Southpinellas: Defender of chief is also his inquisitor

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Defender of chief is also his inquisitor

The lawyer investigating an obstruction accusation against St. Petersburg's police chief is defending him in another matter.

By LEANORA MINAI and ADAM C. SMITH

Tampa lawyer Thomas M. Gonzalez was hired by St. Petersburg officials to defend their police chief against federal charges of discrimination and retaliation.

But that same lawyer now is investigating an accusation that Chief Goliath Davis III stifled a narcotics investigation of a police sergeant.

The mayor, who appointed Davis and will act on Gonzalez's findings, is not sure that represents a conflict.

"I haven't looked at it from that angle," Mayor David Fischer said Friday. "I'd have to ask the attorneys that."

But Bill LauBach, the police union's executive director and attorney, said the city's hiring of Gonzalez "stinks to high heaven."

"That is arrogance personified," LauBach said. "That's the city of St. Petersburg saying we'll do it the way we want to do it, and the hell with everybody."

The matter could put Fischer in a quandary. If his legal team effectively clears the chief, skeptics will wonder whether the claim of a coverup was thoroughly investigated. But he risks undercutting his chief by calling for an outside investigation based on the murkiest of charges.

Gonzalez's inquiry reportedly stems from a hazy accusation by a confidential informant that a veteran sergeant, Donnie Williams, was dealing cocaine.

Williams said Friday he never has had any connection to drugs or drug dealers and that his supervisors cleared him several years ago of any impropriety.

"I am dedicated to my profession," said Williams, 44.

The accusation by Officer Raymond K. Craig has fueled rumors that spread through the police department and City Hall and sparked a whistle-blower inquiry.

Craig, who worked in the narcotics unit for three months last year, has accused Chief Davis of hindering an investigation into Williams.

Now assigned to patrol, Craig is accused of violating confidentiality and compromising an investigation. He is under investigation by internal affairs.

The matter may start unraveling next week when Gonzalez delivers a report to the mayor.

Fischer will decide whether his police chief should be investigated by an outside agency. As it now stands, even as Davis faces criticism from the union and some council members, the mayor shows no signs of losing confidence in Davis.

Late Friday, Fischer fired off a sharply worded response to a memo from council member Bill Foster, who questioned the chief's management.

"I stand firmly behind him in his efforts to enhance the professionalism of the police department and the quality of services provided to the community," Fischer wrote.

'Antagonism'

The officer, Karen Lea, says she suffered retaliation and discrimination because she lodged sexual harassment complaints against Davis and another officer

Gonzalez said there is no conflict. His work in the Lea matter and the fact-finding mission involving Craig are separate issues, he said.

"Just keep in mind there seems to be a lot of antagonism on the part of the PBA (Pinellas County Police Benevolent Association," Gonzalez said.

The PBA and Davis' administration have been in a protracted dispute since Davis disciplined half of the department's vice and narcotics unit for time card fraud nearly a year ago.

Sparring between the camps intensified in September when 18 black police officers quit the PBA. One of those officers was Williams, the sergeant accused of dealing cocaine.

Sexual relations

Fueling suspicion surrounding Williams is this: He had a child with a St. Petersburg woman whose sister had a baby with the largest drug supplier in St. Petersburg

The dealer, Elrick Bernard Wynn, was the leader of a crack cocaine ring so big and efficient that prosecutors characterized it as "the Microsoft" of St. Petersburg, according to federal prosecutors. Earlier this month, six people in Wynn's drug ring were convicted on federal charges. Wynn remains at large.

Based on interviews and police and court records, sergeant Williams began having a sexual relationship with the St. Petersburg woman in 1995 when he was working in the vice and narcotics unit.

Williams' lover also had a criminal record. She had been on probation for marijuana possession and was convicted of aggravated battery after slashing another woman in the face, hand and leg with a razor.

This week, the sister of Williams' lover told the St. Petersburg Times that she had a baby with Wynn seven years ago. She said she had nothing to do with Wynn's alleged drug activity.

She also said she had not seen or spoken to Wynn in four years, and that she knew nothing about Williams, except that he had a baby with her younger sister.

Williams was ordered in 1996 to pay monthly child support of nearly $600. But according to court records, he is behind $895.

'In shock'

"This could affect me for the rest of my life and career," Williams said

Williams said he did not know about his lover's criminal past and that he did not know her sister had ties to Wynn. Williams said when supervisors confronted him about the relationship, it had ended.

At least one St. Petersburg narcotics investigator still had concerns about Williams.

In February, then-narcotics Sgt. Roy N. Olsen was under investigation for time card fraud. In his testimony to internal affairs, Olsen talked about Williams' alleged connection.

"The majority of the people in there thought he was dirty," Olsen said in the sworn statement.

"I'm talking about where he had a relationship with this female who is supposedly involved directly in trafficking cocaine," Olsen said.

Pinellas County sheriff's Deputy Don Quire, the former major in charge of the St. Petersburg vice unit at the time, said Williams was transferred out of narcotics in 1997 and assigned to patrol because of the relationship.

Quire said investigators had no evidence at the time that Williams was dealing cocaine.

"The biggest link was that association with her sister and Elrick Wynn," Quire said.

An internal affairs inquiry into the Williams matter was not conducted at the time. Williams said he was cleared in 1996 by then-police Chief Darrel Stephens, who is now city administrator.

"That incident was investigated by my chain of command," Williams said. "They looked into my relationship, and if they found any wrongdoing on my part, I would have been disciplined at the time."

-- Times researcher Caryn Baird and staff writer Stephen Nohlgren contributed to this report.

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