Readers of this blog may know that an applicant for the position of new police chief took an interest in the Leah Freeman case. After reviewing the only case files available to the public the seasoned investigator came to these cursory conclusions…
I have read the documents on her website and I am amazed that someone is not in jail for this case. There is an immunity memo between the DA and the boyfriends friend. The boyfriend failed the polygraph, There is history of abuse. I believe that if someone has a strong interview with both boyfriend and friend that this case could crack.
To that end the investigator wrote District Attorney Paul Frasier requesting permission to view the case files and solve this murder. Frasier denied the request immediately citing the following reasons…
There are other concerns in this matter. There are avenues we have taken in this investigation that we have kept secret from the public, including the family of Ms. Freeman. Indeed, there are secrets that we have kept from other law enforcement officers not working on the case. I simply cannot allow someone who is not a sworn police officer to have access to my files on this case as I believe there are investigative matters that must be kept secret if we are to ever have a chance of having a prosecutable case.
Notwithstanding that this investigator is a highly qualified law enforcement officer the statement above has the ring of declaring executive privilege in the interests of so called ‘national security’. In other words, “you can’t look at what we are doing or more accurately NOT doing because it might reveal our errors jeopardize the case”.
The conduct and competence of our public law enforcement is a matter of grave concern to everyone. We are being asked to accept on faith that everything that can be done is being done with no mechanism to assess the quality of effort in place. Further, in this case as in others, law enforcement is prohibiting the victims or public from participating in the resolutions of crimes that affect everyone.
It is hard not to wonder whether the DA simply does not want to solve this case. The investigator above would have been privately paid and is well versed in how to secure evidence suitable to a successful prosecution. So why, with an eight year old case would the DA refuse to open the files to a fresh face or even consider turning it over to another agency with qualified investigators? What are they hiding?
Note: Despite a glowing resume, this officer was not chosen as one of the five police chief candidates to be considered on July 21 – 22.
For reasons that will become obvious soon enough comments are disabled on this post.
While I have no strong opinion as to whether this investigator would be the best police chief for this city or not I have taken the time to verify his references and intend to continue to do the same. Consequently, because I have learned first hand the malicious manner in which the city operates I will not allow disparaging posts about a man I believe to be genuine and sincere, particularly from the likes of anonymous posters. It just will not happen here so stop trying.
The point of this post is the performance of the DAs office because it deeply affects all citizens including me. Attacking this officer or this blog does not diminish the failures of the both the CPD and the DA in this case. Further, I have long held as the archives will confirm that the Coos County DA’s office is not well served by its present leadership. The evidence or lack of evidence of serious crime convictions support my claims.
When was the last time the DA had a major drug conviction? How many per year does he prosecute? Hell, he wouldn’t even prosecute some for animal cruelty after they starved two horses to death. This DA only goes after low hanging fruit and the CPD have been the fruit pickers. What does it cost this county to convict the average drug dealer?
Frasier should join Reaves barbecuing ribs and help the county find a real prosecutor. That is my opinion and I stand by it.
Personal dignity and a determination not to enable unhealthy behavior means there are some people that will never again have a voice on this blog.
Sorry
So, let me get this straight. A police officer from Georgia who does cold case research in his spare time offered to help on this case. The DA who has sat on this case. along with the local PD, says no to anyone offering their help. Am I right so far? Now in the last eight years, what EXACTLY has the DA done on this case? And more importantly, why is so much anger directed to this site, when it appears this site , all along , has been asking for this case to be opened up?
Seems to me, with all due respect, the anger is going in the wrong direction.
Do we need more time for the PD and the DA to proceed towards solving this case? I’m sorry, I just don’t get it. Truly, I don’t understand.
But if the key figures in this case want more secrecy and no further help opening it up, so be it. I think everyone involved in this wanted to help Cory solve this crime. Maybe I was wrong, because I’m sure not going to stick MY neck out to help if this is the end result.
I’m sorry this happened, I think it has done nothing more than squelch another opportunity to open the case. But if more secrecy and no independent investigating will solve it, so be it.
I just don’t understand how that is going to get anything done. Eight years hasn’t done one damn thing. But this experience shut my mouth up about it.
What I know, farnorth, is that you ascribe to blind faith where the PD is involved – that has always been evident in all your personnas. Look how easily you rationalize perpetuating another blog’s smears. Then you turn around and accuse me of smearing the PD. Everything I have published here is either opinion or based on facts and clearly stated either way.
