THE ADAMS COUNTY “ASSAULT ON POLICE OFFICER” CASE

This is one of the stuff I have that helps show my innocence, and how those officers that arrested me in 1996 lied and falsely accused me of assaulting them during the arrest. Remember, as you’re reading this stuff, that these officers are liars and very experienced at testifying in court, and in knowing how to sound believable, and to manipulate the emotions of the jury.

I couldn’t afford to get an entire copy of the trial transcript to send to you. But I did send you the “opening statements” portion, so you could see how my attorney was deliberately trying to lose the trial from the very start, by refusing to do an opening statement for my side of the case, to rebut the inflammatory opening statement the prosecutor made.

I also sent you the entire transcript testimony of “Dana Hatfield” (he was the larger of the two officers that attacked me, he’s the one that chocked me, and he’s the one I’m serving 12 years in prison for because he lied and claimed I tried to choke him with his necktie), so that you can read his entire side of the story.

But I only sent you the selected portions of the testimony of the other officer, “Richard Grahn” (who was the smaller of the two, and who I’m serving 12 years in prison for,  for supposedly kicking him in the knee), as his testimony was largely a repeat of “Hatfield’s” lies.

And finally I sent you copies of the testimony of the racist store owner who you’ll see repeatedly exaggerated and told lies in his attempts to help his police buddies falsely convict me. His name is “Charles Dunn”. I sent you most of his testimony as well.

Now remember, if these police officers had first clearly identified themselves as police officers BEFORE putting their hands on me, and THEN I struggled and resisted, then I would’ve been guilty of only a Misdemeanor charge of “Resisting Arrest”. If they identified themselves as cops, and I actually tried to hit and hurt them, then I’d be guilty of felony “Assault on a Police officer”. If they just snuck up behind me and put their hands on me BEFORE identifying themselves as cops, and even if I DID resist and fight back at that point, then I could be found “not guilty” on grounds of self defense, or be found guilty of only a low level “class 6” felony (facing up to 1 to 3 years) on the “Heat of Passion” defense. And the officers knew this. That’s why during trial they were very careful to lie and make it sound like they did everything right, and had clearly identified themselves as cops before putting their hands on me to arrest me. But as you’ll see, “Hatfield”, “Grahn”, and their cop sympathizing buddy “Dunn”, all lied and told contradicting stories at various points. My attorney should’ve pounced on these small mistakes they made to prove they were liars. But as I said, he was mad at me for refusing to accept the prosecutor’s plea deal before trial, and was DELIBERATLY trying to make me lose trial to retaliate against me. I didn’t realize this until it was too late.

Anyway… let’s go over these documents now…

First let’s start off with the warrant and list of “facts” that “Hatfield” wrote in the report on the warrant that he typed up just hours after I was first arrested. Then we’ll look at the jail arrest and criminal charge booking sheet that “Grahn” wrote up the next day when I was booked into the Adams county jail…

First of all, you’ve seen my criminal conviction mittimus for the case, where, in trial, I was convicted of not one count, but TWO counts of “Assault on peace officer” for supposedly assaulting TWO cops, and one count of “Resisting Arrest”. Remember that officer “Hatfield” claims that I assaulted him by pulling on his tie and trying to choke him to death?

Yet look at the Affidavit he wrote to support my arrest after I was arrested, marked as “Exhibit 1”. This report he wrote about the incident –the affidavit- he writes on the second page that I “attempted” to kick “Grahn”, and “attempted” to bite him (Hatfield) on the arm. (Though if you read Hatfield’s testimony on page 181 of his transcript testimony "Exhibit 4" you’ll see when asked if I ever actually bit him, he says NO. And I NEVER tried to bite him. I just kept trying to tuck my chin down against my throat so that his arm could not press against my windpipe, and would press on the bottom of my chin instead. So he decided to take that and lie and try to claim that I was moving my head down like that to get my teeth near his forearm and bite him).

