by Ruben Castaneda, Washington Post
The trial of two Prince George’s County police officers, charged with beating a burglary suspect with a baton and releasing a police dog on him without justification, began yesterday with defense attorneys punching holes in the dog bite victim’s credibility.
During more than two hours of aggressive cross-examination by defense attorneys in Prince George’s Circuit Court in Upper Marlboro, Hector Millan gave different and sometimes conflicting details of the Jan. 20 encounter and backtracked from at least four assertions he made during his direct testimony.
More than two dozen times, Millan, 28, testified he could not recall details of the early morning incident involving Cpl. James C. Partenza and Cpl. Mark Elie, a canine officer, or its aftermath.
Millan also admitted that he gave a false name not only to the officers who came to the scene, but to hospital workers who treated him for his injuries, a court commissioner and a police internal affairs detective who interviewed him 10 days after the incident to investigate the actions of the officers who arrested him.
Minutes after Judge E. Allen Shepherd dismissed court for the day, a county sheriff’s deputy led Millan from the witness stand to a back hallway. There, Millan was served with an arrest warrant in a Montgomery County theft case, defense attorneys said.
It was an inauspicious start for the latest police misconduct case brought by Prince George’s State’s Attorney Jack B. Johnson.
Prosecuting police misconduct is a cornerstone of Johnson’s campaign for county executive, but Johnson has drawn criticism from many sides for his performance on such cases. Although he has taken several to court in recent years, he has yet to obtain a conviction.
Many county officers accuse Johnson of indicting police on flimsy evidence for political gain. Some advocates for police reform say Johnson has prosecuted such cases ineffectively. And a Circuit Court judge last month questioned Johnson’s grasp of criminal law before she acquitted a county officer who had been accused of assaulting a young man during a traffic stop.
Partenza and Elie, both 36, are each charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. Johnson obtained indictments against the officers from a county grand jury March 22. Both opted to be tried before a judge, rather than a jury.
On direct examination by Assistant State’s Attorney Richard Allen Moore II, Millan testified that he was inside the garage of a Chillum gas station, hiding behind a toolbox, when Partenza and Elie and Elie’s police dog entered the building.
Millan testified that he broke into the garage because he was homeless and wanted shelter from the snowy weather.
Elie’s dog found him and bit him in the ankle, Millan testified, and the officers ordered him to come out with his hands up. “I did exactly as they told me. I came out with my hands up,” Millan testified.
At that point, Millan testified, Partenza hit him twice on the head with his police baton. He was pulled to the ground face-down, and the police dog, Aussie, bit his left arm, Millan testified.
Millan testified that he was ordered to put his arms behind his back but could move only his right arm because the dog stayed on his left arm. Millan testified that he never hit or kicked the officers or the dog. Millan was charged with fourth-degree burglary. A third county officer came forward after the incident and accused the officers of using excessive force.
Under cross-examination by William C. Brennan, Partenza’s attorney, Millan admitted that he lied to a police internal affairs investigator who interviewed him 10 days after the incident by giving him the same false name, Jose Martinez, he gave when he was arrested.