RPD major sues prosecutor

Richmond Police Department Major Adam Blanton has filed a lawsuit against Wayne County Prosecutor Michael Shipman over Shipman’s inclusion of Blanton on a list of potentially problematic law enforcement officers.

U.S. Supreme Court rulings in Brady and Giglio cases require prosecutors to disclose to defendants anything that could impeach law enforcement witnesses. That information could include dishonesty, criminal conduct, bias, misuse of force or mishandling of evidence.The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office maintains a Brady-Giglio list of law enforcement officers subject to evidence that could discredit their testimony in court. 

Blanton’s lawsuit, which was filed Jan. 8, said Shipman “exceeded and abused his authority” by putting Blanton, an RPD assistant chief, on the Brady-Giglio list and branded Blanton with “a professional scarlet letter.” The suit called Shipman’s placing Blanton on the list a “baseless and retaliatory act.”

Blanton responded to WWN questions with an emailed statement about the suit.

“Assistant Chief Blanton’s integrity and service is being arbitrarily called into question and like any highly decorated law enforcement officer he is entitled to due process,” the statement said. “Therefore, he is seeking his remedy to the situation in the court of law. As this is now pending litigation, there will be no further comment.”

Blanton’s suit, which is assigned to Circuit Court and also cites the prosecutor’s office as a defendant, asks the court to declare Blanton’s inclusion on the Brady-Giglio list “improper and unlawful” and to remove Blanton from the list. It also asks that Blanton be awarded compensatory damages, punitive damages from Shipman and legal fees.

“It is a silly lawsuit,” Shipman wrote in an email to WWN. “No judge in Indiana has ruled in favor of his position. Once a judge applies the law to the facts of this case, I expect a favorable outcome.”

The conflict between Blanton and Shipman does not impact prosecution of RPD cases, Shipman said.

“The assistant police chief performs bureaucratic functions so my relationship with the officers who do police work will not change,” Shipman wrote. “I will continue to work with officers on arrests and investigations.”

Blanton’s lawsuit was filed by two attorneys for Bose McKinney & Evans, an Indianapolis legal firm.

On Oct. 9, Shipman sent a letter informing RPD Chief Kyle Weatherly that Blanton, who serves as RPD’s public information officer, was placed on the Brady-Giglio list after making two statements.

Blanton released a statement on RPD’s Facebook page that homicide victims Christina M. Dixon, 40, and Matthew J. Johnson, 41, were not RPD confidential informants. An Allen County affidavit of probable cause charging Dominique Mejae Washington with their murders references an RPD sergeant saying Dixon and Johnson were informants. Shipman’s letter to Weatherly said Blanton’s statement was not correct.

Washington’s expected four-day trial is scheduled to begin March 25 in Allen Superior Court 5.

Shipman also cited a quote from Blanton in a Palladium-Item article about a YouTube prankster who attached himself to a pole near Richmond’s Red Lobster restaurant. Blanton was quoted as saying that “the prosecutor’s office did not elect to pick up any charges” against the man. That statement was later changed in the online article to reflect that Blanton wasn’t sure if the prosecutor’s office would charge the man.

The Shipman letter said that RPD officers did not receive a case number or write a report about the incident that could be submitted to the prosecutor’s office for consideration of charges. A report was then submitted two weeks after the incident.

The lawsuit includes supporting documents, including an email from Blanton to Capt. Kevin Smith about the officer’s poor discretion for not following up with a report for a mischief charge and asking that a report be written.

After Blanton’s inclusion on the Brady-Giglio list became public, Weatherly released a statement that he and Blanton disagreed with Shipman’s decision and were investigating options to remedy the situation.

The lawsuit said Shipman on Nov. 15 sent the Brady-Giglio list to all Wayne County law enforcement agencies “solely to embarrass Blanton.”

The lawsuit documents also include a letter Shipman sent to Wayne County law enforcement agencies on Aug. 28 about the Brady-Giglio list. It discusses information that agencies must provide the prosecutor’s office about officers. A Nov. 15 follow-up email addressed officer concerns. In that email, Shipman indicates that three occurrences “renewed my focus on the issue” of the Brady-Giglio list.

The first was the prosecution of Phillip Lee, who was accused of killing RPD Officer Seara Burton. The email said Lee’s defense attorneys were digging into personnel files of officers involved in the case. The second was a drug-related case in which a county judge strongly condemned officers’ actions. The third was a training session a deputy prosecutor attended that included an in-depth Brady-Giglio discussion.