lewis, dave | testimony transcript 11-20-13

Transcript of the Testimony of Dave Lewis

Date: November 20, 2013Volume: I

Case: In Re: Joplin Critical Investigation

Printed On: December 1, 2013

Holliday Reporting Service, Inc.Phone: 417-358-4078

Fax: 417-451-1114Email:[email protected]

Internet:

Dave Lewis In Re: Joplin Critical Investigation

417-358-4078

Holliday Reporting Service, Inc.

Page 1

IN RE: JOPLIN CRITICAL INVESTIGATION

SWORN STATEMENT OF

DAVE LEWIS

Taken on Wednesday, November 20, 2013, from 5:46 p.m. to

6:03 p.m., at the law offices of Juddson H. McPherson, LLC,

626 S. Byers, in the City of Joplin, County of Jasper,

State of Missouri, before

SHARON K. ROGERS, C.C.R.650,

a Certified Court Reporter and a Notary Public within and

for the County of Jasper, and State of Missouri.

Dave Lewis

In Re: Joplin Critical Investigation

417-358-4078


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APPEARANCES

MR. THOMAS E. LORAINE

Loraine & Associates, LLC

4075 Osage Beach Pkwy., Suite 300

Osage Beach, MO 65065

[email protected]


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S T I P U L A T I O N

IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED that this Sworn

Statement may be taken by steno-mask type recording by

SHARON K. ROGERS, a Certified Court Reporter, and

afterwards reduced into typewriting.

It is further stipulated that the signature of the

witness is hereby waived, and that said Sworn Statement of

said witness shall be of the same force and effect as

though said witness had read and signed Sworn Statement.


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I N D E X

Page/Line

DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. LORAINE . . . 5-4

E X H I B I T S

Exhibit #A. . . . . . . . 5-8

Advice of Rights

Exhibit #42 . . . . . . . 18-5

Incident Report

Exhibit #43 . . . . . . . 18-5

Police Event Report

Note: Exhibits in separate binder

(sic) - typed as spoken

(ph.) - phonetic


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1 DAVE LEWIS

2 Having been first duly sworn and examined,

3 testified as follows:

4 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. LORAINE:

5 Q. Officer Lewis, you're a Sergeant, I see?

6 A. Yes, sir.

7 Q. And you've read this Garrity form and you

8 understand it? (Exhibit #A)

9 A. Yes, sir.

10 Q. You're a Garrity investigator so you know?

11 A. I was at the time, yes.

12 Q. To that effect I'm asking you to render some

13 statements for me, if you would, and we'll

14 get into that, I don't think it will take too

15 long, but I do want to briefly get your

16 background. You're post certified?

17 A. Yes, sir.

18 Q. How long have you been with the police force?

19 A. As of next Wednesday it will be 18 years.

20 Q. 18 years. You predate the Chief?

21 A. Yes.

22 Q. Do you understand that the Chief may or may

23 not know you're here?

24 A. I know he does because I called him.

25 Q. Okay. I assume he didn't tell you anything,


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1 did he?

2 A. No, he just told me I needed to go ahead and

3 come over.

4 Q. Did he tell you what the topic was?

5 A. He told me it would probably have to do with

6 the domestic violence call that I had gotten

7 called to.

8 Q. Yes, and you picked up the report on the way

9 over?

10 A. Yes, sir.

11 Q. Do you have any independent recollection of

12 that matter?

13 A. Yes, I remember this incident.

14 Q. Did the Chief tell you to alter your

15 testimony in any way?

16 A. No, he did not.

17 Q. You wouldn't do that anyway, I would assume?

18 A. No, I would not.

19 Q. Sir, I have the unpleasant task to try to

20 figure out what occurred on the 911 call with

21 City Manager Rohr. He's your boss and your

22 boss' boss and I've talked with him and I've

23 read the report one time so I want to know

24 more what you know than what's on the report,

25 I guess.


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1 A. Okay.

