal involving allegations of a tryst in the woods with a dominatrix was ordered fired by the town of Greenburgh's Board of Police Commissioners in a decision released after business hours yesterday.
Erik Ward, who was acquitted of the criminal charge of official misconduct in Town Court in December, was found guilty of three out of seven departmental charges stemming from his interaction with Gina Pane, a professional dominatrix who was arrested on a marijuana possession charge in January 2006.
The day after her arrest, Ward met Pane at the parking lot of the Doral Arrowwood Resort and Country Club in Rye Brook, drove off for about 20 minutes, then returned and dropped her off. Ward maintains he was trying to develop Pane as a confidential informant in order to arrest her marijuana supplier. Pane testified that she and Ward drove to a secluded spot and that he masturbated while she squatted on a tree branch and defecated to satisfy his sexual fetish.
Ward, who has been suspended without pay since February 2006, was found guilty of failing to comply with departmental procedures governing confidential informants, of failing to properly report his contact with Pane to his superiors and of conduct that brings discredit upon the department. He was acquitted of the more serious departmental charges of accepting a bribe or a gift and of official misconduct.
Ward's lawyer, Andrew Quinn, said he found the ruling "baffling" and the punishment of termination excessive given that Ward was exonerated of "all the most egregious allegations" and found guilty only of procedural violations and bringing discredit to the department.
"It's as if they're holding Erik Ward accountable because this case got a lot of press and notoriety," Quinn said. "How can you hold the officer liable because of the media frenzy that followed this girl's wild accusations? If the only allegation would have been that he attempted to kiss her, do you think he would have lost his job? The decision is, at best, perplexing."
Pane's attorney, Ravi Batra, commended the board's decision and vowed to proceed with allegations in civil litigation in federal court that Ward was guilty of more serious offenses.
"First and foremost, the board has really put the honor back in the badge, and their decision has restored public confidence in the decision of the Town Board to govern and to manage its police department," Batra said. "With respect to the lawsuit that is to come, I am going to be evaluating the decision with respect to our needs."
Batra downplayed the board's dismissal of the most serious charges and reiterated previous public statements claiming that Ward is guilty of obstruction of justice for getting rid of a computer he owned and that others may be guilty of conspiracy for assisting him.
Pane was arrested Jan. 21, 2006, in the parking lot of Greenburgh Multiplex Cinemas, charged with marijuana possession and driving while ability impaired by drugs. The latter charge was dropped, and Pane is due in Town Court next week to face the marijuana charge.
Ward, who joined the Police Department in May 2000, has not decided whether to challenge his firing in state court, Quinn said.
www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070217/NEWS02/702170366/1018/NEWS02