HOWEVER, notice how NOWHERE in his Affidavit does he write, or claim, that I pulled on his neck tie and tried to choke him! And look at the date he wrote it 9-4-96. That was the SAME day that the incident occurred. So if I really did pull his tie on his neck to choke him, then why did he forget to mention it in this first sworn statement that he gave about the incident? (Yet you’ll see in the trial transcript testimony that he, ” Grahn”, and “Dunn”  ALL  lied and claimed I tried to choke him with his tie. See, “Hatfield” had apparently forgotten when he wrote this statement just hours after my arrest, that he and “Grahn” had all agreed to lie and claim I’d choked him. So he forgot that he was supposed to tell this lie in this report).

This is the BIGGEST evidence, right here with his own SWORN Affidavit, that I never assaulted “Hatfield”. Yet because my attorney threw the trial, you’ve also seen that I’ve been sentenced to 12 years in prison for it. And you can see there was still plenty of space for him to continue writing what happened, on the second page, and thus plenty of room to talk about me choking him with his tie, had it really happened. And also look at the first page, at the top. You see where it has those two lines on the Affidavit form that say “charges” well you see that he had initially only charged me with ONE count of “Resisting Arrest”, and ONE count of “Assault on a peace officer”. As you can see, there were two more empty slots on the SECOND page where he could’ve wrote and charged me with a second count of Assault (had a second count actually occurred), for supposedly choking him with his tie.

Yet when I was originally charged and booked on this case, I was ONLY charged and accused of kicking (assaulting “Grahn”). It wasn’t until they talked to the prosecutor a few days later, and had collaborated the details of all of the false charges and lies amongst “Hatfield”, “Grahn”, and “Dunn”, that they decided to actually go ahead and lie and say I’d assaulted “Hatfield” too (by pulling his tie) to see if they could get me convicted of TWO counts of assaulting officers. Plus that extra false count would give the prosecutor an extra bargaining chip to use against me in a “guilty pleas deal”. See, if there was only one count of assault on a peace officer, then the only way the prosecutor could make a “plea deal” with me (to agree to plea guilty without taking me to trial), would be to drop the WHOLE “assault on peace officer” charge itself, and lower it to a lesser charge entirely like “Menacing” (which is the lowest level felony). Meaning they’d have to offer me a deal where I’d be released from prison on this whole case, in a year or less.

And of course these officers, the corrupt prosecutor, and their sympathizer store buddy, all wanted to make me to rot in prison for as long as possible, as an innocent man. So after conspiring with the prosecutor, they had him add this second false assault charge. That way instead of having to lower the whole assault charge, the prosecutor could instead try to make me plead guilty to one full high level Felony Assault charge, while offering to DISMISS the other fake assault count as part of the “plea deal”. Do you see what I’m saying? And as punishment for refusing to plead to something that I DIDN’T do, I got convicted for BOTH, and sentenced to the maximum, aggravated sentences for both…

Anyway… now look at the arrest/booking sheet that the other officer, “Grahn” wrote up when they sent me to be booked into the Adams county jail "Exhibit 2". Look at the top page. There are 4 slots where they COULD’VE typed in up to 4 felony or misdemeanor counts for this case. Yet again, notice how I had originally only been charged with one account of resisting arrest, and just ONE count of “Assault on a peace officer” against detective “Grahn”. Where “Grahn” wrote in the “Nature of injury” area, he wrote only that his “hand and elbow” had been injured, and those supposed hand and elbow injuries (where he had apparently bumped his hand and elbow on the desk and floor during the incident, and his hand has gotten a bit swollen in one spot, and his elbow got a bruise). Notice how he had only written his hand and elbow got hurt (forming the original basis of this assault charge), yet he said NOTHING in the list of supposed injuries about me supposedly kicking or injuring his knee. Yet later, while testifying in trial, you’ll see he claims not only did I intentionally kick him, but that it hurt, caused great pain to him, and left on an “abrasion” on his leg.

