Charges linger for 10 months, Man in limbo after arresting cop quits

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By Christina Scanlon

When former Granville Police Officer Marc D. Morrill resigned abruptly in April, several cases were still to go before the judge.

Some have since been dismissed and some have been decided by plea bargains, but for one man, it’s been ten months and he has no court date, no answers and no driver’s license.

He believes his case has been handled differently than the ones confirmed to have been dismissed. What they all have in common, he says, is that Morrill was the only witness to the alleged event.

The man asked not to be identified as the case is still pending, but shared his story with the Sentinel.

It’s not uncommon for cases to proceed in the absence of an arresting officer, said Washington County District Attorney Tony Jordan, if the officer has left the department.

It’s more frequent, he said, in smaller departments that may have more turnover in positions.

For Officer Morrill’s cases, said Jordan, “We look at every case.”

Several have been dismissed, though Jordan said he was unsure of the exact number.

“I think it’s less than five,” he said. “It’s unlikely if only one officer was present we would proceed.”
Cases could be dismissed, said Jordan, “If they are not supported by evidence or law.”

In some instances, a portion of charges could be dismissed, while other charges remained. “Some were dismissed outright, some were resolved by police,” he said.

Cases will proceed if other officers or witnesses are available to testify, which the unidentified man who was arrested last November said is not so in his case. He says no other officers were present during his arrest.

He related the events that led to his arrest that night.

He denies being drunk, but said, “I had a couple beers with dinner.”

He was dropped off at his vehicle in a village parking lot before realizing he’d left his keys with his friend.

He was unable to immediately contact the friend to return with his keys until she reached her home. By the time she returned with his keys, 45 minutes had passed.

During that time, he said, he watched a police car pass by the lot several times.

Upon retrieving his keys, he said, he drove out of the lot, turned onto Church Street and passed over the Church Street Bridge. He was pulled over by Morrill, he says, a short distance later.

He said Morrill immediately asked if he had done a drug deal, Morrill having seen his friend approach his car and then leave quickly.

“I told him ‘No, she dropped off my keys,’ and then he told me to step out of the car,” the man said. “He roughed me up. He kept shoving me against the car,” he said.

Morrill conducted a field sobriety test which, he says, involved walking a straight line.

“There wasn’t even a line to walk on. It was in a ditch and he kept shoving me,” the man said.

“I was the only one there with him,” he said. “There were no witnesses and not another patrol there until I was in handcuffs.”

At the station, he says, he remained handcuffed and was placed in an office chair with wheels.

“I don’t know why if they thought I was drunk they would put me in a chair with wheels,” he said.

Morrill was the only officer present when the breathalyzer was conducted, he said.

“I don’t believe that was true,” he said of the blood alcohol content reading of 0.18 percent. More than two hours had passed since dinner.

“He was the only one there. He’d lied about everything else,” he said about the validity of the test.

Morrill left the office soon after.

“He did not finish processing me. The other officers had to finish because (Morrill) said he was going out with his girlfriend,” he said.

The man was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated, failure to keep right and failure to use a signal.

“He now says I didn’t use my directional as a reason to pull me over, but I did. He’d been driving around the lot. I used my signal,” he said.

An arrest that took place two weeks prior to Morrill’s resignation is the exception to the rule of cases moving forward if another witness was present.

Not only was there another witness, it was Granville Police Officer Scott Alkinburgh, and he was riding in the patrol car driven by Morrill.

Arrested that night and charged with DWI was Maria Stomski, 23, of Wells, Vt.

The arrest report states that she was speeding and failed to pull over for Morrill.

Stomski denies speeding, as well as failing to pull over.

“There’s nothing in that police report that’s true,” she said.

In addition, she said, when she did stop, it was because Morrill maneuvered the patrol car in front of hers and they were in the state of Vermont.

“That’s illegal,” she said.

The case was dismissed before she ever had to appear in court, she said, based on Alkinburgh’s statement in direct conflict with what Morrill said took place in the early morning hours of April 5.

Stomski said she believes Morrill was confronted with lying about the facts of the arrest and forced to either resign or be fired.

Former District Attorney Robert Winn recently represented three other individuals charged by Morrill, all of them handled in court after Morrill’s resignation.

“All three were driving-while-intoxicated charges,” said Winn.

Two were dismissed, one was reduced to disorderly conduct.

“They offered disorderly and he took it,” said Winn of his client. “It was on the table and he didn’t want to go to trial.”

Of the three, one was pulled over for not having proper lighting on the rear license plate.

“A photo of the car from that evening proved otherwise,” said Winn. “It was clearly visible from 50 feet.”

Another motorist was pulled over for a muffler with excessive noise. Winn fought that allegation, too, as the person had just passed a state inspection 10 days prior.

One of the cases alleged the driver had traveled over the fog line on North Street.

In that area, said Winn, it was impossible to cross over the fog line because of a cement wall.

For another case handled before the resignation, Winn said, the probable cause was “fairly questionable.”

Morrill could not be reached for comment.

Jordan said he could not speak specifically to the case of the unidentified man.

It’s been nine months since his arrest and he’s not had a trial yet. He said he’s spent $7,000 on legal fees and been without a driver’s license in the meantime. He said he’s had a clean record his entire life and was not going to admit to something he didn’t do.

“There was no probable cause to pull me over,” he said. “I’m not agreeing to something I didn’t do because Granville hired a dirty cop.”

Morrill began his employment with the Granville department in early 2009, after seven months on the force with Whitehall Village Police. According to village officials, no record of complaints or disciplinary actions against Morrill exist during his tenure.

A Freedom of Information request to the Village of Granville asked for “letters, memos, notes, emails, phone call records or other correspondence involving complaints against the officer.” It also requested “documents concerning any disciplinary action, verbal or in writing that was executed or contemplated by the department or village.”

A response to that request was received from Village Clerk Rick Roberts last week which stated, “I find no records that match your request. I also inquired of Chief Bassett if he had anything in file, and he has indicated that he does not have any information that matches the request either.”

Morrill resigned with a hand-written letter dated April 22, 2015, effective that day.

When Chief Ernie Bassett was asked by the Sentinel why Morrill resigned, he directed questions to Jordan.

Because it was an employment issue, Jordan said he was not directly involved, but he confirmed that he was asked by Bassett, “Would there be criminal charges?”

The answer was no, said Jordan, so he was no longer involved in the matter.

Jordan praised Bassett’s handling of the situation.

“There were issues we discussed,” he said “He wanted to know how they would affect future cases.”

Neither Jordan nor Bassett could speak to the specifics of the case, they said, because it was dismissed.

“When a case is dismissed, it’s like the arrest never took place,” said Jordan.

Jordan said he was also unable to comment on whether the events in Stomski’s case led to Morrill’s resignation.

Not speaking to Morrill’s case specifically, Jordan said sometimes an understanding of confidentiality can be struck in agreements.

“I don’t know the specific agreement that was reached to be able to say exactly,” he said.

What is certain is on April 22, Morrill tendered his resignation effective that day.