By Jack Moran
The Register-Guard
EUGENE, Ore. — Eugene police Chief Robert Lehner says a legal explanation that supports his decision to withhold from police auditor Cris Beamud a sensitive complaint filed against an officer should not be made public until criminal cases surrounding the allegation are closed.
Lehner, City Manager Jon Ruiz and Lane County District Attorney Doug Harcleroad all declined this week to reveal what law they believe may conflict with a city ordinance that calls for all complaints against officers to be forwarded to the auditor’s office.
Ruiz -- Lehner’s supervisor -- would not respond to requests from The Register-Guard and City Councilor Bonny Bettman to release more information on the situation.
Harcleroad and Lehner emphasized that they believe any discussion about the law that may supersede the ordinance could place someone in danger.
“There are safety issues involved here,” Harcleroad said. “The problem with talking about the specific section of law ultimately leads to (the release of information) that we don’t want” released.
On Monday, Bettman asked Ruiz -- who, like Beamud, works directly for the City Council -- to divulge the state or federal law that officials say may conflict with the ordinance.
“Even if you cannot cite the specifics of the case, you can cite the laws you believe are in conflict,” Bettman wrote to Ruiz.
Bettman said Thursday that Ruiz had not acknowledged her inquiry.
She said she may seek a private legal opinion in an attempt to pressure the city to release redacted written information about the issue.
Lehner and Harcleroad said they will remain tight-lipped about the situation until after the district attorney’s office completes its criminal investigation into allegations relating to the complaint.
Harcleroad said he doesn’t know when that will be.
Lehner said the officer named in the initial complaint will not face criminal charges.
Neither Lehner nor Harcleroad would say who is still under investigation.
Lehner spoke with prosecutors before deciding that the citizen complaint filed May 22 against an officer should be withheld from the auditor’s office.
“As this issue developed, I consulted with appropriate and relevant authorities to help inform decisions that were made,” Lehner said in a prepared statement. “There is an appropriate time to discuss and debate these issues -- and that is once the investigations are concluded and the potential effect of information releases can be mitigated.
“When that time is reached, I am confident my actions will be viewed as reasonable and necessary,” he said.
Bettman and Beamud have said they believe Lehner’s decision to not forward the complaint to the auditor’s office violates the ordinance.
Beamud said her office learned of the complaint July 6 during a routine records check.
She said Lehner initially declined to give her information regarding the complaint that included redacted names.
Beamud later received some investigative reports, but was not able to monitor the police investigation as required under city ordinance.
While she contends that Lehner flouted the ordinance by keeping her office out of the loop after the complaint’s filing, Beamud said she doesn’t necessarily disagree with his motivation for doing so.
“Once they say disclosing this to the auditor might jeopardize someone’s personal safety, how can I argue with that?” she said.
Ruiz told city councilors earlier this week that he wants to establish a new process to deal with future complaints that the police chief believes should be withheld from the auditor because of potential conflicts between the city ordinance and state or federal laws.
The plan calls for the chief to immediately notify the auditor, city attorney and city manager of his opinion, and for the city attorney to determine if the concern is valid.
If the auditor disagrees with the city attorney’s recommendation, then the auditor, chief and city attorney would meet to determine how to resolve the disagreement in a way that ensures “the auditor is satisfied that she is able to fully carry out her duties,” Ruiz told councilors.
Copyright 2008 The Register Guard