The jury verdict came down late this afternoon…in the first of several trials for HPD officers implicated in an abuse of overtime investigation.
Earlier in the day officer leighton kato (cot-o) took the stand in his own defense.
Leighton Kato says he has taken part in hundreds of DUI road blocks during his ten years as an HPD officer. He explains what it can be like out there.
"It’s at night, there’s a lot of flares in the road and headlights in your eyes, and it’s basically a chaotic, fluid situation," says Leighton Kato, Honolulu Police Department.
Kato says supervisors are the initial officers at the front of a road block…they are responsible for sending cars to beat officers like Kato.
"If I could not see the person sending it. It would be either given to me by one of my beat partners, or the supervisor would let me know who that person was," says Kato.
A November 2009 report filed by Kato says that Sergeant Duke Zoeller was at a road block.
An investigation revealed he was not…still Zoeller got overtime pay…when Kato was asked if he remembered seeing Sergeant Zoeller on that night.
"I don’t remember sir it’s been over two years and we’ve head hundreds of road blocks and it nothing substantial stands out you can’t remember individual road blocks," says Kato.
Kato’s defense pointed out that arresting officers often rely on their supervisors to assist in completing DUI road block reports.
"Would you ever put something in your report that you knew was not true? absolutely not," says Kato.
Sergeants Duke Zoeller and Aaron Bernal are also accused of tampering with a government document and theft.
Officers Christopher and Patrick Bugarin, Michael Krekel and Brian Morris also face tampering with government records charges.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
