Cape May Mayor Seeks Independent Investigation

CAPE MAY – Cape May Mayor Clarence Lear, a 37-year veteran of the city’s Police Department, is seeking an independent investigation by the Cape May County Prosecutor into the way in which an officer’s “admittedly wrongful actions have been investigated and handled.” 
In a June 26 letter, obtained by the Herald through an Open Public Records Act request, Lear wrote First Assistant (as of Sept. 29 Acting) Prosecutor Robert Johnson requesting intervention by the County Prosecutor’s Office following an internal affairs investigation by the city’s police department concerning “the conduct and behavior of Officer Douglas Henderson.”
Two and a half years after use of compensatory time accusations against Lear, then a lieutenant, led to the demotion of then-Police Chief Robert Sheehan.
Henderson’s Testimony
In 2009, Henderson was the department’s firearms instructor. Among his duties was the scheduling and recording of required firearms qualifications by all officers. 
In 2016, then-City Manager Bruce MacLeod brought administrative charges against Sheehan for having failed to qualify within the time frame required by state regulations in 2009.
That action by the city, seven years after the infraction, was seen by Sheehan’s supporters as an attempt at intimidation given Sheehan’s still-open lawsuit against the city over his demotion from the position of chief.
City officials claimed that the failure to properly qualify in 2009 had just been brought to their attention and the administrative charges were appropriate.
Henderson ended up as a key witness for the city in a three-day public hearing on the charges. During testimony, Henderson admitted that he authored a letter confirming that everyone had met the firearms qualifications even though he was aware that then-Chief Diane Sorantino, Sheehan and Lear had failed to do so within the time frame spelled out in state guidelines.
Henderson claimed that he informed Sorantino that the three command officers had failed to meet the guidelines. Sorantino had no memory of such a conversation.
When pressed about the letter he authored, which misstated what Henderson said he knew to be the truth, he said he wrote in the way that he did because “I saw what happened to officers in the department when they crossed the administration.”
There was no evidence offered of actual intimidation.
That testimony and the January 2010 letter he authored stated all officers had qualified was described by Lear, in his 2017 letter to Johnson, as an admission “in an open public hearing (Sheehan’s disciplinary hearing) that he had created and provided to the Prosecutor’s Office in 2010, a training document or record that he knew to be not only inaccurate but a totally false statement.”
Henderson’s testimony led to a Brady Letter being placed in his file by the County Prosecutor’s Office. The letter’s name is derived from a Supreme Court case in 1963, Brady v. Maryland. Such a letter can be detrimental to the career of a police officer.
In effect, the county prosecutor in issuing such a letter is saying that the officer will no longer be called upon to testify in criminal cases.
The Herald’s attempts to gain access to the letter through OPRA were denied by the city due to ongoing litigation.
Henderson is suing the city claiming that he was subject to harassment and lost opportunities after his testimony against Sheehan.
Confirmation that a Brady Letter was issued came from Henderson’s court filings in which he seeks removal of the letter as part of the remedy to his suit.
Lear’s Request
In Lear’s recent letter to Johnson, Lear claims that “Officer Henderson’s egregious behavior was exonerated” by an internal affairs investigation handled by present Chief Anthony Marino.
Lear further states “There is no clear rationale or explanation for the lack of disciplinary action.”
Calling Henderson “a friend” of Marino, Lear says Marino “at some point benefited from his friend’s testimony.”
Citing the results of Marino’s investigation of Henderson, Lear says “The appearance of impropriety in this self-serving decision was clear. The perception is that Chief Marino owed his friend.”
With this statement already made, Lear goes on to ask for an independent investigation of Henderson “given the prejudicial connections and unfortunate consequences of what appears to be a quid pro quo arrangement.”
Lear also states that subsequent to Henderson’s testimony “a case was referred to an out-of-county prosecutor for investigation of criminal charges” against Henderson. He indicates that he has heard no result of that inquiry.
Lear closes his letter with reference to an independent investigation “undertaken by the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office” with regard to accusations against both Lear and Sheehan regarding the use-of-time controversy. 
Lear says that “the city at large benefited from the integrity of the open review,” a process he would like to see repeated with regard to Henderson. “Common sense demands an independent investigation,” Lear wrote.
Controversy Continues
Sheehan’s lawsuit against the city remains active, and settlement talks are being held. Failure to settle will result in a trial in 2018.
Henderson’s lawsuit also remains open.
The city’s mayor is asking for a new investigation arguing that Marino was not able to do an impartial investigation of someone with whom he has “a long-standing and well-known close professional and personal relationship.”
There are 22 officers in the department.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.