2 Q. You didn't write the report?

3 A. No, I did not.

4 Q. What would you say the report basically says?

5 A. Basically the date was 11/29/2012,

6 approximately 1435 hours. We were dispatched

7 to the address of 4327 Kentucky. Once I

8 heard there was a domestic in progress or a

9 domestic violence call, once I heard who the

10 caller was at that point as supervisor I

11 decided I probably ought to head that way.

12 Q. I would have headed the other way if that had

13 been me, but that's protocol, isn't it?

14 A. Yes, so en route I notified my Lieutenant of

15 the call that we were headed and who was

16 supposed to be involved.

17 Q. And this was City Manager Rohr's house?

18 A. Yes.

19 Q. So tell me what did the report basically

20 find?

21 A. Basically we found that there was no threats

22 of violence or physical violence that had

23 occurred.

24 Q. Did you listen to the 911 call?

25 A. No, I actually heard the call come over.


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1 Q. You heard the 911?

2 A. I was working so - well, I didn't hear the

3 call come over, I heard them dispatch to the

4 house.

5 Q. So as you sit here now you've never heard

6 that 911?

7 A. No, I have not. I don't typically listen to

8 those types of things.

9 Q. Do you have any independent knowledge over

10 and above what the report says?

11 A. About?

12 Q. About anything that occurred.

13 A. Basically like I said I called my supervisor

14 and told him where we were going. He told

15 me, he goes, do what you've got to do, you

16 know, whatever it be. He goes after you've

17 done it give me a call back. So we respond

18 there, Officer Magoo arrives, and we get out

19 at the same time, we're walking up to the

20 house, and knowing who we're getting ready to

21 go in and deal with he goes are you taking

22 this or am I? I said, no, we're treating

23 this just like any other domestic violence we

24 go to. You'll do the investigation, I'm just

25 here to make sure that nothing gets out of


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1 hand and that he doesn't try to use his

2 position to influence your decision.

3 Q. As the City Manager?

4 A. Right.

5 Q. So what then occurred?

6 A. We then went up to the front and we knocked

7 on the door and I think Mr. Rohr came out to

8 us, if I recall, and we asked if we could

9 step in and talk to her. We spoke with her I

10 think on the front porch for a minute or so

11 and then Officer Magoo asked if we could

12 speak to Mr. Rohr at which time she said,

13 yes, so we went in, he came around the

14 corner. Officer Magoo and I separated them,

15 which is common protocol so we can get

16 stories straight without one person looking

17 at the other person trying to intimidate

18 them. So he took Mr. Rohr out onto the front

19 porch, I stood inside with Mrs. Rohr and I

20 just asked the common questions, ma'am, are

21 you okay? I see that you're pregnant, do you

22 require any type of medical attention? Were

23 you injured or anything like that? And she

24 says no. So I'm standing there - while I'm

25 standing there I'm trying to visibly look to


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1 see if I see nay marks or anything that would

2 lead me to believe that there had been a

3 physical altercation, because as commonly in

4 domestic violence situations they'll lie for

5 each other and say, you know, nothing

6 happened so I was looking for anything that

7 would back up what the 911 call had said. At

8 a certain point Officer Magoo and another

9 officer, I believe Officer Comer, I think

10 Comer got there when we flip-flopped.

11 Officer Magoo came back in and spoke to Mrs.

12 Rohr, I stood out on the front porch with Mr.

13 Rohr while he was finishing his

14 investigation. About that time Officer Comer

15 came up and stood by with me outside with Mr.

