drove back to his house on the East Canal in Venice.
Two hours after he got home, another uniformed patrolman showed up. He hand-delivered the PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL envelope Shane had been dreading. Inside was an LAPD Letter of Transmittal.
Chapter 12
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL APRIL 21, 2000
ADJUDICATION
Complaint filed by Robbery/Homicide and IAD. Place of Complaint: 2387 Shell Avenue, Venice, CA. Complaint Investigation CF no. 20-4567-56. This complaint form contains allegations of misconduct against Department employee:
SERGEANT I. SHANE SCULLY
SOUTHWEST DIVISION
Serial No. 8934867RHD
Allegations are listed below with recommendations for classification and supporting rationales.
ALLEGATION ONE: That on April 16, at approximately 2:30 A. M., Sergeant Scully inappropriately involved himself in an incident of domestic violence.
ALLEGATION TWO: Sergeant Scully drove to the house of his expartner, Lieutenant Raymond Molar. He did not use his police radio to call uniformed police, instead electing to inject himself into a potentially dangerous incident where uniformed personnel would have been in a better position to contain the situation.
ALLEGATION THREE: Sergeant Scully arrived on the scene and used inappropriate and out-of-policy escalating force. (Force may not be resorted to unless other reasonable alternatives have been thoroughly exhausted.)
ALLEGATION FOUR: After engaging in an inappropriate escalation of force, Sergeant Scully fired his police weapon, which resulted in the death of Lieutenant Raymond Molar.
ALLEGATION FIVE: Sergeant Scully removed from the Molar residence certain related case items that he believed would reflect badly on him in the subsequent investigation. (Note: The confidential nature of these materials prohibits notification and description of same in this letter of transmittal, but such notification will be made available to the accused upon discovery.)
CLASSIFICATION
It is recommended that all allegations be classified as sustained. RATIONALE
It has been determined by investigating officers that Sergeant Scully had a prior relationship with the wife of the deceased. As a result, Sergeant Scully should have known that his involvement in this domestic dispute would not produce a favorable outcome. His reckless attempt to intervene in a family dispute where he had an emotional history, and his refusal to call for uniformed assistance, produced a situation that resulted in an undue escalation of force and the death of Lieutenant Molar. Further at issue is Sergeant Scully's prior relationships with both the deceased, Lieutenent Molar (ex-partner), and Molar's wife (former girlfriend). This throws doubt on his use of force and gives rise to questions of personal motive. It is also noted that on February 12, 1984, then-Patrolman Scully was involved in a physical altercation with the deceased in the underground parking structure at Southwest Division. This altercation resulted in the breakup of their partnership and Scully's transfer to West Valley Division.
COMPLAINT HISTORY ANALYSIS
Sergeant Scully's use-of-force history has been examined, and it has been determined that this officer has had six complaint investigations in ten years (none sustained). However, he has received one departmental admonishment due to a nonsustained Board of Rights involving the severe beating of a nineteen-year-old Hispanic gang member in Southwest Division. (It was determined by the board that some eyewitness accounts of the beating were perjurious, and this perjury resulted in the subsequent not-guilty verdict. However, in the estimation of Sergeant Scully's commander, some undue force had taken place.) In reviewing his complaint history, it has been decided that this officer has shown a pattern of failure to exercise good judgment. Additionally, he has received admonishments for two separate (preventable) traffic accidents. There are no negative-comment-card entries from his current commanding officer.
RELIEF FROM DUTY CONSIDERATION
It is recommended that this officer be relieved from his duty in Southwest Robbery/Homicide and that he be suspended without pay until further notice. Note: The complaint copy and Relief from Duty Suspension Form (1.61) issued by Internal Affairs Division and signed by Deputy Chief II Thomas Mayweather is being faxed to Sergeant Scully's CO, Captain Bud Halley, in accordance with departmental regulations. Upon receipt of same, Sergeant Scully shall surrender his gun, badge, and identification card to Captain Halley for safekeeping.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The chief of police has directed this case to a full Board of Rights, said board to commence ten days from the date of this letter.
COMMANDING OFFICER'S RESPONSE None.
Respectfully submitted, Alexa Hamilton Internal Affairs Division
Chapter 13
A letter of transmittal is always delivered to an accused officer and is, in essence, a summons and complaint. It gives the preliminary results of the IAD investigation and the determination by the department of the appropriate form of adjudication.
Shane had received the letter just before going out the door to pick up Chooch from school. He ripped open the brown envelope with trembling fingers. He had figured it would be bad, but this was even worse than he had expected. He shook with rage as he read the allegations. Then he stuffed the document into his side pocket and headed out the back door. Fuck 'em, he thought, I'm not gonna plead this out. I'm gonna fight it.
He pried the crushed front fender farther away from the tire, using the Acura's tire jack. Then as he took the 405 over the hill to Coldwater, he turned on his cell phone to call his new defense rep, Rags Whitman. He had talked with him once yesterday, but Rags was in the middle of defending another BOR, so they had agreed to meet at six that evening.
He punched the number into his cell phone.
Rags Whitman was on a break outside hearing room three when he answered the phone. Internal Affairs had rented the top three floors of the Bradbury Building in downtown L. A. It was a beautiful turn-of-the-century structure with a glassed-in courtyard and black wrought-iron banisters. Because Parker Center had become so overcrowded, the entire Advocate Section of IAD, as well as its four main hearing rooms, had been moved to this architectural treasure at the corner of Broadway and Third.
'Yeah,' Rags answered in his surprising soprano voice.
'It's Shane. I just got the Letter of Transmittal.'
'Bad?' Rags asked.
'They suspended me without pay. They're alleging I shot Ray because I used to date Barbara. It's total bullshit!'
'You'll probably do much better with DeMarco, if that's the way they're going. He fights gladiator-style.'
'DeMarco won't take the case.'