Didn’t you promise not to post any further comments? Surely you have somewhere else you can publish your views…..
To all commentators how publicly funded law enforcement conducts itself is a matter of importance to EVERYONE
I find it quite laughable that you felt the need to edit *——–* name from my posts. Slander? Get real! You throw names around in this Blog everyday without any facts to support any allegations you make. That’s slander. The fact that*——-* has to deal with some charges made against him, and reporting the same to those who may not know this information is not slander. All you people make me laugh because you think people take what you have to say seriously.
You think I am a policer officer? You think I work for the CPD? You think that about anyone who doesn’t swallow what you have to say. Not that it matters, but I’m not a police officer, I’m not a police officer’s wife, I’m just someone who supports our police, you know those folks who put there life on the line everyday to protect us private citizens. It’s people like you that make it a thankless job for them. If I were a police officer, I’d be proud to say so.
You ever hear the saying, “Those who live in a glass house shouldn’t throw stones” ?
It’s never been more applicable than it is in this Blog.
*Note- this comment has been edited to protect the officer from slanderous statements
Probably all police departments have skeletons in their closets that they want to hide, not just Coquille. Too bad CPD feels the need to slander someone else to accomplish that… to me it speaks volumes about the current character of the department. Lets work for an honest, competent, professional and communicative new police chief who will whip these guys into shape and teach them some manners.
Thanks Magix, I didn’t know any of the details, but I knew right off, this guy seemed like an officer that would get out of his air conditioned, heated car and actually walk the streets. Yup, not a LURKER don’t ya know? Make all the lurker cops feel a little, you know, twitchy.
farnorth:
I JUST CAN’T QUIT YA MAGIX XOXOXOXOX.
Geez, you’d like to think they could be a little more clever, wouldn’t ya?
Too much to ask fer a guy that needs a “pecker extender” to leave his house.
What’s really frightening, we intrust our weapons and our lives to these guys , they’ve got the guns.
If ya know what I mean.
Let’s agree to disagree. *The officer* is incidental to the fact that the DA will not accept outside help, either from a PI or another law enforcement agency. Further, I have not recommended Garcia for the job of police chief I only noted that he was not chosen. That said, the very fact that he was interested enough in the community to do so much research about the area speaks well of him.
We will see how his resume compares to those other applicants when the ‘transparent’ hiring process begins… we are still awaiting the transparency.
My criticisms have always, always been against the leadership of this department and consequently the city not law enforcement in general. Since you so adamantly want to smear Mr Garcia then let it be known that amongst other departments in this area and throughout Oregon our city is considered a laughing stock! A direct result of the bumbling, bungling, sour faced buffoon who ran your department and the foolish decision by O’Connor to keep him despite repeated protests stemming throughout his tenure.
Probably, Garcia is too honest a cop to fit in here, unfortunately. We will see if the sole Oregon applicant turns out to be the sargeant. If it is, the rest of this is all just a dog and pony show and the decision has already been made.
Either way it is my job as a ‘blogger’ to make the information available to the public.
And a last comment, I promise. There is also malfeasance and a prime example of that, in my opinion, would be the DA giving the case files to “—–” or anyone else not part of the official active investigation.
I beg to differ…this is all about *the officer*. You made it about *the officer* …read the title and read your story…it’s about “—–“…so “—–” is the issue of this topic, a topic you created. The fact remains, he has a questionable conduct background, which may very well not be true, but it needs to be investigated…but you want to hire for the job right now.
You might think a lot of folks take you seriously. Not me, I come here to read for comic relief…but felt compelled to comment on this particular topic. I’ve made all the points I care to on this topic, so you have wonderful rest of the week.
*Please note this comment has been edited to protect the officer from slanderous statements
Also, I notice that you never stated where you got the information that Oregon recognizes out of state licenses. Other than to say *the officer* checked first. At any rate, the DA is smart not to allow him or ANY other PI access to an active on going investigation. Just because you don’t think it’s being investigated doesn’t matter in the big scheme of things, or to me at least. And the opinions of other law enforcement personnel, who haven’t reviewed the active case files, don’t matter to me either.
