By Scott Sandlin , Journal Staff Writer
Ex-cop Christopher Chase, a man who once put people in handcuffs, saw them slipped on his wrists by court officers Thursday after he was sentenced to the maximum possible penalty— 15 years behind bars.
Despite his attorney's request for voluntary surrender, Chase was taken into custody as soon as the sentencing hearing ended— to wails from his family.
Chase, 31, an Albuquerque Police Department officer fired after his indictment on multiple sexual assault and kidnapping charges in June 2003, entered a plea in February acknowledging he could be convicted if he went to trial. The so-called Alford plea was to 10 counts of criminal sexual penetration, kidnapping and other crimes related to six victims.
District Judge Denise Barela Shepherd then found him guilty.
But Chase and family members speaking on his behalf continued to insist his innocence and said he took the plea only to provide some resolution for his young family. His daughters, ages 1 and 4, and his wife, Darla, appeared at the hearing as they have for virtually every court event in the longstanding case.
His wife, who said there were mistakes in the investigation, emotionally threw her arms around Chase before he was ordered to prison.
A succession of victims also offered emotional evocations of their experiences with Chase, whom they never knew before their official encounters with him. The women, some of whom were high school teens at the time the crimes were committed, spoke of the lasting effects of the assaults on them and their families.
Veronica Edwell, pulled over by Chase for an alleged traffic infraction and assaulted, and Marissa Senigo, who was 16 when she was pulled over by Chase in 2002, said they fear police when they see them.
Prosecutor Michael Fricke, urging the maximum penalty, said Chase had figuratively raped the city as well as the individual victims.
Detective Monte Curtis said that, until he investigated, he would never have believed a police officer capable of the assaults. Chase has eroded years of work building relations between police and the community, he said.
Defense attorney Jacquelyn Robins urged Shepherd to sentence Chase to five years in prison and 20 years probation. As an ex-cop, she said, her client will have to remain in protective custody— meaning 23 hours a day in his cell.
She said Chase took the plea despite his desire for a trial because, if he'd been convicted of even one set of incidents in the indictment, he could have faced an even longer sentence.
Showing posts with label Veronica Edwell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Veronica Edwell. Show all posts
Friday, March 31, 2006
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Fired APD Cop Takes the 5th in Sex Assault Case
By Scott Sandlin, Journal Staff Writer
Christopher Chase, the former police officer accused of using his position of authority to sexually assault a number of women, invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify dozens of times Wednesday in federal court.
Chase, a fresh-faced, clean-cut 30-year-old, was fired from the Albuquerque Police Department after a lengthy criminal indictment was returned in state court in June 2003. It charges him with criminal sexual penetration, criminal sexual contact, kidnapping and tampering with evidence.
The criminal case has yet to go to trial.
But testimony Wednesday before Senior U.S. District Judge John Edwards Conway in a civil lawsuit by Cynthia Seeley had all the hallmarks of a criminal proceeding.
Seeley, who claims she was raped by Chase on Feb. 19, 2002, is seeking monetary damages. But other alleged victims and the police officers who investigated the case have been subpoenaed as witnesses.
On the witness stand, Chase answered some questions, like how old he was and whether he was fired by APD. He invoked his right not to incriminate himself when questioned about the allegations.
Three women who claim to have been assaulted by Chase did testify Wednesday and more are scheduled for today.
'I wanted them out'
Seeley, 38, testified that police had shown up to the Warren Coronado efficiency apartment she shared with a girlfriend after the couple's drinking spiraled into a quarrel so loud that neighbors called police. Because the fight was verbal rather than physically violent, officers suggested one of them leave the home to cool down.
Seeley did. She said Chase offered her a ride, only to take her to an alley a couple of blocks away and rape her in his squad car. He then threw her purse after her and drove off.
She walked back to her apartment, where her girlfriend insisted on calling police against Seeley's wishes after Seeley told her what had happened, she testified.
Seeley said that because she had failed to report to her probation officer and knew there was a warrant for her arrest, she was fearful of being arrested. So when police arrived a second time, she initially told them about the rape, but then took a woman officer aside and told her it wasn't true.
"I wanted them out," she said, crying as she testified. "I didn't want them asking questions."
She didn't reveal the assault until later, when she was undergoing an assessment at the women's prison in Grants and APD officers showed up to ask her about Chase. Seeley, who was convicted for conspiracy to commit forgery and trafficking in cocaine in the mid-1990s, eventually landed in a special program for women and has been involved in counseling for substance abuse.
A Las Cruces psychologist and former New Mexico State University professor who examined her in connection with the litigation, Elaine LeVine, said Seeley needs years more of intensive therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder and a major depressive disorder. She said the suspected rape exacerbated damage done by childhood trauma, including sexual abuse.
Two others testify
Also testifying Wednesday was Mitsey Ramone, a prostitute who said her previous numerous encounters with police had been straightforward until Chase twice pulled her over in 2001. Ramone said Chase took her to a solitary location off Gibson Boulevard and raped her. She said a second time he took her to Bullhead Park.
Ramone, too, lapsed into tears under cross-examination by defense attorney Gregory Biehler, who quizzed her about dates, her failure to report the incidents and the accuracy of her identification of Chase, given her admittedly poor eyesight.
"The point is I know who it is," she snapped back at one point. "I recognize people I come across, especially if they rape me."
Veronica Edwell, 29, a married mother of three and customer service employee for a medical company, told a similar story. She testified she had gone to a bar parking lot on Montgomery to see if her husband needed a ride home when she was stopped by an officer she later learned was Chase.
Edwell said the officer accused her of driving drunk, though she said she wasn't, and let her go. After circling the parking lot without seeing her husband's pickup, she was returning home when Chase again pulled her over.
Edwell said Chase asked her if she had any drugs or weapons and told her to get out of her vehicle and put her hands up on the side of it.
"He started checking me," she said. "When he got to my breasts, he said 'Do you have piercings?'" She said yes, and said that he asked "what I was going to do to get out of this DWI."
Edwell testified Chase pulled down her blouse and fondled her, but told her he wouldn't hurt her.
The investigation of Chase was launched after Edwell was pulled over on a speeding violation by another officer a few weeks later. She was so fearful that she would only crack the window to give the officer her license, and told the officer her trepidation was prompted by an assault by another officer. She was later contacted by an APD detective, she said.
Christopher Chase, the former police officer accused of using his position of authority to sexually assault a number of women, invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify dozens of times Wednesday in federal court.
Chase, a fresh-faced, clean-cut 30-year-old, was fired from the Albuquerque Police Department after a lengthy criminal indictment was returned in state court in June 2003. It charges him with criminal sexual penetration, criminal sexual contact, kidnapping and tampering with evidence.
The criminal case has yet to go to trial.
But testimony Wednesday before Senior U.S. District Judge John Edwards Conway in a civil lawsuit by Cynthia Seeley had all the hallmarks of a criminal proceeding.
Seeley, who claims she was raped by Chase on Feb. 19, 2002, is seeking monetary damages. But other alleged victims and the police officers who investigated the case have been subpoenaed as witnesses.
On the witness stand, Chase answered some questions, like how old he was and whether he was fired by APD. He invoked his right not to incriminate himself when questioned about the allegations.
Three women who claim to have been assaulted by Chase did testify Wednesday and more are scheduled for today.
'I wanted them out'
Seeley, 38, testified that police had shown up to the Warren Coronado efficiency apartment she shared with a girlfriend after the couple's drinking spiraled into a quarrel so loud that neighbors called police. Because the fight was verbal rather than physically violent, officers suggested one of them leave the home to cool down.
Seeley did. She said Chase offered her a ride, only to take her to an alley a couple of blocks away and rape her in his squad car. He then threw her purse after her and drove off.
She walked back to her apartment, where her girlfriend insisted on calling police against Seeley's wishes after Seeley told her what had happened, she testified.
Seeley said that because she had failed to report to her probation officer and knew there was a warrant for her arrest, she was fearful of being arrested. So when police arrived a second time, she initially told them about the rape, but then took a woman officer aside and told her it wasn't true.
"I wanted them out," she said, crying as she testified. "I didn't want them asking questions."
She didn't reveal the assault until later, when she was undergoing an assessment at the women's prison in Grants and APD officers showed up to ask her about Chase. Seeley, who was convicted for conspiracy to commit forgery and trafficking in cocaine in the mid-1990s, eventually landed in a special program for women and has been involved in counseling for substance abuse.
