Post by WaTcHeR on Feb 7, 2007 13:17:06 GMT -5
Prosecutors say a suspended deputy "left the scene of the accident he created" and concocted a hit-and-run story to cover up how his patrol car was damaged on Nov. 12, 2003.
Broward Sheriff's Office Deputy Lewis Perry told supervisors and investigators his cruiser was rear-ended while he was stopped at a Pompano Beach traffic signal.
Instead, they later learned, Perry chased and cut off the fleeing SUV after a sergeant had ended the pursuit, prosecutor David Schulson told Broward jurors during his opening statements Tuesday.
Perry, 40, faces third-degree felony charges of perjury and three counts of official misconduct and a first-degree misdemeanor charge of falsifying records. He could be sentenced to five years in prison for the most serious charges.
Perry, the subject of 11 internal affairs investigations since he joined the Sheriff's Office in March 2001, also is charged in a separate federal case. That involves the shooting of an unarmed Mexican laborer in November 2004.
In the state case, details of the alleged coverup surfaced a year later, when a fellow deputy, Samuel Sirico, was unwittingly caught on his police car camera boasting about it. Sirico was fired as a result.
Prosecutors agreed not to prosecute Sirico, a 17-year law enforcement veteran, if he would testify in Perry's trial. He was the state's first witness.
Sirico, 53, said after the pursuit had been called off, Perry raced by, accelerating to 50 or 55 mph, got in front of the fleeing SUV and "hit his brakes." No one was injured and the SUV, which had been reported stolen, got away.
Sirico said he instructed a deputy trainee riding with him to write a report, which he signed, saying Perry's car was struck from behind while stopped at a traffic signal.
"To this day, I really have no reason or explanation for why I didn't come forward and tell the truth," Sirico said.
Defense attorney Eric Schwartzreich said Perry was a fall guy.
Why would Sirico put his $110,000-a-year career on the line for Perry, a man he has referred to as a "nitwit," Schwartzreich asked.
Sirico fabricated the alleged coverup to shield his own wrongdoing in violating the Sheriff's Office pursuit policy, the defense lawyer said.
An accident specialist would corroborate Perry's account of the crash, Schwartzreich told jurors.
The Sheriff's Office fired Perry in March 2005 after an unrelated investigation concluded he was insubordinate, interfered with an investigation and participated in conduct unbecoming an employee. Perry appealed through an arbitrator and was reinstated a year later -- only to be immediately suspended without pay pending the outcome of other investigations.
Prior to trial, the state offered to drop the charges if Perry would give up his state certification to be a police officer, said Schulson, the prosecutor. Perry declined the offer.
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cperry07feb07,0,2428581.story?coll=sfla-news-broward
Broward Sheriff's Office Deputy Lewis Perry told supervisors and investigators his cruiser was rear-ended while he was stopped at a Pompano Beach traffic signal.
Instead, they later learned, Perry chased and cut off the fleeing SUV after a sergeant had ended the pursuit, prosecutor David Schulson told Broward jurors during his opening statements Tuesday.
Perry, 40, faces third-degree felony charges of perjury and three counts of official misconduct and a first-degree misdemeanor charge of falsifying records. He could be sentenced to five years in prison for the most serious charges.
Perry, the subject of 11 internal affairs investigations since he joined the Sheriff's Office in March 2001, also is charged in a separate federal case. That involves the shooting of an unarmed Mexican laborer in November 2004.
In the state case, details of the alleged coverup surfaced a year later, when a fellow deputy, Samuel Sirico, was unwittingly caught on his police car camera boasting about it. Sirico was fired as a result.
Prosecutors agreed not to prosecute Sirico, a 17-year law enforcement veteran, if he would testify in Perry's trial. He was the state's first witness.
Sirico, 53, said after the pursuit had been called off, Perry raced by, accelerating to 50 or 55 mph, got in front of the fleeing SUV and "hit his brakes." No one was injured and the SUV, which had been reported stolen, got away.
Sirico said he instructed a deputy trainee riding with him to write a report, which he signed, saying Perry's car was struck from behind while stopped at a traffic signal.
"To this day, I really have no reason or explanation for why I didn't come forward and tell the truth," Sirico said.
Defense attorney Eric Schwartzreich said Perry was a fall guy.
Why would Sirico put his $110,000-a-year career on the line for Perry, a man he has referred to as a "nitwit," Schwartzreich asked.
Sirico fabricated the alleged coverup to shield his own wrongdoing in violating the Sheriff's Office pursuit policy, the defense lawyer said.
An accident specialist would corroborate Perry's account of the crash, Schwartzreich told jurors.
The Sheriff's Office fired Perry in March 2005 after an unrelated investigation concluded he was insubordinate, interfered with an investigation and participated in conduct unbecoming an employee. Perry appealed through an arbitrator and was reinstated a year later -- only to be immediately suspended without pay pending the outcome of other investigations.
Prior to trial, the state offered to drop the charges if Perry would give up his state certification to be a police officer, said Schulson, the prosecutor. Perry declined the offer.
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cperry07feb07,0,2428581.story?coll=sfla-news-broward