Meanwhile, two white former police officers that served under Wray and Brady face obstruction of justice and other charges.
Including complaints related to the controversy surrounding the Wray administration, District 4 Councilman Mike Barber said recently that the city is currently the defendant in approximately 60 lawsuits.
Brady vs. Greensboro
• Plaintiff(s): Former Deputy Chief Randall Brady
• Defendant(s): City of Greensboro
• Demand: Brady contended he was entitled to special separation pay from the city of Greensboro, having completed 30 years of creditable service, after retiring from the police department in December 2005, as consultant Risk Management Associates was completing an investigation of the department under the administration of former Chief David Wray. The city had countered that it was not required to pay Brady because it could have fired him had he not retired first.
• Filing date: March 1, 2006
• Disposition: US District Court Judge Carlton Tilley Jr. ordered the city to pay Brady his special separation pay benefits in February 2007, and the city eventually paid Brady $59,631.
Pettiford vs. Greensboro
• Plaintiff(s): Nicole Pettiford and Anthony Pettiford
• Defendant(s): City of Greensboro
• Central claim: The lawsuit alleges that Detective Scott Sanders and others held used car saleswoman Nicole Pettiford against her will in a hotel room at the Residence Inn in Greensboro for six hours in November 2004 without food, sleep or reading the woman her rights, and questioned about her knowledge of certain black police officers. Pettiford alleges that police officers told she was going to lose her children and spend 40 years in federal prison without having any probable cause to believe that she had committed a crime.
• Demand: Total punitive and compensatory damages in excess of $40,000
• Key revelation: Assistant US Attorney Cliff Barrett admitted in a recorded conversation with Detective Scott Sanders in December 2005, after City Manager Mitchell Johnson stripped Chief David Wray of the authority to hire and fire, that the US Attorney’s Office directed the investigation of Pettiford, according to an affidavit by Greensboro police Detective Jeff Flinchum. “I’ve been in this thing since day one and this thing is clean,” Barrett reportedly told Sanders. “I was there the whole time…. There’s some disbelief in the claim that Pettiford made that I was at the hotel room and I said, ‘No, I was in the hotel room absolutely.’ I mean, I went in there and told her what the damn deal was, that she needed to get off her ass and start telling the truth and cooperate or else she was going to go to prison.” Barrett also reportedly told Sanders: “Anything you did in this case, you did at my direction, and you know, everything was done properly. I stand behind everything that was done. I stand behind everything that you did. If they’ve got a problem with it, come see me.”
• Filing date: Nov. 8, 2006
• Disposition: The city reached a settlement out of court with the Pettifords, and agreed to pay the couple $30,000.
Fulmore vs. Greensboro
• Plaintiff(s): Officer Julius Fulmore
• Defendant(s): City of Greensboro, former Chief David Wray, police hire-back Randy Gerringer, former Deputy Chief Randall Brady, former Asst. Chief Craig Hartley, Sgt. Craig McMinn and private investigator Art League
• Central claim: Detective Scott Sanders and Detective Brian Bissett, acting with offical sanction, allegedly hatched a plan to create and disseminate false statements about Fulmore for the purpose of ruining his reputation and preventing him from working on federal task forces, and otherwise advancing his career. The lawsuit alleges that at the request of Wray and other senior ranking officers, Sanders and Bissett began gathering pictures of Fulmore and other black officers to be used in a lineup book called the “black book” “to embarrass, frame and even wrongfully charge” them.
• Demand: Total damages in excess of $30,000
• Filing date: May 31, 2007
• Disposition: Dismissed by NC superior court judge on sovereign immunity and statute of limitations grounds
State vs. Scott Sanders
• Plaintiff(s): State of North Carolina
• Defendant(s): Detective Scott Sanders
• Central claim: Fox was indicted for two counts of obstruction of justice, accessing government computers and felony conspiracy. A redundant obstruction of justice charges was dismissed by a superior court judge. One indictment alleges Sanders directed Officer John Slone to not allow officers Norman Rankin and Ernest Cuthbertson, who were assigned with him in the special intelligence section, to meet with and talk to a confidential informant. Sanders allegedly told Slone: “We don’t want this investigation to go forward. What we want is for them to fail.” The episode was alleged to have taken place in June 2004. In another incident that took place in December 2003, Sanders accessed a federal Department of Housing & Urban Development computer provided to Officer Julius Fulmore for use in an organized crime drug enforcement task force investigation.
According to the indictment, Sanders should have known he was not authorized to access the computer.
