Date: Tue, 06 Aug 1996 19:46:44 -0700 (PDT)
From: Bob Witanek <[b--ta--k] at [igc.apc.org]>
To: Recipients of pol-abuse <[pol abuse] at [igc.apc.org]>
Subject: WA Illegal Searches?

Posted: Michael Novick <[mnovickt t t] at [igc.apc.org]>

Suit Alleges Prince Georges County Police Abuses In Probe of Officer's 
Slaying 

By Todd Shields Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 25 1996; Page B01 The Washington Post


Relatives and acquaintances of Jeffrey C. Gilbert's have filed a
lawsuit alleging that Prince George's County police conducted at
least three searches without warrants and improperly held at least
five people overnight for questioning as they searched for the
killer of a fellow officer last year.

The lawsuit says handgun-brandishing police twice invaded a home
rented by Gilbert's aunt seeking information about the slaying.  In
between raids, the suit says, officers stopped the house's occupants in 
the streets and took them to interrogation rooms, where they were 
handcuffed to walls and held overnight without food, water or a chance to 
use the bathroom.  The suit, alleging that police violated constitutional 
protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, was filed in late 
April in Prince George's County Circuit Court.  At the request of county
attorneys, who said it involved complex federal issues, the case
was moved Monday to U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.

Gilbert, of Lanham, was arrested and charged with murder on April
28, 1995, two days after Cpl. John J. Novabilski was fatally shot
at a Kentland liquor store where he was working off duty.  Gilbert
was released 39 days later, after law enforcement officers discovered 
that another man, who committed suicide after a shootout with law 
enforcement officers, had Novabilski's service revolver and the gun used 
to kill the officer.

Gilbert, who said he was severely beaten during his arrest, has
filed a $10 million lawsuit alleging that his constitutional rights
were violated by police.  Meanwhile, a federal grand jury is looking
into whether the arresting officers beat Gilbert.

The new lawsuit, filed by lawyer Kenneth E. McPherson on behalf of
nine people, accuses police officials and unknown officers of
wrongful arrests and other abuses.  It seeks more than $20 million
in damages.  "These people were ripped from their ordinary lives and
thrust into something they had no part of, and it was a scary two
days for them, " McPherson said.  The lawsuit contends that the
officers' acts could have occurred only in a police force that
tolerated the use of excessive force.

County officials would not comment yesterday on the the suit.  Jay
Creech, an associate county attorney, called the allegations
"vague.  The lawsuit centers on searches conducted at the home of
Gilbert's aunt, Eloise Jones, in the 7200 block of East Forest Road
in Landover.  According to the lawsuit, police appeared at the Jones
residence about 30 minutes after Novabilski was slain several
blocks away.

The suit gives the following account of what happened next:  Two men
who lived in the house were standing outside when "approximately
six" Prince George's police cars pulled up.  The two men were forced
to kneel on the lawn with their hands above their heads.  Police
burst into the house and pointed loaded handguns at the people
there, including one man who was taking a bath.  Police ordered that
man and two other men from within the house to the front lawn,
where they also were forced to kneel with their hands in the air. 

A woman in the house was rousted from her bed at gunpoint and
forced to sit on a couch, wearing only the T-shirt and underwear
in which she had intended to sleep.  Jones, the aunt, was ordered
back inside at gunpoint when she went to the front porch to find
out what was happening.

The next day, April 27, three male residents of the house were
stopped while driving or riding in cars, taken to police
interrogation rooms and told they would be released only if they
provided statements about Novabilski and "Curtis Gilbert," the suit
says.  Gilbert's middle name is Curtis.  The suit says the men were
held until the following morning.

Another woman was held overnight after being taken into custody
while driving in the area, according to the suit.  Another man was
taken into custody April 28 while walking near the house and also
was held overnight, the suit says.  Police entered the Jones
residence again about 4:30 a.m. April 28, little more than two
hours after Gilbert's arrest, the lawsuit says.  It says four people
in the house, including Jones, were taken to a police station and
asked for statements about Gilbert.  They were released later that
morning, the suit said.  Also about 4:30 a.m. April 28, Prince
George's police forced their way into a woman's home on Butler
Street in Southeast Washington and ransacked the residence, the
lawsuit says.

Police who took part in some of the actions had tape over their
name tags, McPherson said. 


Copyright 1996 The Washington Post Company


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