Cop draws another complaint

"This guy is obviously not working for people but against people, and that's scary," says Cathy (not her real name), a student at East High. (In keeping with journalistic practice and as a condition of obtaining juvenile court information, Isthmus is not identifying the youths involved.)

Cathy says Woodmansee, an eight-year department veteran who formerly handled sensitive crimes, made her uncomfortable from the start. But what most rattles Cathy and her parents is that Woodmansee showed up at East High on Nov. 14, 1997--apparently without consulting school authorities, as required--and spoke to her in private, which school district rules do not allow. Cathy says Woodmansee berated her for wanting the boy criminally charged; Woodmansee, now with the Dane County Narcotics and Gang Task Force, did not respond to interview requests.

After the closed-door meeting, which Cathy says lasted 10 to 15 minutes, the counselor who had urged Cathy to report the assault was summoned to the scene. Woodmansee was gone, and Cathy was in tears. "I remember it well," says the counselor, Kim Gary. "She was very upset and crying."

Cathy's mother was telephoned from the school. "Oh Mom, he was so mean to me," Cathy told her, according to her mother's handwritten notes. Cathy's parents and East High officials inquired into the incident. Asst. Principal Lee Thomas spoke with Woodmansee, and says the detective explained that he was there on another matter and just happened to run into Cathy.

But Thomas did not realize, until recently, that Woodmansee had spoken to Cathy behind closed doors. District rules expressly forbid police from interviewing students without "the principal or his/her representative" being present--unless the student requests otherwise. And the student's parents would normally be notified.

"Those are school rules," says Lee. "You can't just come in here and talk to somebody. Not if you're a detective. Not if you're a parent, or a friend. Not if you're the mayor."

Milt McPike, East High principal, just learned of the incident this week. He says that for police to have an unauthorized meeting with a student on school grounds would be unprecedented in his 35 years of experience: "A detective does not come into this building, unless he comes to me."

Cathy and her parents this week filed a formal complaint against Woodmansee for his handling of Cathy's case. They say they thought about doing so earlier, but wanted to wait until the conclusion of the criminal proceeding against the boy Cathy accused. They were also prompted by Isthmus' article of Feb. 13, "Cry Rape," about a woman named Patty who alleges that Det. Woodmansee lied to her and threatened her into recanting a reported rape.

Cathy's father found the issue of Isthmus on a high school bleacher and showed it to Cathy's mother, who showed it to Cathy. "She said, 'Oh my God, I can't believe it,'" recalls Cathy's mom. "She wants people to know this detective would do something like this."

In late October, Patty filed a complaint with the Madison Police Department alleging that she was coerced into recanting. But no one in the department is investigating whether Woodmansee made the representations that Patty alleges. Neither is the Dane County District Attorney's office, which is criminally prosecuting Patty for having changed her story. Police Chief Richard Williams this week told Isthmus he's waiting for the prosecution to conclude before probing any charges of police misconduct. A pretrial conference is set for April 2.

Meanwhile, the department has the option of not investigating the notorized complaint from Cathy and her parents, filed this Wednesday, 110 days after the Nov. 14 incident. "Citizen complaints," state MPD rules, "will not be investigated if the complaint is received more than 90 days after the alleged incident, except if...the complainant can show good cause" for not acting in time.

The DA's criminal complaint states that Cathy was assaulted early on the morning of Sept. 6 while staying overnight at a girlfriend's house; she was fully clothed. Around 2 a.m., she awoke to find her girlfriend's brother, also a juvenile, with his hand on her right breast. He slid his hand down to the buttons on her pants, and uttered an obscenity.

Cathy told her mom what had happened. Her mom called counselor Gary at East High, who notified police. The first officer to investigate, on Sept. 15, was James Witalison. He took Cathy's statement, and also spoke to the boy, who according to the criminal complaint admitted getting on the side of the bed but denied touching Cathy.

The case was assigned to Det. Woodmansee, who met with Cathy at her home on Sept. 25. Cathy's father, who was present, says Woodmansee struck him as cocky: "He said he had a way of making people talk." The interview lasted three hours.

Cathy says Woodmansee seemed to doubt what she was telling him. "He came off a lot different than [Witalison]," she says. "He came off as a jerk."

Gary says Woodmansee called her at school on Sept. 24 to say he didn't think the DA's office was going to prosecute, since the case came down to the boy's word against Cathy's. Woodmansee, recalls Gary, also wondered whether Cathy's accusation was correct. Gary said she had no doubt it was, and urged that the matter be pursued.

On Oct. 3, the day after getting Patty to recant, Woodmansee met with the boy. He confessed to touching Cathy's breast and lying about it to Officer Witalison. The boy's mother, who was present, says Woodmansee assured that the boy's earlier denials would not be held against him.

Cathy's mother, who kept a running log of events, says Mark Kerman, a victim witness specialist with the DA's office, called on Nov. 3 to say the boy would not be criminally prosecuted. She expressed displeasure with this determination, and arranged for Cathy to talk with Kerman the next day. On Nov. 10, the DA's office formally charged the boy with fourth-degree sexual assault (the lowest-level criminal charge) and obstructing an officer--for having lied to Witalison. (This second charge was soon dismissed.)

Four days later, on Nov. 14, Woodmansee showed up at East High.

Woodmansee saw Cathy in the school office and asked to speak with her. They went into the ninth-grade principal's office. He closed the door.

Like Patty, Cathy says Woodmansee made specific representations that she found objectionable. She says he explained that the case was now out of his hands: "He made it clear it was none of his business." Woodmansee wanted to know why she had changed her mind about not wanting the boy charged with a crime. Earlier, she had said she wanted the boy to admit what he had done and for no one in school to find out.

Cathy says Woodmansee asked, "What do you want me to do, put him in prison and throw away the key?" No, she responded. But she wanted the boy punished because he was continuing to harass girls she knew. She says Woodmansee replied, "I can't put him in jail for being an asshole."

At one point, Cathy says Woodmansee pulled back his coat so she could see his gun and badge: "I think it was an intimidation thing. It seemed like he really did it on purpose." He asked her what she wanted done. Cathy's response: "I want to leave. Right now."

That afternoon, Cathy's mother tried contacting Woodmansee's supervisor, Lt. Dennis Riley, to no avail. She did speak to Woodmansee, and says he apologized for the visit. He claimed he was at the school on another case; she doesn't believe him.

In January, the boy Cathy accused was convicted of fourth-degree sexual assault and sentenced to six months' probation. Cathy's parents are glad she reported the incident, but angry with Woodmansee.

"It's just too bad she ended up with a detective who revictimized her," says Cathy's mother. "He doesn't know what we went through to convince Cathy to report this thing. People who report sexual assaults are second-guessing themselves enough as it is, and then you get someone like him who you think is on your side...."