16 Rohr and I didn't really get into what had

17 happened or anything, I was letting my

18 officer conduct his investigation. Like I

19 said my concern at the time when I was in

20 with Mrs. Rohr was that she was pregnant and

21 sometimes even the argument sometimes can

22 cause miscarriages or whatever so I wanted to

23 make sure she was okay so I basically just

24 stood by with him outside until Officer Magoo

25 had finished his investigation inside, and


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1 once he came back out and said nothing was,

2 you know, we didn't have anything, at that

3 point we left. I will say that Mr. Rohr was

4 more docile than I'd ever seen or known him

5 to be. He wasn't, you know, you know who I

6 am. None of that was happening, you know, he

7 just was basically standing there and talking

8 about how embarrassing this was and stuff

9 like that, things of that nature. So we left

10 the scene. Typically in a normal situation

11 if we don't find any violence or threats of

12 violence or anything we'll just complete our

13 call card, our notes on our call card and be

14 on our way. I called my Lieutenant who

15 advised that since this was a City employee,

16 which he had in fact told us any time we're

17 dealing with a situation with a City employee

18 to document it by report, he had previously

19 told us that, and I wasn't thinking about

20 that when I called and he said, well, just

21 make sure it's documented in a report, so

22 hence is why we had the information report

23 completed.

24 Q. Did you talk with the caller?

25 A. I did not.


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1 Q. Who did?

2 A. Officer Magoo said that he talked to whoever

3 was - I believe it was a 21 year old female.

4 I don't know if it was - I asked him if he

5 talked to everybody in the residence and he

6 said he thought he had.

7 Q. So do I need to talk to Magoo then?

8 A. Well, he's the one that would have more

9 knowledge of what he said and who he said it

10 to and what. I was basically acting as a

11 back-up to make sure that nothing happened.

12 Make sure that my officer wasn't intimidated.

13 Q. Absolutely. That's an extremely difficult

14 situation I think for everybody. And still

15 is. Do you have confidence that the Chief

16 has not related that you're here talking to

17 me to the City Manager?

18 A. What do you mean confidence?

19 Q. Do you believe the Chief would tell the City

20 Manager that you're here talking to me?

21 A. I don't know. I mean that's - I just go by

22 my chain of command and I'm assuming he would

23 notify whoever he would have to notify. If

24 he needs to notify anybody I don't know.

25 Q. Has this been discussed with the City Manager


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1 in any capacity other than out there on the

2 scene?

3 A. Have I had part of it?

4 Q. Yes.

5 A. No.

6 A. Do you know if anybody else has discussed

7 this with him?

8 A. Not that I know of. I'm assuming, of course

9 assumptions being assumptions, you know, when

10 we completed the report anything like that we

11 put a copy of the report in the Lieutenant's

12 box so he can bring it up at the Command

13 Staff meeting.

14 Q. Who has the Command Staff meeting?

15 A. I don't know who was there that day. It's

16 all your Lieutenants, the Chief, the Chief's

17 secretary, jail supervisor, and dispatch.

18 Q. The City Manager doesn't sit in on those?

19 A. No.

20 Q. So according to the police report there was

21 nothing to further investigate?

22 A. Right.

23 Q. So are you concluding from the report that

24 there was, in fact, no domestic violence that

25 occurred?


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1 A. I did not see any physical signs on Mrs.

2 Rohr. I did notice that once we got inside I

3 believe she was wearing some type of a tank

4 top shirt, I didn't see any visible markings

5 on her arms or anything, but she did put

6 something over the top of her, you know.

7 Q. Could have been marks you didn't see?

8 A. There could have been. I'm not going to ask

9 a woman to disrobe, you know. At that point

10 I don't think I had a female officer on my

11 shift so --

12 Q. What would you normally do in an

13 investigation like that? Would you

14 investigate the female's body?

15 A. No. I mean I would ask for marks and I'd ask

16 where she'd been hit to look for visible

17 signs.

18 Q. Normally you don't ask them to take their

19 robe off?

20 A. No, I did exactly what I would have normally

21 done is look for any visible signs.

22 Q. Have you heard of any other instances where

23 Rohr was involved with a situation like this?

24 A. I have heard scuttlebutt as it is prior to

25 he'd had a problem with this type of


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1 situation before he got to Joplin.

2 Q. With his wife?

3 A. I don't believe he was married to her when

4 she moved here.

5 Q. Have you heard that there had been any

6 subsequent reports at City Hall or anything

7 of that nature with his wife?

8 A. I'm trying to think. Not that I have

9 first-hand knowledge of, no.

