HAMMOND | Federal prosecutors wrapped their civil rights case against a former Gary police chief and two high-ranking officers Thursday, in a day that focused largely on clarifying inconsistent witness statements.
Darren Johnson, the case's fourth alleged victim, admitted to jurors he changed his statement to the FBI regarding whom he saw beating a Gary woman last June.
Johnson, 40, is one of four people federal prosecutors say were victims of excessive force at the hands of former Gary Police Chief Thomas Houston and two high-ranking city cops. Johnson also acknowledged in court Thursday he never showed the FBI a stick that he accused Gary police Sgt. Thomas Decanter of using to beat him.
In August 2007, Johnson told the FBI he saw Houston beating 30-year-old Melissa Manley during a violent search of the home where he lived. Johnson later veered from his original statement, accusing Deputy Chief Thomas Branson of beating Manley, before flipping back to accuse Houston.
Johnson said when he fingered Branson, he "was kind of foggy on it." He thought about it more and "came up with the right assumption," Johnson said.
Johnson also said Decanter hit his arm with an inch-thick tree branch, as he was telling Decanter and Branson he knew nothing about a burglary at Houston's house earlier that day.
Johnson did not mention the stick or alleged beating until about six months after the incident, in a late November interview with FBI Agent Dan Glavach, Glavach said.
Glavach testified Thursday that there are discrepancies in statements by all of the alleged victims, including an initial claim by Sheila Baker that a red-haired man had beaten her daughter, Manley. She later identified Houston as striking her daughter.
"I did find them inconsistent, but I did not find them alarming," Glavach said of the varying statements.
Collective interviews from Gary officers and other witnesses painted a clear picture of the incident, despite the conflicting reports, Glavach said.
The allegation that Branson lied to FBI investigators could have weakened Thursday when Glavach acknowledged slight differences between his handwritten notes and the official report of his interview with Branson.
Glavach said some of the language in his notes did not exactly match his report, which he admitted could have been human error, and could suggest Branson had been telling the truth.
Prosecutors have suggested Gary officers arresting the four alleged victims were ordered by the defendants to write vague arrest reports with little substantive information.
A Gary officer and a Lake County prosecutor testified for the defense that such vague reports are commonplace among some officers.
Closing arguments in the trial could come today. Attorneys for the three defendants said they did not know whether their clients would take the stand in their defense.
