The alleged behavior of two California Highway Patrol officers, accused of playing a twisted game in which they traded racy photos of women they arrested, could put some suspected bad drivers back on the road.
One of the officers allegedly involved, Robert Hazlewood, was supposed to testify in a DUI trial in Oakland on Monday, but the case was dismissed. Defense attorneys say this is just the start of the fallout in what many are calling a “CHP scandal.”
Defense attorneys across the East Bay are shaking their heads as details emerge about an alleged CHP scheme to steal nude photos from arrestees’ cell phones and then text them to others in what the other officer implicated Sean Harrington describes a "game."
“It's far from a game,” Oakland-based DUI attorney Francisco Rodriguez said. “It's a betrayal of the public's trust."
Search warrant documents detail the text messages sent between several Dublin-based CHP officers about the racy photos. "Her body is rocking" states one. Another reads: “Taken from the phone of my [woman in custody] while she’s in X-rays. Enjoy buddy!!!”
”It is so demeaning to women, at the very the least,” Dublin-based lawyer Kim Burgess said, “and the fact they're sharing it, absolutely unconscionable."
Burgess specializes in DUI. She has been reviewing her cases and has already identified a few where the arresting officer is named in the search warrant. She believes many cases could be impacted.
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“I think the credibility of those officers that have been involved in this applies to traffic, DUI, anything where they are a primary witness,” Burgess said.
“It goes to the primary heart of his credibility,” Rodriguez said. “Can we believe anything this officer says?”
Rodriguez had a DUI case dismissed Monday morning. The arresting officer, Robert Hazlewood, was scheduled to testify Monday afternoon.
“The matter was dismissed by the DA's office, who did the right thing,” Rodriguez said. “But nevertheless, the information should have been turned over to us back at the beginning of October when they first knew about the incident.
Chief Avery A. Browne of the CHP's Golden Gate Division calls the allegations disgusting and disappointing, but he insists the practice was not widespread.
None of the officers allegedly involved have been charged, but the DA’s office says an announcement could be made sometime this week.
