TAPE PROMPTS DISMISSAL OF PR. GEORGE'S CASE

A video camera installed in a Prince George's County police car captured an
officer telling an Adelphi man during a traffic stop that he had called for
a police dog that would "bite [him] anywhere there is drugs," according to
the man and two defense attorneys who viewed the tape.

The tape, part of which was played in Prince George's Circuit Court
yesterday, also showed that the officer did not obtain permission to search
the man, prompting the judge to dismiss the drug charges against the man.

The case against James Edward Lewis, 35, is one of the first in the county
in which the videotape of the incident played a pivotal role, refuting the
testimony of the officer and what he had written in charging documents.

County police began putting the video cameras in marked cars about a year
ago, and most cruisers are now equipped with one, a police spokesman said.
The microphone for the videotape was attached to the belt of the officer,
Eric Lee.

The traffic stop occurred about 7 p.m. Nov. 9 in Hyattsville, less than
three months after a former county police officer was convicted in a highly
publicized case in federal court in Greenbelt of violating the civil rights
of an unresisting homeless man by releasing her police dog on him.

The tape was introduced by Lewis's defense attorney Richard A. Finci. After
viewing nearly all of the 25-minute tape, Judge Sheila R. Tillerson Adams
ruled that the search that yielded crack from Lewis's jacket and left sock
was improper and threw out two drug charges against Lewis.

"The court finds clearly that [there] was not consent," Adams said.

The portion played in court did not contain the statement about the dog.
Lee would not allow a reporter to view the final part of the tape, saying
it was needed for a civil forfeiture action.

Finci and fellow defense attorney Joseph Gregory Cotton said they heard Lee
make the remark about the police dog when they saw the tape in the state's
attorney's office last week. Finci took notes on that and other passages.

After charges against him were dismissed, Lewis said yesterday that he
clearly remembered Lee's remark about the police dog: "I felt he was
serious. I didn't want any dog biting me."

Lee and Assistant State's Attorney Karen Anderson declined to comment.
Prince George's State's Attorney Jack B. Johnson was not in his office
yesterday afternoon, a staff member said.

Lt. Edward Kollman, a Prince George's police spokesman, said he could not
comment until officials had seen the videotape.

A member of a community coalition that advocates for reforms within the
county police department said yesterday that the videotape raises questions
about the veracity of some officers.

"Lying seems to be a problem for some county police officers," said Redmond
Barnes, of the People's Coalition for Police Accountability.

During yesterday's hearing, Lee testified that he stopped Lewis because
Lewis was driving without a seat belt. Lee testified that he asked Lewis if
he could search his 1993 Chevy Cavalier, and then asked if he could search
Lewis, and that the motorist said yes to both.

The videotape showed that the traffic stop was more than 19 minutes old
when Lee told Lewis, who had gotten out of the car at the officer's
direction: "I'm gonna pat you down. You have a problem with that?" Lewis is
heard to respond, "No, sir." By then, three other officers had arrived to
back up Lee.

Under cross-examination by Finci, Lee testified that he never told Lewis he
was free to go or that he could decline to be searched.