Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, July 26, 1994                 TAG: 9407260313
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY JOSEPH P. COSCO, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: NORFOLK                            LENGTH: Medium:   72 lines

FIRED POLICEMAN WINS JURY AWARD OF $367,412 THE FEDERAL PANEL SAID OFFICIALS VIOLATED HIS FREE-SPEECH RIGHT.

   A federal jury awarded damages of $367,412 Monday to a former Virginia 
Beach police officer who was fired after he charged his lieutenant with 
obstructing justice.
   ``It's the Bahamas or bust,'' a happy Brendhan  B. Harris said afterward, 
referring to the honeymoon he apparently now can afford to take with his 
wife.
   A jury found that Virginia Beach and seven city officials violated Harris' 
right to free speech and the city's own policy when Harris was fired last Aug.
19 after nearly six years on the force. He has been unemployed since then.
   The jury assessed most of the damages against the city, but also ordered 
damages of $100 each against City Manager James K. Spore, Human Resources 
Director Fagan D. Stackhouse, Police Chief Charles Wall, Maj. Douglas McCloud,
Capt. Milton E. Beane, Capt. Woodrow Baker and Lt. Gary Van Auken.
   ``I certainly feel that they ought to be disciplined,'' Harris, 29, said of
the individual defendants. ``I hope this is a sign that goes to the city 
manager's office.''
   District Judge Raymond A. Jackson scheduled a hearing for Thursday to 
determine whether he will order Harris reinstated to the Police Department. 
``I can't wait to go back,'' Harris said.
   City attorneys declined to comment. They are expected to ask the judge to 
overturn the jury's verdict.
   Harris' attorney, A.W. VanderMeer Jr., said,  ``I'm very pleased that the 
jury has agreed with my argument that Harris was fired in violation of his 
constitutional rights and in violation of the city's policy.''
   The dispute began Aug. 28, 1992, when Harris responded to a report of an 
intruder at the home of Terry Gray in the Lake Edward Apartments. Harris said 
he found that the intruder was actually a maintenance worker who had 
permission to work in the apartment.
   Harris said he got a copy of the work order from the complex manager, but 
Gray grabbed it and wouldn't return it. Harris said that when he tried to 
arrest Gray, her sister, Deirdre Gamble, bit and punched him.
   When he tried to swear out warrants against Gray and Gamble, Lt. Gary Van 
Auken told him to release Gamble to the custody of police internal affairs, 
Harris said. 
   Harris later got a warrant against Gamble, but when she came up for trial, 
the city attorney's office did not pursue the case. A warrant for Gray's 
arrest was intercepted by Van Auken and never pursued. 
   Harris then pursued an internal grievance against Van Auken. Harris claimed
that Van Auken was trying to get back at him for not recommending the issuance
of a hunting permit to a retired police captain who was a friend of Van 
Auken's. The department later cleared Van Auken.
   Finally, on July 30, 1993, Harris swore out a warrant against Van Auken for
obstruction of justice. City attorneys argued that Van Auken stepped in 
because there were conflicting reports about the propriety of Harris' arrests.
They said Harris was fired for disobeying an order to drop the case.  
   ``(Van Auken) was charged with obstruction of justice just for being a 
supervisor,'' Assistant City Attorney Steve Emmert said in his closing 
argument. ``This is a private vengeance that (Harris) has against Lt. Van 
Auken.'' 
   VanderMeer saw it another way. ``This is the case of an outstanding police 
officer who dared to buck the good-old-boy network that constitutes the 
command of the Virginia Beach Police Department,'' he told the jury.


ILLUSTRATION: Photos
          Former Virginia Beach police officer Brendhan  B. Harris, above, and
          Virginia Beach Police Lt. Gary Van Auken, below.
          

 by CNB