Officer Derek Cook will now be tried on four charges, not two.
04.28.2011 | SPRINGFIELD - Police Officer Derek V. Cook in Springfield District Court Thursday.SPRINGFIELD - Derek V. Cook, the city patrolman who's had criminal charges pending against him for more than three years, appeared in court Thursday to deny charges of illegal wiretapping and assault and battery.
District Court Judge Robert A. Gordon ordered Cook released on his own recognizance on charges alleging he assaulted Lt. Robert Moynihan in February 2008 and illegally recorded the 2008 station-house fight in which he is accused of attacking Moynihan and now retired police Sgt. Dennis M. O'Connor.
The felony illegal wiretapping charge was filed Monday by Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni. Prosecutors also revived a charge accusing Cook of assaulting Moynihan for the Feb. 2, 2008 fight.
Former district attorney William M. Bennett had decided to drop prosecution of the assault case naming Moynihan as victim before leaving office at the end of his term in 2010. Mastroianni said the law gives him a chance to reverse that decision now that he is in office.
Cook was scheduled for trial Thursday on charges of assault and battery on a police officer and threatening to commit a crime for attacking O'Connor, the sergeant was attempting to quell the disturbance. Assistant District Attorney Donna S. Donato and Charles W. Groce, Cook's lawyer, told Gordon all four charges will now be tried together. Both cases are scheduled for a pre-trial conference May 12.
Donato said, the prosecution is "very anxious for a quick trial date" for all four charges.
Mastroianni stressed that the wiretapping charge is not based on any new conduct; it stems from the February 2008 incident.
Cook, an 18-year veteran of the force, is accused of surreptitiously using a cell phone or a personal digital assistant-type device to record the police roll-call meeting that preceded the altercation and the subsequent events, including a confrontation between himself and Moynihan.
The two men were behind closed doors discussing an incident that occurred at the earlier roll-call. Several officers reported hearing the sound of a body hitting the ground, according to reports of the incident. They rushed in, the reports said, and found Moynihan on the floor appearing unconscious with Cook standing above him with a raised fist.
O'Connor tried to restrain and calm Cook, according to the reports. Cook is accused of shoving O'Connor across a room, resulting in the sergeant sustaining a broken tailbone.
Mastroianni said investigators were aware of the recording in 2008, and it had been the decision of Bennett and his administration not to initially charge Cook with illegal wiretapping.
Cook has been assigned to the records division since the incident. He also served a five-day suspension in the immediate aftermath. Once the court-case is decided, Cook will be subject to a departmental disciplinary hearing.
Cook declined comment on the case Thursday and Groce has also declined comment.
Gary A. Porter, who stood talking to Cook outside the courtroom during the wait for the case to be called, said he wanted to make a statement. He initially said his statement was on behalf of "the African American community," then specified he was speaking as president of a group he said is called United to Push Life.
He said there is no upcoming meeting scheduled of the group, which he said has 50 to 60 members and has existed in the city for 25 years. He said he expects as he "educates the community" about Cook's case, there will be "many people who will come forth" from the group to support Cook at court appearances.
"We're taking an interest in this because Derek is a member of our community and as an organization we can see a clear racial component," Porter said. "We'd like to put everyone on notice we will stand behind Derek to insure he's treated equally and gets the same sort of justice his colleagues would normally benefit from."
Porter has previously spoken out in support of Melvin Jones III, the man at the center of an alleged police brutality case that led to the firing of patrolman Jeffrey M. Asher.