What THIS document proves, is that I didn’t kick this lying officer, either. What this document shows is that the original plan, apparently, was to charge me for “assaulting” “Grahn since his hand and elbow had got bumped and hurt during the incident, and even if I hadn’t caused him to bump and bruise his hand intentionally, under the Colorado law I could STILL be found guilty of possibly “Assaulting” him; but that would be almost impossible to do if the --- version of the story admitted from the start that I never actually tried to hurt anyone, and at most, was only guilty of resisting arrest. At which point I’d only be found guilty of a simple Misdemeanor “Battery” charge, with only a few months jail time. In other words, this initial peace officer assault charge for a bumped hand and elbow, where I caused none of it intentionally, was very weak. And to support the fact that originally I was charged with hypothetical assault, because my struggling and resisting caused him to inadvertently bump his elbow and hand, look at the “Narrative” he wrote about it. He describes the falling into counters, desks and the floor (that caused his hand and elbow injuries). But he mentions NOTHING about me supposedly kicking him in the knee or leg. Do you see that? So if I had kicked him in the leg, why didn’t he mention that in the written “Narrative”? And if I assaulted “Hatfield” by choking him with his tie, why did “Hatfield” never mention it in his first sworn statement about the incident or “Grahn” mention it on the booking sheet? And why I wasn’t originally charged with Assaulting “Hatfield” – both documents written by “Hatfield” and “Grahn” proves that I wasn’t charged. And you say if I HADN’T kicked “Grahn”, then why did “Hatfield” say that I did in his sworn statement (Affidavit) written the same day? Well he never DID actually swear in that Affidavit that I kicked “Grahn”, did he? He just said I “attempted” to kick “Grahn”. It wasn’t until they met with the prosecutor a few days later, to conspire how they could all work together to successfully convict me of these crimes, that they finally decided to, indeed, go along with the false story that I had actually KICKED “Grahn”, rather than merely causing him to inadvertently hurt his hand and elbow. This new story (that “Hatfield” had originally started in his affidavit) provided them with a MUCH more solid “Assault on peace officer” case against me regarding “Grahn”, than the originally plan to accuse me of inadvertent “Assault” from him bumping his hand and elbow while arresting me. This was also when they decided to make-up the story that I had tried to assault the other detective, as well, by pulling his tie, and charging me with that too.

You can learn a lot when you look at things closely, and learn how to read between the lines. And by analyzing and reading between the lines, you see I’ve just proven my innocence – and that these liars framed me and set me up – with just these three pages of exhibit papers.

And also another piece of strong evidence of my innocence, and that they lied and set me up: There were NO photographs taken of the alleged “leg abrasion” or “necktie choking” injuries these liars claim I gave them! If I had choked “Hatfield” with his tie “for over a minute” (as he stated in his testimony) and choked him so bad that he couldn’t breathe, and was he was fearing that he’d maybe never see his family again, and that his neck was hurting for “ two days” afterwards (as he also testified), then WHY did this “poor officer’, who had over 20 years of police experience at the time, never take ANY PHOTOGRAPHS of the bruising and red marks around his neck, that would’ve SURELY been left on his neck after being strangled so hard with his tie? There were NO photos of any marks left on his neck, because they never TOOK any. And they never took any because the entire tie-choking accusation was a lie. I mean really-do you really believe that a veteran police officer, who had been a cop for 20 years, would FORGET to take photos of his own “assault-crime injuries? And that the other police “Grahn” would forget about it too? Absolutely not.

And when you read their testimony, you’ll see they mentioned NO photos being taken either. This is yet MORE proof that these two, lied about me choking “Hatfield” with his tie. And ALSO there are no photos taken of “Grahn’s” “leg abrasion” from me supposedly kicking him, either. This is yet more proof that “Grahn” has lied about me kicking him. Again, you’ll see no mention of photos of his alledged “abrasion” in his trial court testimony, either. LIES, LIES, LIES, ELEVEN years of my life stolen from me FOREVER, because of it…

First, look at the trial testimony of “Grahn” "Exhibit 5", page 210, where “Grahn” testified that me kicking him had left “scarpes” on his knees; and “Hatfield” testified  in HIS testimony "Exhibit 4", page 175-176, that he saw “scrape and hand swelling” injuries on “Grahn” too. So again, if true, WHY were no photos taken?