• Filing date: Sept. 17, 2007
• Disposition: Case has not been tried
State vs. William Thomas Fox
• Plaintiff(s): State of North Carolina
• Defendant(s): Sgt. Tom Fox
• Central claim: Fox was indicted for obstruction of justice and conspiracy for allegedly participating in a conversation with Detective Scott Sanders, Greensboro police Officer John Slone and Winston- Salem police Officer TD Hill, in which
Slone and Hill were
allegedly instructed to not share evidence relevant to a case being
investigated by two black Greensboro police officers, detectives Norman
Rankin and Ernest Cuthbertson. Fox and Sanders allegedly portrayed
Rankin and Cuthbertson in a bad light to imply they were “dirty cops”
and “couldn’t be trusted” with the intent of undermining the two
officers’ investigation.
The conversation was alleged to have happened in June 2005.
• Filing date: Sept. 17, 2007
• Disposition: Case has not been tried
Fulmore vs. Bledsoe
• Plaintiff(s): Officer Julius Fulmore and Lt. Brian James
• Defendant(s): Journalist Jerry Bledsoe, The Rhinoceros Times, editor John Hammer and publisher William Hammer
• Central claim: In
2006, Bledsoe and the Hammer brothers formed a scheme for Bledsoe to
write the “Cops in Black and White” series about the Greensboro Police
Department for The Rhinoceros Times with stories that were rife
with defamatory statements, and John Hammer would write commentary
based on the stories that were also rife with defamatory statements.
The
plaintiffs allege that “Bledsoe unfairly and without any basis
targeted, among others, plaintiffs in order to deflect Guilford County
citizens from the truths about illegal, tortuous and immoral actions
taken, authorized and condoned by David Wray and his subordinates.”
• Demand: Total punitive damages in excess of $40,000
• Key revelation: NC
Special Prosecutor James J. Coman testified in Guilford County court in
June 2008 that Bledsoe told him he planned to do everything he could to
help restore former Chief David Wray’s good name, he hoped the outcome
of the articles would be that City Manager MitchellJohnson would get fired, and that he planned to prove that “political correctness was the order of the day in Greensboro city government.”
• Filing date: Nov. 19, 2007
• Disposition: Case has not been tried
Smith vs. Greensboro
• Plaintiff(s): Bloggers Roch Smith Jr. and Sam Spagnola
• Defendant(s): City of Greensboro
• Demand: The
plaintiffs seek a court order declaring that the Risk Management
Associates report, the “Black Book, and various communications between
city employees, elected officials and others
regarding the investigation of the police department under the administration of David Wray. • Key revelation: City Manager MitchellJohnson wrote in an affidavit sworn in September 2008: “Based on information and belief, the “Black Book” requested by the plaintiffs and in possession of the State Bureau of Investigation is a photo array or record purportedly compiled for the purpose of solving an alleged sexual assault…. The city of Greensboro is not aware of any documents or recordings in the possession of the city that indicate any other use of the photo array, an original of which is currently in possession of the State Bureau of Investigation, other than to purportedly solve or prevent an alleged violation of the law.” Johnson said in a memo to city council two months later that his main issue with the “Black Book” was that Wray ordered Brady to secure it, rather than reveal its existence to Johnson. The city manager wrote, “The result of all the investigative effort to date is that we still have only the information provided by the officer who used it. I cannot conclusively say that the “Black Book” was not used in any way other than the way the officer described, nor that it was used in some other way.”
• Filing date: March 23, 2008
• Disposition: Plaintiff Roch Smith Jr. said a judge ruled in early December that the city must release part of the Risk Management Associates report, based on an investigation contracted by the city to probe allegations of misconduct in the police department under Wray’s administration, and must unredact some material from closed sessions by the city council.
Hinson vs. Greensboro
• Plaintiff(s): Lt. James Hinson
• Defendant(s): City of Greensboro, former Chief David Wray and former Deputy Chief Randall Brady
• Central claim: Around
2003, Detective Scott Sanders and Detective Brian Bissett began
gathering pictures of black officers, including Hinson, to be used in
lineup books “for the purpose of framing, embarrassing, and wrongfully
charging black officers with crimes, offenses and violations of law and
police policies.” The lawsuit alleges that then-Chief David Wray
“maliciously and falsely” reported that supposed criminal activity by
Hinson was “ongoing and connected to a violent international drug
cartel. Hinson also alleges that Wray encouraged the use of a “black
book” to single out black officers, including Hinson, in “unnecessary
and unauthorized investigations.”