A Las Cruces psychologist and former New Mexico State University professor who examined her in connection with the litigation, Elaine LeVine, said Seeley needs years more of intensive therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder and a major depressive disorder. She said the suspected rape exacerbated damage done by childhood trauma, including sexual abuse.
Two others testify
Also testifying Wednesday was Mitsey Ramone, a prostitute who said her previous numerous encounters with police had been straightforward until Chase twice pulled her over in 2001. Ramone said Chase took her to a solitary location off Gibson Boulevard and raped her. She said a second time he took her to Bullhead Park.
Ramone, too, lapsed into tears under cross-examination by defense attorney Gregory Biehler, who quizzed her about dates, her failure to report the incidents and the accuracy of her identification of Chase, given her admittedly poor eyesight.
"The point is I know who it is," she snapped back at one point. "I recognize people I come across, especially if they rape me."
Veronica Edwell, 29, a married mother of three and customer service employee for a medical company, told a similar story. She testified she had gone to a bar parking lot on Montgomery to see if her husband needed a ride home when she was stopped by an officer she later learned was Chase.
Edwell said the officer accused her of driving drunk, though she said she wasn't, and let her go. After circling the parking lot without seeing her husband's pickup, she was returning home when Chase again pulled her over.
Edwell said Chase asked her if she had any drugs or weapons and told her to get out of her vehicle and put her hands up on the side of it.
"He started checking me," she said. "When he got to my breasts, he said 'Do you have piercings?'" She said yes, and said that he asked "what I was going to do to get out of this DWI."
Edwell testified Chase pulled down her blouse and fondled her, but told her he wouldn't hurt her.
The investigation of Chase was launched after Edwell was pulled over on a speeding violation by another officer a few weeks later. She was so fearful that she would only crack the window to give the officer her license, and told the officer her trepidation was prompted by an assault by another officer. She was later contacted by an APD detective, she said.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Former APD Officer Facing Lawsuits in Suspected Assaults
By Scott Sandlin, Journal Staff Writer
The alleged criminal conduct of an accused rogue cop is testing Mayor Martin Chávez's policy of refusing to settle any lawsuits against the police department.
Chávez has steadfastly defended his policy of refusing to settle police cases.
But it hasn't stopped civil rights attorneys from filing lawsuits against former Albuquerque police officer Christopher Chase, 28, who has yet to be tried on criminal charges he stopped, harassed and in some cases raped a succession of motorists while on duty.
Chase was fired by APD after being named in a 32-count indictment with criminal sexual penetration and criminal sexual contact, kidnapping, false imprisonment, assault, battery and tampering with evidence in June 2003.
Two civil suits were filed this week by attorneys Brad Hall and Frances Crockett on behalf of young women who claim they were sexually assaulted by Chase.
Hall already has taken one case to trial in federal court on behalf of a male high school student related to a top APD official and won $17,000 plus attorney fees.
Cynthia Seeley's lawsuit, filed by attorneys Paul Kennedy and Mary Han, is set for trial next month in federal court.
But Chase's attorneys are seeking to delay the civil case until the criminal matter is resolved. Chase's criminal trial is scheduled for March, but the Supreme Court has granted a trial extension until mid-July.
"By asserting his Fifth Amendment rights, (Chase) has been, essentially, unable to defend himself in the civil case," Greg Biehler, Chase's attorney in the Seeley lawsuit, said in seeking a trial delay from the federal court.
Biehler said in the absence of direct evidence, the case will come down to a test of credibility, and he says there is reason to suspect Seeley's.
"So long as the criminal trial is looming, defendant must assert his Fifth Amendment right in this case so that his defense in the criminal trial is not jeopardized," Biehler said.
Han and Kennedy say in a written response that while the city has a right not to settle civil rights cases, "its citizens have the right to proceed to trial in these cases in an expeditious manner."
"Cynthia Seeley has waited long enough. Whether the criminal case needs to be delayed for whatever reason, she's entitled to her day in court," Han said Wednesday.
In their written response, they note Chase, rather than asking for a delay at the outset, has "extracted every possible advantage via discovery and motions." They contend he has vigorously pursued information from Seeley while declining to provide any himself.
