SFPD Video Scandal: Cops Want Newsom Under Oath

May 15 - KGO (KGO) -- It was supposed to be a parody; it became a major scandal. Scenes from a police video never shown in public until now, and the allegations contained in a $20 million dollar federal lawsuit.

When the existence of that video was first revealed a year-and-a-half ago, San Francisco's police chief called it "an extremely dark day" in the department's history. Twenty-four officers were suspended and 18 of them are now suing the city for defamation, discrimination and more, and they have a surprise for Mayor Gavin Newsom.

It looks like this case is going to get ugly. The lawyers for those officers say, as part of the case, Gavin Newsom should answer questions about alcohol and drug use -- under oath and on camera. The mayor's lawyers are fighting to prevent that from happening.

Andrew Cohen, S.F. Police Officer: "All of it was about making fun of ourselves, a parody of ourselves."

These Bayview police officers never thought their comedy video would go public, much less make headlines across the country. They produced 26 minutes of inside jokes -- making fun of themselves and their captain who was retiring.

Then, out of the blue, Mayor Newsom called a news conference, played a few clips from the video and blasted the officers.

Mayor Gavin Newsom: "It is shameful, it is offensive, it is sexist, it is homophobic and it is racist, and we're going to make sure that it ends and it ends immediately."

Two dozen officers who appeared in the video found out on television that they were suspended. They say it's a violation of the Peace Officers' Bill of Rights which prohibits government officials from releasing information -- including pictures -- of officers under investigation.

Gerald Lyons, S.F. Police Officer: "It just seems to me we were at least owed due process, we were at least owed an investigation."

Reggie Scott, S.F. Police Officer: "It was the most humiliating experience I ever experienced in my life. It really left a bad taste in my mouth with our department."

Andrew Cohen: "It wasn't about fairness or logic, it was about some kind of a political smoke screen, and what the mayor and the chief did was nothing short of criminal, that's for sure."

In the days that followed, Mayor Newsom had to defend his handling of the case after the officers' video got a mixed reaction.

Mayor Gavin Newsom: "There's a growing sort of group of folks that just say, 'Hey, come on, what's the big deal?' But they haven't seen the rest of the tapes. They haven't seen what I've seen."

The I-Team's obtained all the video Newsom saw.

The mayor called this "an Abu Ghraib-type skit with African American officers in cages." Actually, there was only one -- 25-year police veteran Jimmy Lewis.

Jimmy Lewis, S.F. Police Officer: "He was trying to incite the emotions of the African American community. And by trying to say there's African American officers, Abu Ghraib, locked in dog cages."

Lewis told us why he posed for these pictures. He's known among his peers as mild-mannered, but one day he blew up at his sergeant saying, "I'm not your dog." He took a ribbing for it and poked fun at himself on the video.

Jimmy Lewis: "People are finally seeing what really happened."

Lewis is among 18 officers now suing the City and County of San Francisco and Chief Heather Fong for racial discrimination, retaliation, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Gavin Newsom is a material witness in the case, and the officers' lawyers have a surprise for the mayor.

Waukeen McCoy, Attorney for Police Officers: "I have to show that he intended to harm them and whether or not he was under the influence or not when he decided to go public with their personnel matter or not, I think that that's relevant to this case."

Waukeen McCoy wants to depose the mayor about his admitted alcohol abuse that came to light in January during the City Hall sex scandal. The attorney says he also wants to question Newsom under oath and on camera about cocaine use, and release the tapes to the public.

Waukeen McCoy: "I would hope that the public would be able to see what their mayor is saying under oath about this situation that's presented in this case and what happened prior to the press conference."

The city attorney's office is fighting Newsom's deposition. A spokesman says it's not based on the questions to be asked.

Matt Dorsey, S.F. City Attorney's Office: "If a mayor or a governor or president were required to give a deposition every time they were named in a lawsuit, that is pretty much all that mayors and governors and presidents would do."

Dean Johnson, ABC7 Legal Analyst: "Negotiation is a tough game, and where there is money and where there are high profile individuals involved, it gets to be an even tougher game."

ABC7 legal analyst Dean Johnson says the officers and their lawyers are playing hard ball to get the city to settle.

Dean Johnson: "Everything that litigators do is tactical. It may very well be that threatening to ask embarrassing questions to the mayor is part of the overall tactical scheme of the plaintiffs to resolve this case and to get some money for their clients."

Mayor Newsom and his press officers refused to be interviewed. His re-election campaign consultant Eric Jaye also declined to appear on camera, but told us by phone, the case will have "no political impact. Voters have already made up their minds" about the mayor's alcohol abuse and affair with Ruby Tourk, his appointments secretary and wife of close friend and advisor, Alex Tourk.

Chris Lehane, Political Consultant: "Where people have made mistakes is not usually the underlying issue, it is somewhere in the quote unquote cover-up."

Political strategist Chris Lehane has seen first-hand the dangers of politicians being deposed. He advised President Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Now, Lehane says Newsom should consider a pre-emptive interview with a sympathetic reporter, if there's a chance the deposition could be damaging.

Chris Lehane: "If you do think that there's certain information that's going to come out and be news or new for the first time, you would absolutely want to get ahead of that, you absolutely want to put it out on your terms."

There is little the mayor can do about the anger these officers feel. Some are back on the street, others are pushing paper at the Hall of Justice and working odd hours.

Sgt. Mike Evanson's missing time with his five-year-old daughter. He blames Gavin Newsom and the department's top brass.

Sgt. Mike Evanson: "And when he transferred me out of my day-watch assignment, put me into a night-watch where I had to listen to my daughter call me on the phone crying 'cause she missed me, that sets me off. I will never forgive him or the chief or anybody who's part of this for making that happen."

The final internal affairs report on the video is 1,200 pages. Chief Fong couldn't tell us how many man hours or how much money this cost taxpayers. In part two of our report (Wednesday at 6 p.m.), we go much deeper into the video and show you the basis for the federal lawsuit -- how four Asian officers who acted in the video got very different treatment than the officers in this report.

I-Team Blog:
One of the more interesting facts we uncovered in the research for this investigation was how the controversy began. For more on that, read the I-Team blog here.

Have a tip on this or another investigation? E-mail the ABC7 I-Team or call 1-888-40-I-TEAM.

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