“Grahn” testified at (page 212) of his testimony that I was DELIBERATLY trying to kick and assault him, and not just inadvertently flailing my legs around as “Hatfield” had me on the floor trying to choke me unconscious. Yet, at (page 169) of “Hatfield’s” testimony, “Hatfeild” testified that I was only inadvertently flailing my legs and that I was “…trying to PUSH”  “Grahn” off me with my legs. Then of course, he tries to change his story later in his testimony, and claim, in his opinion, that I was deliberately trying to kick and injure “Grahn”. But if so, why did he first testify that I’d only used my legs to try to push “Grahn” off me? This is more proof that “Grahn” and “Hatfeild” were lying and trying to remember the lies and stories they’d told, even when testifying.

Then this is the part of the trial that REALLY angered me. The prosecutor knew how to inflame a jury’s anger and passion, and knew how to sell a story to a jury. Look at "Exhibit 3". This is a copy of the “opening statements” portion of the trial. Note when you read it, how this prosecutor made it sound like he’s about to prove that there was some monumental battle against good and evil, and that I’m a violent monster, and all this. Then at page 155, when he finishes, my attorney is given a chance to do MY opening statement for ME, for my DEFENSE, where he’s supposed to try to tell the jury how what the prosecutor just said is all lies, and untrue; that I was the victim, not them, and that WE intend to prove a whole other story…you see when given the opportunity, my attorney “reserves opening statements” and says NOTHING! He lets the prosecutor’s “set-up” story of what happened, go totally unchallenged, and the testimony portion of the trial begins. This was the FIRST of many things he did to deliberately lose the trial.

Anyway what also angered me is how the prosecutor deliberately asked “Hatfeild” and “Grahn” questions regarding “assaults” that they ALL knew I never committed, designed for the sole purpose of trying to “humanize” these officers, and inflame the jury’s anger against me…

At page 171 through 175 of “Hatfield’s” testimony, you’ll see that the prosecutor kept asking him about his emotions and how he “felt” as I was supposedly choking him with his tie. And “Hatfeild”, experienced at testifying, and knowing how to sell to the jury turned and faced the jury with a sad and haunted expression on his face, and answered:” I was feeling like, if we didn’t get the situation under control soon, I may not go home and see my family again.” That is recorded on page 171. Then a few minutes later at page 175 of his transcript testimony, the prosecutor plays a little game again, asks him the same question to let the jury hear that he was scared fir his life, and to mention his family again, to make the jury feel sorry for him, and make appear more “human” in their eyes, and to enrage their anger at ME.

Then at pages 207,208, and 212 of “Grahn’s” testimony, “Grahn” plays his part in this little act too by exaggerating about most of the things that DID happen, and lying outright about others, repeatedly playing off of the prosecutor’s calculated inflammatory questions, to make it sound like because of my extreme violence towards them, that there was this phenomenal “fight”; that they were “in trouble”; and that there was some “real” danger and fear that their “lives” may have been lost that day at my hands.

(Which is a FAR cry from the fact that NEITHER of them originally accused, nor charged me for supposedly choking “Hatfield” at all; and from the fact that “Grahn” had, originally, only claimed inadvertent hand and elbow bump and swelling injuries, and hadn’t mentioned me kicking him at all, in his original reports). This testimony by “Grahn” was just more lies, acting, and drama to influence the emotions of the jury.

NOW, look at all these outright lies, and contradicting testimony told by the computer store owner, “Charles Dunn”.

But first, as I see it, working with police, helping them set up arrest sting operations in his store…and going to court, in a public forum, to testify and help cops get people convicted of crimes…well those events gave him some excitement and meaning in life. It made him feel important. And by conspiring with the various police he worked with to do his part in lying, and help them secure convictions in court…well it made him feel “needed” as being part of the team, and, at least for those brief periods, one of “them”. Just to emphasize this and to prove this point, look at "Exhibit 6", page 249, of “Dunn’s” testimony.

You see that he brags and admits to having helped cops set up sting operations in his store, to have people arrested, at least:"…20 or 30 times." This guy LOVED police, and helping them arrest and charge people with crimes. And THAT is why he was so quick and eager to tell lies during the trial, against me, to help his cop buddies out.

