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Police Investigated – Washington City Paper

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Metropolitan Police Department Officer Todd Cory testified before a grand jury three times in a single case over the past year, at the behest of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Cory was the only officer to testify in that case, according to court filings, and each time, the grand juries returned indictments against Deangelo Lewis on a variety of criminal charges.

Lewis was arrested in June of 2022 near Anacostia after he allegedly fled from police in a Dodge Challenger Hellcat that officers believed was stolen. Cory was one of the officers involved in arresting Lewis and gathered evidence against him, court filings show, which resulted in charges against Lewis including illegal possession of a firearm, fleeing from law enforcement, malicious destruction of property, and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

But as Lewis’ June trial date approached, Cory’s status as the government’s star witness began to fall. Ten days before the trial was initially scheduled to begin, prosecutors wrote in court papers that they would no longer call Cory as a witness during a pretrial evidentiary hearing or during the trial itself, as they initially had intended.

The USAO has not explained in court filings why they will no longer rely on Cory’s testimony. But the reversal comes after Lewis’ public defender, Kavya Naini, repeatedly demanded that prosecutors hand over information about an ongoing investigation into Cory. Throughout most of Lewis’ case, according to multiple court filings, Cory has been under investigation by the D.C. Office of the Inspector General, which has the authority to refer criminal charges to prosecutors.

The filings only describe Cory’s alleged actions as “conduct unbecoming” an officer. But a letter provided by a D.C. government employee, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive information, says that the OIG is investigating Cory for his alleged involvement in a bribery scheme involving kickbacks from a tow truck company. The investigation is ongoing, and Cory is currently on full duty status.

The OIG, USAO, and the Public Defender Service for D.C. all declined City Paper’s requests to comment on the matter. Efforts to reach Cory have been unsuccessful, and MPD spokesperson Paris Lewbel also declined to answer specific questions about the investigation into Cory. In an emailed statement, Lewbel says “it is the long-standing policy of the Metropolitan Police Department that we do not comment on investigations conducted by other law enforcement agencies. The Office of the Inspector General conducts its own criminal investigations and operates outside of the purview of the Metropolitan Police Department.”

This is the latest investigation of alleged wrongdoing by officers in MPD’s Seventh District, which includes much of Southeast D.C.

City Paper previously reported on 19 Seventh District officers who are currently under criminal investigation and former 7D Commander Andre Wright, who is alleged to have had an affair with a subordinate (Wright is now an assistant chief). Multiple lawsuits, some of which are still pending, have accused officers working in the Seventh District of harassment and racial profiling. And in 2022, MPD’s Use of Force Review Board recommended that the department open an investigation of an unnamed lieutenant’s “daily operations and management” of the crime suppression team, the specialized unit for which the 19 officers worked. MPD has denied City Paper’s Freedom of Information Act request for records related to the investigation into the lieutenant.

The litany of accusations has threatened to upend a variety of criminal cases. The crime suppression team investigation has already forced prosecutors to dismiss dozens of charges in which those officers were involved, and the OIG probe of Cory has similarly imperiled the case against Lewis. Naini, his attorney, is pressing to see the case dismissed, and the wrangling over OIG’s case file describing the investigation has forced the indefinite delay of his trial, which was set to begin on June 12.

Critics say the case is emblematic of a culture where prosecutors would prefer to dismiss charges that MPD brings rather than address officer misconduct.

“This cycle of sweeping the wrongdoing under the rug and throwing officers back on the street is really harmful,” says Patrice Sulton, the founder of DC Justice Lab and a longtime civil rights attorney.

For a closer look inside this unusual case, and what it says about D.C.’s legal system, check out our full story online.

Alex Koma and Mich Ryals (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com and mryals@washingtoncitypaper.com)



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