You bash the local cops and the DA in this blog almost daily. Let’s see…what can I spin my way today! But you are quick to want an ex Georgia police officer who has a record that should at least be investigated hired for the position today. Totally unbelieveable. Let’s see, I have five applicants which have no questionable conduct and another one who does. I’m not going to spend the money to investigate that person when I have 5 others I don’t have to investigate…he doesn’t make the cut…pretty simple.
*Please note this comment has been edited to protect the officer from slanderous statements
*The officer* is not the issue here. Nonfeasance and misfeasance by both the police department and the DA is.
Blind faith in any authority should be restricted to the divine. Neither the Coquille PD or the DA’s office qualify as divine.
I’m not spinning anything. Just what I read in blogs such as yours. The only spin I see in this blog….is yours, always undermining the local department at every opportunity. I’m not hiding behind anything, just smart enough not to use my name on any internet blog or chat rooms, it’s the prudent thing to do.
I would love for *the officer* to come in here and defend himself against the accusations that have been made against him in the state where he served. I would love to have both perspectives, that’s the American way. Readers of your blog ONLY get your perspective and you seem to relish attacking those who don’t share this perspective.
*Please note this comment has been edited to protect the officer from slanderous statements
Frankly, farnorth, I believe the only trend is the one you are attempting to spin. Please keep your hyperbole to yourself, it does no one a service.
Naturally, *the officer* checked with the State of Oregon to determine what requirements he needed before contacting the DA. Perhaps he will elaborate further if he reads your comments but my understanding is that there is a ‘treaty’ or understanding between the states.
No, I do not watch television so I have never seen Cold Case Files. Nevertheless, I have family in law enforcement, both detectives in large communities and am more inclined to believe them than you, someone hiding behind a moniker.
More than one law enforcement professional is appalled at how this case has been handled.
So, are you saying *the officer* is now a sworn police officer in the state of Georgia or are you saying that he’s a licensed investigator in Georgia? The information I’ve gathered states specifically that all private investigators practicing in the state of Oregon must be licensed by the state of Oregon. So, really it’s not my assumption, it’s what I’ve read from the governing authority for the state. Maybe there are exceptions, but I didn’t read any. I would greatly appreciate you providing where specifically you get the information that Oregon DOES recognize out of state PI licenses because I can’t find it.
The fact remains that I see a trend with respect to *the officer’s* career. That trend is much controversy wherever he’s been, and apparently he’s been employed as a police officer in many jurisdictions…which is NOT normally a good sign. Perhaps that is the reason why he didn’t make the “list” of finalists for this job.
Apparently you think it’s normal practice for any district attorney to hand over files of active cases to a private investigator or other law enforcement agencies. It’s not going to happen. Sadly, sometimes murder investigations take many years to solve and because a case isn’t solved doesn’t mean it’s not being worked on. Ever watch Cold Case Files? All those cases you see that are solved 10 and 20 years after the fact are solved mostly by the department that initially worked them. Reading this blog makes me think that everyone wants to try the case now, regardless of the present evidence. There are many murders’ walking free today that can never be tried again because of doing that. Ever hear of Double Jeopardy?
*Please note this comment has been edited to protect the officer from slanderous comments
Thank you for the input. *the officer* has been very forthcoming regarding his career and I am sure we have read the same blogs. Some additional research on your part will find that the circumstances surrounding his last place of employment are the subject of a ‘whistleblower’ lawsuit. Further examination would find that all previous employer references ARE ‘glowing’. Oregon recognizes his Georgia license, therefore your assumption is incorrect.
I don’t find the action of the DA to be out of line at all. It appears *the officer* is no longer a sworn police officer in Georgia, and even if he was, he has no police officer powers in Oregon and nor is he licensed to be a private investigator in Oregon. Which pretty much makes him a private citizen.
With respect to his glowing resume, I might suggest you do a google on both *the officer* and his user name. Seems he is no longer a police officer in Georgia according to various internet blogs back there. It is also apparent that Mr. Garcia failed to gain the confidence of many of the citizens in that area while he was a police officer. Don’t know if any of the Blogs contain accurate information or not, but this is a blog as well. “—–” has been accused of various wrong doings under the cover of authority and apparently has been fired on at least one occasion. Doesn’t take a lot of effort to find these blogs, I’m by no means saavy with the internet and I found them in a few minutes. He’s quite a popular topic (or unpopular, depending on your point of view) back there.
*Please note this comment has been edited to protect the officer from slanderous statements.