Let’s get back to his lies. If you look at page 239 of “Dunn’s” testimony, you’ll see that “Dunn” testified that I was punching and “hitting” both officers with my hands during the incident. Yet you know from reading “Hatfeild’s” and ”Grahn’s’ testimony that NEITHER of them had EVER accused me of hitting or punching ANYBODY with my hands. I had never even been ACCUSED of punching or hitting with my hands, by either of the two cops. Yet you see right here how “Dunn” LIES and says he saw me punching and hitting “everything that moved” and that he saw blows from my hands hit people (though he claims he “can’t remember” exactly who). This is proof of “Dunn’s” first lie.

Then on page 240 of his testimony, he lies AGAIN by going on to testify that he saw me kicking BOTH of the two officers during the incident. Yet when reading the officers testimony, the two officers only claim that I tried to kick “Grahn”. So how could “Dunn” see me kick both of them? This is proof of “Dunn’s” second lie.

Then at page 243 of “Dunn’s” testimony, “Dunn” claims he saw me grab the “smaller” detective’s necktie (the smaller guy being “Grahn”) to try to choke him; but the accusation the two officers  made is that I grabbed “Hatfeild’s” tie to choke; (Hatfeild being the BIGGER guy). This is because “Dunn” couldn’t remember which of two officers he was supposed to lie about me choking with the tie.

Then at page 243 and 244 of “Dunn’s” testimony, “Dunn” is asked if he saw any injuries on the officers after the incident, and he says “yes”, that he “saw some blood” on one of the officers shirts. Yet when you read the testimony of the officers, NEITHER of them claimed or testified that they, or anyone, had been bleeding. “Grahn” had said, me supposedly kicking him had caused an “abrasion” on his leg. But even if there WAS an abrasion on the leg, under the pants, that wouldn’t have gotten blood on anyone’s shirt. This is “Dunn’s” FOURTH proven lie.

Then at page 245 of “Dunn’s” testimony, when “Dunn” describes the two officers making contact with me, he says:” They came through the door and around and in front of him and confronted him.” So once again he tells lies, by claiming that the two cops moved fully in front of me, and in my view, BEFORE touching or speaking to me. He lies and says this because he knows that I might be able to justify resisting and struggling if they had sneaked up behind me and grabbed me without warning from behind. So he’s telling this lie about how the first contact occurred, in hopes of getting me convicted in these crimes. HOWEVER, if you look back at page 162 of “Hatfield’s” testimony, you’ll see that “Hatfeild” testified that he and “Grahn” were still behind me when they first spoke and made contact with me. This is “Dunn’s” FIFTH proven lie.

Then at page 250 and 251 of “Dunn’s” testimony, my attorney does cross examination of “Dunn”, and he repeatedly asks “Dunn” if he recalls seeing either of the officers put their arms around my neck or head during the incident, and “Dunn” repeatedly denies seeing such a thing, and says “no”. This is because he thought that telling the truth, that he DID see it, may help my defense and MY side of the case, and get his two buddies in trouble. So you see here he lies once more, and denies seeing “Hatfeild” trying to choke me unconscious. He didn’t know that they had excuses to try to legally justify it. So he lied to try to cover up for them. This is “Dunn’s” SIXTH proven lie against me during trial.

So…now you’ve seen this entire large amount of proof and evidence that I’m totally innocent of the crimes that I’ve lost the last ELEVEN years of my life for. This is all the evidence I have. I mean… with me being in prison, locked in solitary confinement 23 hours a day for the last eleven years, there’s only so much I can do to collect evidence to show others that I am, indeed, innocent. I know that you’ve always believed me about my innocence. But NOW when you talk about it to others, you can attest to my innocence with CONVICTION, and tell people how you’ve seen proof of my innocence with your own two eyes- or at the very least, very strong and convincing evidence of it. And now YOU can show and explain to them as I have done for you, if they still doubt. I just hope I’ve done a good job in showing and explaining it all.

After the prosecutor finished presenting their side of my case, my compromised attorney, “Jeffrey Doniger”, stood up and closed my side of the case, WITHOUT saying ONE word or presenting one piece of evidence in my defense. He wouldn’t even allow me to testify on my own behalf. And now that you’ve seen all the lies, testimony, and other things that he COULD’VE fought against and attacked as being false, during trial (and which he didn’t), you can SEE how he deliberately ensured that I lost this trial and was convicted.