Detective saw letter, sought charge

Did a Madison police detective seek a criminal charge against a blind rape victim after she lodged a complaint against him? Did he subsequently lie about it under oath?

These questions are raised by the timing of Det. Tom Woodmansee's forwarding of his police report and other materials to the Dane County District Attorney's office more than six years ago. The office subsequently charged "Patty," a legally blind Madison woman, for obstructing (lying to) an officer.

On Sept. 4, 1997, Patty called 911 to report being raped in her home by a knife-wielding assailant. A month later, after an inept investigation, Woodmansee confronted Patty with his conclusion that she had made the whole thing up. He and Det. Linda Draeger interrogated her in a tiny former jail cell until she recanted, telling the detectives, "I'll say whatever you want." The next day, she returned to her original account.

On Oct. 23, 1997, Patty had a letter delivered by cab to Lt. Dennis Riley, Woodmansee's supervisor, complaining that "your detectives" had used lies and threats to coerce her recantation. Lt. Riley discussed the letter with Woodmansee that afternoon.

Nearly a year later, at a Madison Police and Fire Commission hearing initiated by this reporter, Woodmansee was asked why he never gave this letter to the DA's office. He testified that, by this time, his case file and report had already been sent. An attorney hired by the city of Madison quizzed him as follows:

"Det. Woodmansee, I believe you testified that you had forwarded the matter to the District Attorney’s Office prior to the time that this letter was disclosed to you in late October 1997, is that correct?" Woodmansee: "That’s correct." And this: "And so prior to this letter coming in or prior to you seeing the letter in late October of 1997, the report that you had done on your investigation would have already been in the hands of the DA’s office, is that correct?" Woodmansee: "That’s correct."

The letter's timing was also significant in a federal lawsuit that Patty filed against Madison police, after the belated discovery of crime-scene semen led to the dismissal of the obstruction charge. In defending against alleged civil rights violations including retaliatory prosecution, lawyers representing the police argued, "There is no evidence that Det. Woodmansee's decision to refer [Patty] for prosecution was related in any way whatsoever to her letter to Woodmansee's supervisor...."

Patty's lawsuit was dismissed, as was her prior complaint against Woodmansee filed with the PFC. (The initial PFC action, filed by this reporter against Riley, was rejected due to lack of standing and, ultimately, lack of evidence.)

In June 2001, an FBI data bank matched DNA from the semen found at the crime scene with that of Joseph Bong, a convicted felon and sex offender who knew Patty's daughter. A Dane County jury this month convicted Bong, now 28, on five felony counts in connection with Patty's rape. Woodmansee testified as a witness for the defense.

As for the matter of timing, Woodmansee's report says he contacted the district attorney's office on Oct. 10, 1997, to say he would be forwarding his file on the case. But a dated "case intake form" shows he did not actually do so until Oct. 24, the day after he received Patty's letter to Riley.

District Attorney Brian Blanchard says his office's file on the case does not contain "any phone slips, memos, or notes...reflecting contact between anyone in this office and anyone in the police department before intake was delivered here," although such records would not necessarily have been created.

Woodmansee is in England and unavailable for comment. Even if he had spoken to someone in the office earlier, as his report indicates, his failure to include Patty's letter complaining about his conduct is more glaring if the file was forwarded after this document was in his possession. At the PFC hearing, Riley said he meant for Woodmansee to give this letter to the DA's office; Woodmandsee claimed he misunderstood.

Mike Short, the attorney who represented Patty in her failed federal lawsuit, says he'd "be surprised if their were any consequences for Det. Woodmansee. I don't think the hierarchy in Madison Police Department has the desire to hold the officers accountable in this particular case."