Updated at 3:07 p.m., Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Theft charges dismissed against police employee
Advertiser Staff
Honolulu Police Department civilian employee Sharon Black is on cloud nine today following a judge's dismissal of criminal charges against her."I'm just ecstatic," she said, after Circuit Judge Richard Perkins yesterday tossed out charges that she improperly accessed government computer records at the Honolulu Medical Examiner's Office.
A Circuit Court jury could not agree on a verdict against Black when she was tried earlier this year and Perkins then upheld a defense motion to dismiss the case.
Black still faces an HPD Internal Affairs administrative inquiry and will remain on leave with pay away from her job. She is an HPD crisis worker, assisting officers when they deal with mentally ill and homeless persons.
"I really don't know if I want to go back," said Black, 47, who claimed that the charges against her were retaliation for an earlier sexual harassment suit she filed against HPD superiors. The city paid $612,000 in 2001 to settle that suit.
City Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Christopher Van Marter said today, "We are very disappointed that the court's (Monday) ruling did not reflect the serious of the conduct alleged in this case."
