Pubdate: Wed, 10 Oct 2001 Source: News-Press (FL) Copyright: 2001 The News-Press Contact: http://www.news-press.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1133 Author: Lee Melsek Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption) GIBBS CASE TO BE STUDIED Cape Interim Manager Contacts Fdle CAPE CORAL - The city's interim manager asked Florida's top law enforcement agency Tuesday to investigate how Police Chief Arnold Gibbs and his department handled a drug bust involving the chief's 19- year-old daughter. Interim Manager Howard Kunik - who last week said he was confident neither Gibbs nor members of his department did anything wrong - asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate "from beginning to end, in as much detail as necessary." At the same time Kunik was writing the FDLE, three other city officials questioned Gibbs' actions in the case and wondered who could investigate. Mayor Arnold Kempe and council members Alex LaPera and Paul Asfour said many questions needed to be answered about the Aug. 18 drug raid at a Cape Coral motel. Monique Gibbs and a second woman, Donna Carter, were found in a motel room along with a bag of cocaine, prosecutors say. Instead of being arrested by Cape police her father came to the scene and took her home. Carter was also let go. State prosecutors charged Monique Gibbs Oct. 4 with cocaine possession. Arnold Gibbs claimed last week the State Attorney's Office in Fort Myers and FDLE found he did nothing wrong. Officials denied that Monday, saying their agencies never investigated the police department's actions at the Del Prado Inn or the decision to allow Gibbs to take his daughter home. Kunik didn't return several calls to his office Tuesday. Speaking to the city council later Tuesday, Kunik said he stood by an earlier statement that he believes Gibbs conducted himself properly. "There seems to be lingering questions about the involvement of Chief Gibbs and the procedures followed by the Cape Coral Police Department," Kunik said in his letter to Steve Emerson, supervising agent of FDLE's Fort Myers office. "Rather than continue to read statements questioning the chief's conduct in this process and the professionalism and knowledge of the police department, I am officially requesting an independent investigation by your agency into alleged impropriety by the chief and department." Emerson didn't return calls to his office Tuesday. He said Monday he didn't know if his office would investigate Cape Coral police. Some lingering questions Kunik wants answered were addressed directly Tuesday by Kempe. Kempe, a former criminal defense attorney, said Gibbs had no business going to the scene to get his daughter and should never have called the family of the man his department arrested there on drug charges. Kempe and Asfour said Kunik jumped too quickly last week to exonerate Gibbs and the department. LaPera said she believes Kunik and the police "slanted" the facts when they claimed the chief and the department were cleared of any wrongdoing in the matter. "I think we are finding out more and more the truth is not really there," LaPera said. Prosecutors say Monique Gibbs later admitted both to them and police that she flushed more crack cocaine down the toilet as officers came in the door. Instead of arresting her, they arrested her boyfriend, Brandon Graham, 20, and charged him with possession of cocaine. Prosecutors later dismissed the charge when they learned Graham wasn't in the room. "The chief standing there and being there at that motel, saying he was standing out of the way, waiting for his daughter, that's just impractical for him to be doing," said Kempe. "He'd have been better off staying away from the scene. He probably had an effect on his police officers by being there." Assistant State Attorney Marshall Bower said Monday that police either were afraid to charge their chief's daughter or they don't understand the law. Arnold Gibbs refused comment on the action. Instead, he issued a prepared statement just before 6 p.m. Tuesday. "The one piece of good news today is that FDLE, at the behest of Cape Coral Interim City Manager Howard Kunik, will now conduct an investigation after which all the facts will be known," Gibbs said. "Perhaps certain media organizations will then cease their personal attacks on me, their unwarranted attacks on the integrity of the Cape Coral Police Department, and their reporting of unsubstantiated allegations, half-truths, and outright lies." Gibbs also criticized The News-Press and said Bower and Emerson told him they were "grossly misquoted" in a story Tuesday. Efforts to reach Emerson were unsuccessful. Bower said he had no problems with the story and was not misquoted. He said he tried to explain to Gibbs that there are two issues involved in the case. They include the incident at the Del Prado Inn and his own office's investigation. He said his office has never investigated Gibbs' behavior or what Cape Coral police did at the hotel. Kempe, LaPera and Asfour also criticized Gibbs for calling Graham's family to talk about lawyers. Graham's lawyer, Michael Hornung, claims Gibbs called Graham's sister and told her he'd get the cocaine charge dropped if Graham fired Hornung. FDLE's Emerson said Monday that Gibbs told him he asked the family to get another attorney but didn't offer to get the charges dropped. Kempe said Gibbs was wrong to call Graham's family for any reason. "It is improper of the police to contact the defendant or their family rather than the defendant's attorney. They should call the attorney. How well did Gibbs know the Grahams? Has he been in their home? I'd like to know all the facts here," he said. LaPera agreed. "There's too big a cloud here to be left hanging there," she said. "The council has a right under the city charter to ask for an investigation, and I think we will. Maybe it should be the State Attorney's Office, I don't know." Kempe, LaPera and Asfour also took aim at Kunik's earlier defense of Gibbs. "The manager did that precipitously. It would have been far more prudent for him to hold up on that," Kempe said. "I don't think we have all of the facts, and I'd like to get them. I've learned more about it in the newspaper than I've learned from the city." LaPera also questioned Kunik's actions. "Being that there was no investigation into the chief's behavior or the department's behavior, it certainly was very forward for them to say he was exonerated," she said. "They knew they wouldn't be investigated and what they've said is just typical spin - 'Please don't put any bad information out there or any cloud over anyone. Put a little slant on it.'" Asfour said Kunik can't be involved in any formal investigation. "He's too close to the situation. I don't know, based on the fact he's already given his support to the chief, that he could objectively conduct an investigation." Council member Dick Stevens said he didn't support an investigation, saying it would be bad for the city. Council member Gloria Tate said she had not paid enough attention to the issue. It's Kunik's job to call for the investigation, said Council member A.J. Boyd. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager