FRAUD CHARGES DISMISSED
AGAINST
GARDENA COP
Fraud charges against
Gardena Police Officer David Burch were dismissed in October 1996. The
complaint contained two counts alleging violations of Penal Code Section
72. It charged that Officer Burch filed two overtime slips for court
appearances which the District Attorney's office believed were not
attended by Burch.
The department's
investigation concluded that two overtime slips submitted by Burch, one
for September 11, 1995 and another for September 14, 1995, for a total
of 12 ½ hours of overtime, were submitted by Burch despite not
appearing in court on those dates at all or in part. The DA’s office
filed the charges based upon on these conclusions.
Burch was represented in
the criminal case by Stuart D. Adams, formerly of Silver, Hadden &
Silver, and now with Olson, Goyette & Adams in Placerville. Adams
contended that, at worst, the case was the result of poor record keeping
and that Burch would never intentionally commit such acts.
Several motions were
filed by Adams on Burch's behalf which caused the DA’s office to take
a closer look at the underlying investigation. The District Attorney's
office realized that the appearances were in preliminary hearings and
that no transcripts of the proceedings had been pulled during the course
of the investigation.
Copies of the transcripts
were then ordered. It was immediately revealed upon review of the
transcript that Officer Burch had been in court and testified all day on
September 14, 1995. In the District Attorney's opinion, this cast
serious doubt on the whole case and the matter was dismissed.
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