And they say their client has a significant personal interest in avoiding further psychological harm by bringing closure to the ordeal.
According to court records, Seeley alleges Chase responded to a domestic violence call, diverted Seeley as she left the home to "cool off," forced her into the back of his patrol car, drove to an alley behind a Northeast Heights hotel and raped her.
Plaintiffs in the new lawsuits make similar allegations.
Veronica Edwell claims that in January 2003, Chase took her into custody in his police car, handcuffed her, threatened her with sexual assault and fondled her.
It was because of Edwell that Chase's alleged misconduct came to light, the suit says. Weeks later she was stopped for a traffic violation by a different APD officer and would not roll down her car window more than two inches because of fear from the encounter with Chase, the suit says.
Kelly M. Ham alleges in a complaint that she was stopped on Jan. 17, 2003, while she was a passenger in a car being driven by a male friend.
Although no traffic violation occurred, Chase stopped the car near La Cueva High School and ordered two female occupants into the police car for a search, the lawsuit claims.
The alleged criminal conduct of an accused rogue cop is testing Mayor Martin Chávez's policy of refusing to settle any lawsuits against the police department.
Chávez has steadfastly defended his policy of refusing to settle police cases.
But it hasn't stopped civil rights attorneys from filing lawsuits against former Albuquerque police officer Christopher Chase, 28, who has yet to be tried on criminal charges he stopped, harassed and in some cases raped a succession of motorists while on duty.
Chase was fired by APD after being named in a 32-count indictment with criminal sexual penetration and criminal sexual contact, kidnapping, false imprisonment, assault, battery and tampering with evidence in June 2003.
Two civil suits were filed this week by attorneys Brad Hall and Frances Crockett on behalf of young women who claim they were sexually assaulted by Chase.
Hall already has taken one case to trial in federal court on behalf of a male high school student related to a top APD official and won $17,000 plus attorney fees.
Cynthia Seeley's lawsuit, filed by attorneys Paul Kennedy and Mary Han, is set for trial next month in federal court.
But Chase's attorneys are seeking to delay the civil case until the criminal matter is resolved. Chase's criminal trial is scheduled for March, but the Supreme Court has granted a trial extension until mid-July.
"By asserting his Fifth Amendment rights, (Chase) has been, essentially, unable to defend himself in the civil case," Greg Biehler, Chase's attorney in the Seeley lawsuit, said in seeking a trial delay from the federal court.
Biehler said in the absence of direct evidence, the case will come down to a test of credibility, and he says there is reason to suspect Seeley's.
"So long as the criminal trial is looming, defendant must assert his Fifth Amendment right in this case so that his defense in the criminal trial is not jeopardized," Biehler said.
Han and Kennedy say in a written response that while the city has a right not to settle civil rights cases, "its citizens have the right to proceed to trial in these cases in an expeditious manner."
"Cynthia Seeley has waited long enough. Whether the criminal case needs to be delayed for whatever reason, she's entitled to her day in court," Han said Wednesday.
In their written response, they note Chase, rather than asking for a delay at the outset, has "extracted every possible advantage via discovery and motions." They contend he has vigorously pursued information from Seeley while declining to provide any himself.
And they say their client has a significant personal interest in avoiding further psychological harm by bringing closure to the ordeal.
According to court records, Seeley alleges Chase responded to a domestic violence call, diverted Seeley as she left the home to "cool off," forced her into the back of his patrol car, drove to an alley behind a Northeast Heights hotel and raped her.
Plaintiffs in the new lawsuits make similar allegations.
Veronica Edwell claims that in January 2003, Chase took her into custody in his police car, handcuffed her, threatened her with sexual assault and fondled her.
It was because of Edwell that Chase's alleged misconduct came to light, the suit says. Weeks later she was stopped for a traffic violation by a different APD officer and would not roll down her car window more than two inches because of fear from the encounter with Chase, the suit says.
Kelly M. Ham alleges in a complaint that she was stopped on Jan. 17, 2003, while she was a passenger in a car being driven by a male friend.
Although no traffic violation occurred, Chase stopped the car near La Cueva High School and ordered two female occupants into the police car for a search, the lawsuit claims.
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