• Demand: Total compensatory and punitive damages of $20,000
• Key revelation: City Manager MitchellJohnson
signed a memorandum of understanding with Hinson on Jan. 10, 2006,
agreeing to reinstate the lieutenant followed by a suspension imposed
by Wray and to purge any records in Hinson’s personnel file “that the
investigation of these events has determined to be fraudulent and
inappropriate.” In exchange, Hinson formally acknowledged “that the
city of Greensboro,
other than certain officials in the police department, exercised due
diligence in the investigation of the events that lead to his
suspension as soon as this matter was brought to their attention.”
• Filing date: May 30, 2008
• Disposition: Case has not been tried
Wray vs. Greensboro
• Plaintiff(s): Former Chief David Wray
• Defendant(s): City of Greensboro, City Manager MitchellJohnson
• Central claim: “Although
Mitchell Johnson knew or should have known that [they] were unfounded,
Mitchell Johnson reacted to allegations of racially motivated conduct
by seeking to placate certain members of the African-American
community, [Lt. James] Hinson and the complaining black officers.
Toward that end, Johnson set about a course of conduct intended to
result in reinstatement of Hinson, termination or forcing David Wray
from his position as chief of police, and appointment of an African-
American officer as chief.”
The former chief alleges that the city’s actions to force him from office “were motivated by racial bias.”
• Demand: $20,000
in compensatory and punitive damages and reimbursement for legal costs
of lawsuits filed by Lt. James Hinson and Officer Julius Fulmore
• Filing date: Jan. 2, 2009 • Disposition: Case has not been tried
Brady vs. Greensboro
• Plaintiff(s): Former Deputy Chief Randall Brady
• Defendant(s): City of Greensboro
• Demand: The
lawsuit contends that Brady is entitled to be reimbursed by the city
for legal costs incurred defending against civil suits filed by Lt.
James Hinson and Officer Julius Fulmore.
• Filing date: Jan. 2, 2009
• Disposition: Case has not been tried Alexander vs. Greensboro
• Plaintiff(s): Greensboro police officers Lawrence Alexander Jr.,
Ellis Allen, Mitchell Alston, Frances R.
Banks, Ahmed Blake, Michael O. Brodie, Kevin E. Chandler, Charles E.
Cherry, Ernest Cuthbertson, Darrin Davis, Steven A. Evans, William
Graves, Miford J. Harris II, Jonathan Heard, Antuan Hinson, Steven L.
Hunter, Brian James, Demetrius W. Johnson, John O. LeGrande, George M.
Little, Darrell McDonald, CL Melvin, Stacy A. Morton Jr., Willie
Parker, Larry Patterson Jr., William A. Phifer, Joseph Pryor, Norman
Rankin, Wayne Redfern, Alexander Ricketts, Ronald Rogers, Steven
Snipes, Calvin Stevens Jr., Eric Stevenson, Jermeir Jackson-Stroud,
Julius Tunstall, Allen Wallace, Frank Young and Wayland Wall
• Defendant(s): City of Greensboro, former Chief David Wray and former Deputy Chief Randall Brady
•
Central claim: The 39 black police officers allege that “after Wray
became police chief and defendant Brady became deputy police chief,
they directed subordinate officers to gather pictures of black officers
for the use in lineup books, or other visual aides for the purpose of
framing, embarrassing and wrongfully charging black officers with
crimes, offenses and violations of both law and police policies.” The
officers believe that their photos were used in at least one version of
a lineup book or a “visual aide,” and also allege that the police
department under Wray’s command “caused” black officers to be
investigated by the special intelligence section, while white officers
were investigated by the more accountable criminal investigation
division.
• Demand: $20,000 in compensatory and punitive damages
• Key revelation: The Greensboro
City Council approved a settlement for the black officers during closed
session on Oct. 21, and on Nov. 3 the city submitted a written offer to
resolve the complaint. The lawsuit states that the plaintiffs, Mayor
Yvonne Johnson and City Attorney Terry
Wood signed a stipulation of confidentiality, but The Rhinoceros Times
published the names of the plaintiffs and the amount offered on Nov.
13. The disclosure created a public outcry that caused council to
rescind the offer. “At the time of the publishing of the article, a
public document did not exist which contained the identities of the
plaintiffs,” the lawsuit alleges, “[or] the specific monetary amount
the defendant Greensboro agreed to pay the plaintiff to resolve the
matter.”
• Filing date: Jan. 9, 2009
• Disposition: Case has not been tried.