10 Q. I'm asking for second-hand knowledge. I'll

11 go to the source. Give me a name, somebody

12 tell you some rumor. Because I have heard,

13 I'll tell you right now.

14 A. Becky Brill had said something that, you

15 know, there was yelling and stuff like that.

16 Q. To her or to the wife?

17 A. To the wife.

18 Q. In front of her?

19 A. Yes.

20 Q. Anybody else? Has there been a male that has

21 reported any incident like this concerning

22 the wife?

23 A. Not that I'm aware of.

24 Q. Okay. Fair enough. Do you have any other

25 knowledge about Manager Rohr's management


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1 style that would indicate he's physically

2 aggressive at the workplace?

3 A. Not that I - I mean other than what I was

4 told by Becky that he's an intimidating

5 person. I personally am not intimidated by

6 him.

7 Q. I don't think you could be intimidated by

8 many people or many machines. You're a big

9 man. Maybe you can give me some information.

10 How big is Mr. Rohr?

11 A. Mr. Rohr?

12 Q. Yes.

13 A. I would say roughly my height, 6'2", 6'4",

14 something like that.

15 Q. How much do you think he weighs?

16 A. I'd say between about 230 and 260, somewhere

17 in there.

18 Q. How big is his wife?

19 A. 5'8" to 5'10", somewhere in there. I'm not

20 sure.

21 Q. How much does she weigh?

22 A. I don't know. Females weights can vary

23 sometimes.

24 Q. For the pregnancy?

25 A. Yeah. Are you talking about at that time?


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1 Q. Any time that you've seen her since she's not

2 pregnant what would be your guess on her

3 weight? You're a police officer, you can --

4 A. I would say probably between 120 and 150,

5 somewhere in there.

6 Q. So physically he's a great deal larger than

7 she would be?

8 A. Yes.

9 Q. How long have these two people been married,

10 if you know?

11 A. I know they were not married when he got

12 here.

13 Q. You've heard of this being a problem in

14 Piqua, his former where he was City Manager?

15 A. I heard the rumor mill.

16 Q. Rumor mill is there was some aggressive

17 nature on his part?

18 A. That he had a problem with domestic violence.

19 Q. All right. Can you leave the reports for me?

20 A. Yeah, I'm assuming I can. I got them from

21 the police officer.

22 Q. I mean they're not the only copies or

23 anything, are they?

24 A. Not that I know of.

25 Q. Can I get copies?


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1 A. Sure.

2 Q. These are different reports?

3 A. One is the call card and one is the report.

4 Q. Yes, just number them separately.

5 (Reporter numbers Exhibits #42 and #43)

6 Q. (By Mr. Loraine) Thank you, sir. I assume

7 she's not going to say anything because she's

8 been hired to keep her mouth shut, you know,

9 and I'm supposed to be confidential so I

10 assume that you won't get into discussing

11 what I've asked or what we've talked about.

12 And if any of your officers ask you I would

13 like to know. I want them to call me, okay?

14 A. Okay.

15 Q. Thank you very much, sir. I appreciate it.

16 I don't mean to put you in a difficult

17 situation.

18

19 (SWORN STATEMENT CONCLUDED)

20

21

22


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REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE

STATE OF MISSOURI

ss.

COUNTY OF JASPER

I, SHARON K. ROGERS, Certified Court Reporter in the

State of Missouri, do certify that pursuant to the

foregoing Stipulation the witness came before me on the

20th day of November, 2013, was duly sworn by me, and was

examined. That examination was then taken by me by

steno-mask recording and afterwards transcribed; said Sworn

Statement is subscribed by the witness as hereinbefore set

out on the day in that behalf aforesaid and is herewith

returned.

I further certify that I am not counsel, attorney, or

relative of either party, or clerk, or stenographer of

either party or of the attorney of either party, or

otherwise interested in the event of this suit.

__________________________

SHARON K. ROGERS, CCR-650

lewis, dave | testimony transcript 11-20-13

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