Judge tosses grand jury report in Bucks incident
In what might be a precedent in Pennsylvania, a judge has nullified a grand jury report that cleared a police department of a cover-up in the suspected drunken driving of an officer and was critical of the township manager who brought the incident to light.
In what might be a precedent in Pennsylvania, a judge has nullified a grand jury report that cleared a police department of a cover-up in the suspected drunken driving of an officer and was critical of the township manager who brought the incident to light.
The ruling by Bucks County Court Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr. marked the first time a judge in the state has dismissed an investigative grand jury report already made public by a prosecutor, said Peter F. Vaira, who sought the order on behalf of Bristol Township Manager William J. McCauley III.
McCauley, who was harshly criticized in the February 2015 report issued by District Attorney David Heckler, said he was "ecstatic" and felt vindicated.
"The report unjustly attacked my integrity and ethics," McCauley said Wednesday, a day after the order went into effect.
Heckler said Wednesday that he stood by "everything" in the 37-page report but that his office had agreed with McCauley's attorneys that there were legal grounds for it to be nullified.
"We have certainly agreed that this should go away," said Heckler, "that we erred in technical ways that they didn't even know about when they started moaning and groaning about Mr. McCauley."
The ruling evidently will have no bearing on the office's finding that no criminal misconduct occurred within the Bristol Township Police Department. Heckler said he would not reinvestigate the matter or issue a new report.
Heckler and Vaira said the report was deemed improper on a number of levels but would not specify them.
The back-and-forth between prosecutors and McCauley has its roots in an investigation the township administrator began, but was not permitted to complete, into the off-duty officer's car crash.
On Nov. 29, 2014, Officer Kevin Burns allegedly crashed his truck into a parked car after a night of drinking, a beer can falling out of the truck. Responding officers allegedly allowed Burns to get a ride home from a friend without undergoing a field sobriety test.
As manager of the riverside township since 2012, and the person who hires its chief law enforcement officer, McCauley retained a labor lawyer to look into the incident, which was brought to his attention by a member of the police department, according to the grand jury report.
Heckler's office took over the case and within about three months issued the grand jury report.
Prosecutors found no evidence that Burns had driven under the influence or that any member of the police department had "misconducted themselves in any way."
However, the grand jury accused McCauley of acting not out of a "sincere belief that crimes have been committed" but a desire to bring about personnel changes within the department.
"Mr. McCauley wishes to control the Bristol Township Police Department, and intends to appoint a leader within the department who will act as his yes man," the grand jury said in the report.
In December 2014, McCauley removed Lt. John Godzieba as acting police chief. The following summer, he hired Robert Coulton to serve as director of public safety.
In the district attorney's eyes, the grand jury report was rightly "calling to the public's attention the fact that their politicians were meddling in their police department's affairs," Heckler said.
McCauley's attorney said the matter underscored a need to review the state's grand jury law. If anything, Vaira said, investigative grand jury reports should be done away with.
"It can tend to become political," said Vaira, a longtime white-collar criminal defense lawyer in Philadelphia. "You're not talking about breaking the law; you're criticizing a public official."
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