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3 Oakland cops in hot water over Bailey probe

by Repost
The former lead Oakland police investigator into the slaying of Oakland Post Editor Chauncey Bailey has been accused of insubordination and compromising a police probe, and two of his superiors are also facing possible discipline for allegedly failing to supervise the Bailey case properly, law enforcement sources said Tuesday.
Sgt. Derwin Longmire, the 24-year veteran who led the investigation into Bailey's slaying until last fall, could be suspended or fired if the department concludes he was guilty of misconduct.

Law enforcement sources close to the investigation said the disciplinary charges relate to Longmire's contacts with Yusuf Bey IV, who led the now-defunct Your Black Muslim Bakery when a bakery member was accused of murdering Bailey.

Longmire was ordered early on in the investigation to document all his contacts with Bey, with whom he had a close relationship before Bailey was shot to death on a downtown Oakland street Aug. 2, 2007. Department officials believe he failed to note all his contacts, which included at least two phone conversations with the jailed bakery leader, the law enforcement sources told The Chronicle.

His two former supervisors, Lt. Ersie Joyner and Deputy Chief Jeff Loman, are accused of misconduct for allegedly failing to properly oversee the Bailey investigation, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak for the Police Department.

Two are on leave

Loman has been on paid leave since February on unrelated allegations of sexual harassment. Longmire, who was moved out of the homicide unit last fall and put on patrol duty, was placed on paid leave Monday.

Joyner was the head of the homicide unit at the time Bailey was killed. He is now assigned to the patrol division and is still on the job.

Police spokesman Officer Jeff Thomason confirmed that Longmire was on paid leave. But he declined to comment on any other element of the personnel case.

Michael Rains, the attorney for Longmire and Joyner, said the department has made "certain findings," but declined to elaborate.

"I have yet to see a lick of documentation" to support the allegations against either Longmire or Joyner, Rains said.

"I sat through an interview that lasted six hours with Ersie, probably eight hours with Derwin," the attorney said. "I cannot, for the life of me, understand how anyone in their right mind would come to the conclusions that the department appears to have reached in this case."

Loman's attorney, Alison Berry Wilkinson, did not return messages seeking comment.

Improper lobbying?

Other officers have complained that Longmire inserted himself into a case in which Bey and other bakery members were accused of vandalizing two Oakland liquor stores, and that he lobbied investigators on the bakery's behalf when the group tried to get its computers and cell phones back after being raided the day after the Bailey killing.

When they checked the computers, police learned that bakery members had Longmire's cell phone number, according to police investigative documents.

A handyman for the bakery, Devaughndre Broussard, is the only person charged in the Bailey slaying. However, suspicion has surrounded Bey, who is in jail awaiting trial in a separate case in which he is accused of kidnapping and torturing a woman.

An acquaintance of Bey's told police the day after Bailey was killed that the bakery leader had gloated when he heard of the slaying, saying, "That will teach 'em to f- with me." Authorities believe Bailey was killed because he was investigating the bakery's financial and internal political turmoil.

The acquaintance's account, however, was lost in police files for more than a year after the slaying. Longmire made no mention of it in his case notes.

Controversial confession

Broussard made a confession to police in the Bailey case after Longmire put him alone in a room with Bey, a conversation that the homicide investigator did not record. Broussard has since recanted, saying the bakery leader had pressured him to "take the fall."

Three days later, police secretly videotaped Bey talking with two bakery followers in custody in the San Leandro police station. As first reported in The Chronicle, the tape shows Bey boasting that his ties to Longmire explained why "they didn't pin the murder on me."

In two subsequent jailhouse phone calls in June and August 2008, Longmire assured Bey that he was not worried about criticism of his friendship with the bakery leader and that he had no problem with Bey posting an explanation of their ties on a bakery Web site.

During one of the calls, Longmire assured Bey that he was not concerned about people who would "crucify" him because "you and I have been able to get along very well."

Just doing his job

Rains says Longmire's talks with Bey were not improper, just an indication of how Longmire dealt respectfully with everyone, including potential targets of criminal investigations.

Oakland's acting chief of police, Howard Jordan, has said he was concerned about the calls and that they were part of an internal affairs investigation related to Longmire.

Longmire and Bey have been friends since 2005. However, Rains noted that Longmire had suggested in a search warrant affidavit that Bey was "complicit" in Bailey's slaying. The bakery leader lied about his whereabouts before the killing and stalked the journalist, Longmire wrote in the affidavit.

"Derwin Longmire was committed to what he needed to do as a homicide investigator to prosecute those responsible for the murder of Chauncey Bailey," Rains said.

The accusations against Joyner, the attorney added, are "complete nonsense. ... They know what the demands of the homicide lieutenant are. Unless the new requirements are that the lieutenant does not sleep, Joyner has done nothing wrong."
by junya
Attorney Michael Rains is also leading the case for the policeman who murdered Oscar Grant on the BART platform. And he is still the attorney for Barry Bonds as the feds continue to try to crucify him.

I can't understand why Barry Bonds, with all his money, does not have a lead attorney dedicated to his case, instead of one busy pleading the cases of law enforcement low-lifes...Unless Rains has somehow guaranteed Bonds that his connections will buy Bonds freedom?

More on Rains at "Behind BALCO: The Hidden Officer Involved Shooting" - http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/04/16/18157391.php
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