POLICE DEPARTMENT
Isthmus loses PFC complaint
The Madison Police and Fire Commission last week dismissed the remaining part of a complaint filed by Isthmus news editor Bill Lueders against Lt. Dennis George Riley of the Madison Police Department. The charge: that Riley had been untruthful in denying knowledge of a letters he received in October 1997 from a woman who says police coerced her into recanting a reported rape.
"In this case we find no evidence other than Complainant's opinion testimony that Respondent lied to the Complainant, that is, deliberately misrepresented a fact," the PFC ruled. "In our view, all evidence is fully consistent with Respondent's explanation that he may have had a lapse of memory but did not intentionally misstate a fact.
"...We believe the Respondent has a sound reputation for truthfulness; we believe the Respondent was truthful in our hearings; we find the Respondent's explanation of forgetfulness and inadvertance fully credible and reasonable."
The original complaint, filed on April 1, alleged that Riley was not only untruthful but that he failed to follow department policies regarding complaint acceptance and investigation. On Sept. 30, the PFC disallowed this latter area, the major part of the complaint, saying Lueders lacked standing.
Under the law, that ruling could not be appealed until after Isthmus played out the remaining part of its case. Now that the PFC has ruled, Isthmus can appeal, but the point may be moot: Lt. Riley is retiring at year's end, after which the PFC will no longer have authority to act on complaints against him.