Letter: Metro officer is getting raw deal

Sunday, July 16, 2000 | 10:39 a.m.

As an attorney who represents law enforcement officers throughout the United States and as a 17-year police veteran, I have witnessed this type of innuendo and unwarranted release of information all too often by department officials. In many instances, information released prior to a final adjudication of the merits reflected a lack of substance to departmental charges and an attempt to coerce the accused into resigning. In other instances it resulted in the charges being dismissed and civil litigation against police officials.

If the sheriff has such a compelling case of misconduct, he should not feel the need to discuss it in the Sun. Rather, he should await review by an impartial third party. We saw what happened to the alleged bribery charges when reviewed by a judge.

Lt. Spinosa is entitled to receive a fair and impartial hearing before a neutral third party and not be tried by press release. The sheriff should remember that police officers do not have a watered down version of constitutional rights. He should remember an employee is presumed innocent until proven guilty -- even in Las Vegas.

STEPHEN G. DE NIGRIS

Washington, D.C.