OFFICER HAD FILED A FALSE REPORT

Same Policeman Left Md., Shot Man In Fairfax

The undercover Prince George's County police narcotics officer who
shot and killed an unarmed man in Fairfax County admitted during
recent court testimony that he had been found guilty by his department
of filing a false report.

The admission led to the dismissal of cocaine charges against a
Hyattsville man after a judge ruled that cocaine allegedly seized by
the officer, Cpl. Carlton B. Jones, could not be used as evidence. But
it also casts doubt on dozens of other drug cases in which Jones
played a role.

Although he is suspended from street duty pending an internal
investigation of the Sept. 1 Fairfax County shooting, Jones retains
his police powers, and prosecutors have continued to call him to
testify in drug cases.

Prince George's State's Attorney Jack B. Johnson has said he will keep
prosecuting cases involving Jones and other officers who are under
investigation or facing criminal charges, so long as the charges do
not include perjury.

Johnson did not return telephone calls last week seeking
comment.

Jones's attorney, Michael T. Leibig, declined to comment on the
false-report finding against his client.

Paul Butler, a professor at George Washington University Law School
and a former federal prosecutor, said the fact that Jones was found
guilty by his own department of filing a false police report "is just
devastating."

He noted that in drug cases involving undercover police officers, the
credibility of the officer is crucial. Such cases often come down to
the officer's word against the defendant's regarding alleged drug
buys, and to the believability of officers who say they obtained
crucial information from confidential sources.

"It renders him useless as a witness," said Paul Rothstein, a
professor at Georgetown University Law Center.

Law enforcement agencies across the country have grappled with how to
deal with instances or allegations of lying by police.

In Los Angeles, scores of criminal convictions have been overturned in
the wake of a scandal in which some members of an anti-gang unit
allegedly rigged evidence against suspects and then lied to obtain
convictions.

In the District, the U.S. attorney's office for years has maintained a
list of officers who have been convicted of crimes or are under
investigation; prosecutors do not call those officers to testify and
in some instances drop charges. The list includes 100 to 200 names at
any given time.

Last year, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles A. Moose, during a
speech to police academy graduates, expressed outrage that several
officers who had been found by internal investigations to have lied
were allowed to continue serving as police officers.

Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. decided not to
seek criminal charges against Carlton Jones in the fatal shooting of
Prince C. Jones Jr. The two men were not related.

In an interview, Horan said that at the time he conducted his
investigation, he was aware that Carlton Jones had been found to have
made false statements. Horan said the finding had no impact on his
investigation.

"I can't think of anything that would affect the physical evidence and
the eyewitness accounts," Horan said.

Jones and another officer had followed Prince Jones from Hyattsville,
through the District and into Virginia, police said. The officers
believed that the vehicle Prince Jones was driving may have been
connected to drug dealing and the theft of an officer's gun from an
unmarked Prince George's police car, officials said.

After reaching the Seven Corners area of Fairfax, Carlton Jones told
police, Prince Jones initiated the confrontation by backing his Jeep
up to the officer's door, preventing the officer from getting out.
When Prince Jones walked to the officer's car, Carlton Jones held up
his gun and said, twice, "Police. Get back in your vehicle," according
to the officer's account.

Prince Jones, 25, struck the officer's vehicle twice with his vehicle,
leading Carlton Jones to fear for his life and fire 16 rounds,
according to police.

Details about the internal investigation of Carlton Jones were
disclosed during a Sept. 22 motions hearing on cocaine charges against
Dennis Anthony Butler, 30. Those charges resulted from Jones's alleged
seizure of $3,000 worth of cocaine from Butler's car after the officer
swore out an affidavit that a confidential source had tipped him to
the drugs.

Circuit Court Judge Sherrie L. Krauser ruled that police did not have
probable cause to conduct the search. Two counts of possession with
intent to distribute cocaine and two counts of possession of a
controlled dangerous substance against Butler were then dismissed.

There was "an internal hearing where you were found guilty. Is that
correct?" defense attorney Douglas J. Wood asked Jones during the hearing.

"That is correct, sir," Jones replied, according to a transcript of
the hearing.

The police trial board had focused on the charging document Jones
wrote against John Robert Johnson in connection with an alleged gun
battle April 21, 1997.

In the document, Jones alleged that when he went to the 7200 block of
Landover Road to investigate a report of shots being fired, a county
sheriff's deputy told him he had seen Johnson engaged in a gun battle
with another man.

The charging document goes on to allege that a witness who called a
police dispatcher identified Johnson as the person who threw a handgun
on top of a building; police recovered the handgun.

According to law enforcement sources familiar with the internal
investigation, the sheriff's deputy testified at the police trial
board that he did not tell Jones he had seen Johnson engaged in a gun
battle. In addition, investigators could not locate any audiotape in
which a witness tells a police dispatcher that the gun had been tossed
atop a building, and the existence of the witness could not be
verified, the sources said.

In a federal civil lawsuit against Jones alleging false arrest and
civil rights violations, Johnson alleges that Jones had expressed his
intention to run Johnson "out of town."

Unlike officials in the District, in Los Angeles and in other cities
where a large number of police witnesses are facing charges or are
under investigation, state's attorney Johnson has said he is obligated
to move forward with cases that involve possibly tainted officers.

At least five times during the last three months, charges have been
dropped or a defendant has won a quick acquittal in a case involving a
police officer under investigation or facing criminal charges.

Defense attorneys and legal experts said that even before the
disclosure of the false police report, Jones's notoriety had
undermined his effectiveness as a police witness.

In September, a Circuit Court jury took about an hour to acquit a
Hyattsville man of possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

Although Jones did not testify in that case, several jurors made
wide-eyed expressions when the defense attorney in open court
identified Jones as one of the investigators.

Last month, a Prince George's County prosecutor in a case in which
Jones was a witness abruptly dropped felony cocaine charges against a
Silver Spring man when the defense attorney said he would make a
motion asking for all police internal reports about Jones, including
the incident in which he filed a false police report and the fatal
shooting in Fairfax County.