Pubdate: Tue, 28 Aug 2001
Source: Cincinnati Enquirer (OH)
Copyright: 2001 The Cincinnati Enquirer
Contact:  http://enquirer.com/today/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/86
Author: Marie McCain
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption)

CITY FIGHTS COP'S REINSTATEMENT

Cincinnati attorneys are fighting an arbitrator's decision to reinstate a 
Cincinnati police sergeant who admitted planting drugs on a suspect.

They have filed a petition in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court accusing 
arbitrator Harry Berns of exceeding his authority when he ordered the city 
to reinstate Sgt. John Sess last month.

Sgt. Sess, a 23-year veteran, was fired from the police division in 1997 
after he admitted he planted a bag of marijuana on a suspect in 1984.

Assistant City Solicitor Augustine Giglio said Monday that attorneys for 
the Fraternal Order of Police - target of the suit - would file a reply by 
the end of September.

According to court documents, Sgt. Sess said he found a bag of marijuana in 
his police cruiser but did not turn it in as evidence.

That same day he planted the marijuana on a suspect who had been arrested 
for drug offenses and got him to confess.

What happened to the marijuana Sgt. Sess planted on the suspect is unknown, 
according to court documents.

In his decision to reinstate the sergeant with back pay, benefits and 
seniority, Mr. Berns says the tactic was a legitimate maneuver.

He also said the city could not discipline Sgt. Sess for failing to 
immediately turn in the marijuana because such a procedure did not go into 
effect until 1995.

According to the city's petition, Sgt. Sess "on at least three occasions, 
took an oath to ... uphold and defend the laws of Ohio and the Constitution 
of the United States and Ohio. (His) conduct in planting the evidence ... 
violated the constitutional rights of a (criminal) suspect."

Also in his five-page decision, Mr. Berns lambasted The Cincinnati Enquirer 
for printing "half-baked trash" and for trying to make the story "sexy."

City attorneys contend this is evidence that Mr. Berns ignored relevant 
material and based his decision on "apparent animus and bias against the 
press ... as well as an apparent bias in favor of all police officers, 
including Sess."

A judge has yet to be assigned to hear the petition.
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