ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 17, 1996 TAG: 9602190031
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
A NORFOLK ATTORNEY representing a Roanoke County man who says police beat him is calling for a state and federal investigation of last weekend's incident.
The lawyer representing a man who accused Roanoke police of beating him last weekend called for a state and federal investigation Friday, one day after Chief M. David Hooper denied his officers used excessive force.
In a telephone interview, Norfolk lawyer Harold Barnes said the Roanoke Police Department's internal investigation was not thorough.
Barnes also questioned whether officers had a legal right to search his client's car. And, he said, he believes that police used "excessive force" to arrest his client, Steven L. Leftwich of Roanoke County.
"When you consider an unarmed person ... with no history of assault, to say he attacked a police officer - what sense does that make?'' Barnes said.
Barnes said he has asked the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department for the necessary forms to request an investigation.
Leftwich and his cousin, William R. Hayden III, 25, were driving near the Roanoke City Market early Sunday when they were stopped because their taillights didn't work. But accounts of what happened after that differ vastly.
Police say Leftwich became uncontrollable and violent for no apparent reason. Leftwich says a Roanoke officer attacked him - unprovoked -without provocation while another officer held Hayden at gunpoint and threatened to kill him.
By the time the traffic stop was over, Leftwich, two Roanoke officers and a state trooper were sent to the hospital with injuries.
Barnes, Leftwich and Hayden held a news conference for broadcast news media Friday morning, saying the lingering bruises on Leftwich's face are clear evidence that the beating was more serious than police admit.
Hooper said his officers did hit and kick Leftwich, but only when Leftwich was biting them or attempting to wrest a gun from them.
Leftwich, who works at Singer Furniture in Northeast Roanoke, said in a telephone interview that he has not been able to return to work because of his injuries. He said he could not comment further, on the advice of his lawyer.
It is not clear how Leftwich retained the services of Barnes, who practices in Norfolk and says more than half of his cases are civil rights complaints.
Leftwich on Friday was unable to tell a reporter the full name of his attorney and on Thursday night said he did not know about a news conference scheduled for Friday morning.
Barnes would not say who hired him.
He said his goal in Leftwich's case is to uncover the facts. He plans to conduct his own investigation, requesting the aid of state police and federal investigators.
Leftwich and Hayden have not filed complaints with the Police Department or the Virginia State Police. They made their allegations of police brutality through the news media.
Both city and state police initiated an internal investigation as part of departmental policy.
Barnes said investigators did not spend enough time on the internal investigations and didn't interview two important witnesses in the case - namely Leftwich and Hayden.
In a news conference Thursday, Hooper said the officers who responded to East Campbell Avenue early Sunday acted properly and with the necessary force to subdue Leftwich. The findings from the internal investigation described Leftwich, 30, as the one who struck first.
"I'm confident that any authorized investigation from any other governmental organization will come to the same conclusion," Hooper said Friday after hearing about Barnes' requests.
Police and Leftwich agree that about 3:47 a.m., Officer A.P. Forbes stopped Leftwich and Hayden as they were driving in downtown Roanoke.
Leftwich said he asked Hayden to drive his car after a night out on the town. According to police, an examination at Roanoke Memorial Hospital determined that Leftwich was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana and had a blood alcohol content of nearly 0.13. At 0.08, a driver is considered drunk in Virginia.
Police say that when they asked Leftwich for identification, his hand knocked off the top of the car's console, exposing a bag that appeared to contain marijuana. The officer asked if Leftwich had any weapons, and Leftwich said he had a knife, police say.
Forbes searched Leftwich and found no weapon, then searched the car. State Trooper R.J. Carpentieri, who was passing by and stopped to assist Forbes, escorted Leftwich to the back of the car. Leftwich shoved Carpentieri in the chest, police say. Attempts to subdue Leftwich with pepper spray had no apparent effect.
Five more officers arrived to assist Forbes and Carpentieri.
Hooper said Officer D.C. Dean drew his gun on Hayden. (A newspaper story Friday incorrectly said another officer drew a gun.) But Hooper said Dean did not threaten Hayden.
Leftwich denies trying to grab any of the officers' guns and said he doesn't know how a plate-glass window at Sunshine One Hour Cleaners, 20 E. Campbell Ave., was broken. Police say it happened during their struggle when Leftwich and three officers fell part way through the glass.
The new Roanoke chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which first brought the brutality complaint to the attention of Mayor David Bowers, said it is not commenting on the case until it meets today.
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