St. Louis Cop: I Lied

[IfasehunReincarnated]

Florissant, Missouri Officer Testifies He Lied About Chase


January 27th, 2005


Florissant, MO -- A Florissant police officer testified Wednesday that he lied in a police report when he said he saw a Ferguson man committing a burglary before a high-speed chase that ended in the death of a Granite City man.


Officer Paul Sexton, 29, a third-generation police officer, testified for the prosecution in the first-degree murder trial of Richard Alsup, 28, in Madison County circuit court in Edwardsville.


Sexton said superiors in the Florissant department had coerced him into lying. Sexton also said he had agreed to write a false police report because he was afraid he would get sued for chasing Alsup without proper justification.


Sexton, the Granite City and Florissant police departments, and the city of Florissant were indeed sued in July by the survivors of the victim, John C. Smith, 32.


Smith was killed on Dec. 2, 2003, as he passed through an intersection in Granite City and was struck by a stolen van driven by Alsup, who was fleeing from Sexton and other officers. After the collision, police found in the van two rifles stolen from a south St. Louis County home.


Alsup has been held in the Madison County Jail on $3 million bail since his arrest.


Sexton testified that he began the chase after suspecting that Alsup was a partner of a burglary suspect arrested hours earlier.


Under questioning by prosecutor Kyle Napp, Sexton told the court that he had spotted Alsup slowly driving a gray van behind a closed KFC restaurant about 5 a.m. on Dec. 2.


Sexton said officers had been especially vigilant that night in the wake of a rash of recent burglaries.


"When I pulled in behind his vehicle, (Alsup) accelerated," Sexton said.


The chase exceeded 100 miles per hour at times, Sexton said. He said Alsup ran one motorist off the road and later tried to ram a St. Louis County police vehicle before striking Smith's Chevrolet Camaro at Illinois Route 203 and Pontoon Road.


After Sexton's account of the chase, Napp stunned the courtroom when she asked the officer if he had lied in his police report.


"Yes," Sexton replied, adding, "I thought I could do it and get away with it. I was wrong."


In his police report, Sexton wrote that he had seen Alsup breaking into Gaffney's Sporting Goods store and then fleeing in a stolen van.


In fact, Sexton had seen no such crime, and the van had not been reported stolen at the time.


Sexton went on to explain that he lied because he feared for his career and that he would be sued for giving chase without probable cause.


When Napp asked him about the implications of his statement, Sexton said, "Everything from nothing (happening) to prison. I could lose my job when I get out of here (the courtroom), which is probably what will happen."


Sexton told the court that his testimony was true, and that he had decided to disclose the fabrication in the police report "because the truth will set you free, and so that the (Smith) family will get justice."


But during cross-examination, defense attorney Tyler Bateman challenged Sexton's explanation that he had selflessly confessed.


"You said you did this to get justice for Mr. Smith," Bateman said. "But tell us, at what point did you walk into the FBI office and say, 'Golly gee, I've got this on my conscience'?"


At that point, Sexton told the court that he had confessed to federal authorities because "another officer in Florissant had been providing them (federal agents) with information."


Sexton then said he had been "coerced by police officers in Florissant" into writing the false report.


"Who was in a position to coerce you?" Bateman asked.


"My superiors," Sexton replied.


Then, using the same terminology that applies in the murder statute under which Alsup is charged, Bateman asked Sexton, "Did you know that your driving might cause harm or death to someone?"


Sexton replied, "It's possible to bring harm to someone any time you're pursuing someone."


Florissant's policies allow hot pursuit only when the officer thinks the suspect presents a clear and immediate threat to other motorists' safety; has committed or tried to commit a felony; or when the need to catch the suspect outweighs the danger of a chase.


In a statement faxed to reporters on Wednesday, Florissant Mayor Robert G. Lowery said that he was "stunned by this revelation" that Sexton had lied, but that he had "no reason to doubt the chief, the commanders or supervisors at this point."