Officer cleared on drug charges

Keith Paul

Friday, April 6, 2001 | 11:08 a.m.

A Metro Police internal investigation reopened after an officer was found not guilty in court of drug charges exonerated him of any wrongdoing, clearing the way for his return to duty.

Officer Jon Aaron Brown has been on administrative leave with pay for nearly two years but Metro investigators did not sustain any department charges against him, Undersheriff Richard Winget told the Sun on Thursday.

Brown, who nearly died from a drug overdose in May 1999, was criminally charged with drug trafficking and being under the influence of drugs. An internal investigation completed at the time recommended he be fired.

But after a District Court jury in January came back with a verdict of not guilty and more information about the incident came out during the trial, the internal investigation was reopened, Winget said.

Lydia Gorzoch, who was charged along with Brown in the criminal case, refused to talk with internal affairs investigators, but after a statement from her and after a boyfriend of Gorzoch talked with investigators, Brown was cleared, Winget said.

Brown's trouble started May 25, 1999, when he spent the night partying with Gorzoch. After a night of drinking, Gorzoch called 911 saying Brown was unconscious and had taken gamma hydroxybutyrate, commonly known as GHB, and Ecstasy at her apartment.

Brown maintained he accidentally drank the GHB, which was in a container in Gorzoch's refrigerator, and believes someone slipped Ecstasy into his drink at a bar. Gorzoch testified at Brown's trial he knowingly took the Ecstasy. But jurors in January apparently didn't believe Gorzoch and found Brown not guilty.

"Basically the boyfriend corroborated Officer Brown's story that (the GHB) was mistakenly taken because the same thing happened to him," Winget said. "Of course we feel bad about what happened. We only wished individuals would have spoken with investigators during the initial investigation."

While Brown agrees an internal investigation should have been done, he says he shouldn't have been taken to trial.

"This has given me a different perspective. I've learned what it's like to be falsely accused of a crime," Brown said. Brown said he wants to come back to work and harbors no ill will toward the officers and supervisors he has worked with. But he was disappointed with Metro's administration for putting him through two years of uncertainty and a possible 19-year prison sentence if he would have been convicted.

Winget said the case was strong and the information internal investigators had at the time warranted sustaining department conduct violations against Brown.

At the time of the incident, police searched Gorzoch's apartment and found materials used to make GHB and 108 grams of the drug inside a water bottle. Gorzoch later cut a deal with prosecutors and testified against Brown.

But Winget admitted the criminal case against Brown started to come apart when Gorzoch "started to testify and her lack of credibility became apparent."

When Brown returns to work he will be a patrol officer working out of the Downtown Area Command, Winget said.