Pubdate: Tue, 01 May 2001
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2001 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.jsonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265
Author: DAVID DOEGE, of the Journal Sentinel staff

WOMAN CHOSE TO LIFT SHIRT, OFFICER SAYS

Defendant Say He Was Shocked By Her Behavior

A police officer told a Circuit Court jury Tuesday that he did not sexually 
assault a female motorist and order her to expose her breasts in the back 
of his squad car during a traffic stop, allegations that have him standing 
trial on two criminal charges.

Terrence N. Gilbert said he was shocked when the woman raised her shirt and 
bra to her neck and speculated that she did so voluntarily to avoid a 
search for contraband by a female officer.

"I said, 'Damn, why did you do that?' " Gilbert testified on the second day 
of his trial on charges that carry prison terms totaling more than 15 
years. "I was surprised she did that."

Gilbert also denied the woman's allegation that he found a small quantity 
of marijuana in her clothing and offered to see to it that she didn't face 
any drug charges if she agreed to meet him the next day and perform a "lap 
dance."

Gilbert insisted that he innocently agreed to meet the woman when she 
telephoned him for what he believed to be a date.

"I thought she was fairly attractive," Gilbert said under questioning by 
defense attorney Gerald P. Boyle. "I wasn't going to turn it down."

Under cross-examination by Deputy District Attorney Jon N. Reddin, Gilbert 
said he didn't perceive a professional problem with dating a woman he had 
ticketed and explained that he considered her fair game for a date because 
she revealed her breasts to him the day before.

And, he acknowledged that in a taped telephone conversation he never asked 
the woman what she was talking about when she repeatedly asked him if he 
would make her potential marijuana case vanish if she met him for a date.

"Did you at any time say, 'I don't know what you're talking about? You 
didn't have any weed'?" Reddin asked.

"No," Gilbert replied.

Jurors in the case against Gilbert were expected to begin considering his 
fate this morning after hearing closing arguments from the attorneys.

Gilbert, 33, is standing trial on one misdemeanor count of fourth-degree 
sexual assault and one felony count of misconduct in office concerning the 
woman's allegations about what happened during her Jan. 25 traffic stop in 
the 4700 block of N. 37th St.

He was arrested the following night when he went to the woman's workplace 
to meet her. The woman was there with police officers after contacting them 
with her allegations.

Gilbert also is standing trial on two additional counts of misconduct in 
office relating to allegations from two other women who have said that he 
asked them to expose themselves in various ways after they had been 
arrested on drug charges following a traffic stop on Oct. 13 in the 1800 
block of W. Locust St. They did not make their allegations until after 
Gilbert was charged in the Jan. 25 stop.

Gilbert's account of the matters came one day after jurors heard the 
women's allegations.

Under questioning from Boyle, Gilbert insisted there was no basis for a 
drug case against the woman ticketed in January because he found no 
marijuana in her pocket as she contended when he searched her on the street 
while his partner searched a car she had been driving with expired license 
plates. The candy tin that she said contained about $5 worth of marijuana 
held nothing but tobacco, according to Gilbert.

He told Boyle, "I didn't know what she was talking about" when she 
repeatedly brought marijuana into the telephone conversation that led to 
the rendezvous and, ultimately, his arrest.

"I wanted to go out with her," Gilbert said when asked why he told her, 
"You'll be taken care of." "I was confirming a date."

The trial this week is Gilbert's second in criminal court. In June 1997, 
Gilbert was charged with disorderly conduct after being accused of drawing 
his gun while off duty and sticking it in the face of a 13-year-old boy.

Gilbert contended he feared for his safety, brandished his gun and chased 
the boy and a group of young men after one of them threw a beer bottle at 
his car. A jury found him not guilty.

Gilbert, an officer for eight years, has been suspended from duty since his 
arrest in January.
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