Indicted officer defends his actions during traffic stop

By: Daniel Jackovino - Staff Writer

Photo by Daniel Jackovino
In the law offices of Caldwell attorney Patrick Toscano, right, indicted Bloomfield Police Officer Orlando Trinidad, left, offered his version of what occurred at a motor-vehicle stop on the Parkway on June 7, 2012, and the events which led up to that stop. Trinidad is currently suspended from the BPD without pay and faces a number of charges.

BLOOMFIELD — An indicted Bloomfield police officer charged with aggravated assault on a motorist said he was reacting to shouting by another police officer on the scene that the motorist had that officer’s gun.

Suspended officer Orlando Trinidad said at a press conference held in the office of his attorney on Feb. 25 that he saw the motorist, Marcus Jeter, lying on the roadway during the June 7, 2012, Garden State Parkway stop with his hands under his stomach but he could not see where the gun of Officer Sean Courter was located.

Courter and Trinidad have both been indicted by an Essex County grand jury for conspiracy, official misconduct, tampering with public records, false documents and false swearing. Evidence against the two officers was caught on video cameras in two police cars at the scene. One camera was pointed toward the front of Jeter’s car and the other was pointed towards the rear. The two recordings have been made public. A third Bloomfield police officer at the scene, Albert Sutterlin, was not indicted and retired on June 1, 2013. Courter and Trinidad were suspended without pay in April 2013.

The two video discs were not initially given to the County Prosecutor’s Office by the Internal Affairs Division of the Bloomfield Police Department. Only one disc was given and with this evidence, a grand jury indicted Jeter. But Jeter’s attorney, Stephen Brown, acquired the second disc as a public record and the Prosecutor’s Office dropped all charges against his client and the officers were indicted. This second disc was from the camera located in Trinidad’s patrol car.

The Trinidad press conference took place in the law office of Patrick Toscano in Caldwell.
According to Toscano, on the night of the stop, Courter and Sutterlin had been alerted to a domestic dispute between Jeter and his girlfriend at the woman’s Bloomfield residence.

Toscano said Jeter, who had left from the rear of the house, was stopped in his car by Courter in the driveway and asked to wait because Jeter’s car had a tire going flat.

Courter also allegedly perceived the smell of alcohol coming from the car. But Jeter left the scene and Courter and Sutterlin followed in their separate cars.

Jeter was pulled over on the Parkway and the officers alleged that he began to bang on the car window and told Courter he was calling his lawyer.

“Courter doesn’t know what’s going on,” Toscano said. “He drew his gun.”
Toscano alleged that Jeter was driving while intoxicated and with a suspended license.

Trinidad entered the scene from the opposite direction of the Parkway by driving through the median and head-on into Jeter’s car, striking the front bumper. From the recording made by Trinidad’s video camera, Jeter can be seen through his windshield with his hands up.
Trinidad said he and Courter were in contact with a supervisor who told them to remove the motorist from his car.

Courter used his baton to break the driver’s side window, Trinidad said, but Jeter remained in the car. Courter then reached into the car to unfasten the seat beat. This was visible on the recording made from Trinidad’s car. Trinidad said this is when Courter started yelling, “He’s got my gun,” and this can also be heard on the recording.

After Jeter was removed from the car, he was put face down on the ground. This was recorded from the camera facing the back of Jeter’s car.
“Officer Courter is still yelling, ‘He’s got my gun,’” Trinidad said. “The suspect has his hands under his belly. I didn’t see where the gun was. Maybe Jeter has the gun.”

Trinidad said he was attempting to handcuff Jeter and told him to calm down. When Jeter is brought to his feet, Trinidad punches him in the back of his head. This was recorded from the camera pointed toward the rear of Jeter’s car.

Trinidad said the two video discs were in the possession of Lt. Michael Cofone, of the Bloomfield Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division, but he had no idea what he did with them. An initial investigation by the division cleared Trinidad of any wrong-doing.

“I was originally cleared by Lt. Cofone,” Trinidad said. “When my disc magically appeared, that’s when it turned. I question the chain of custody.”

In a telephone interview, Charles Clark, the attorney for Courter, was asked why his client kept telling Jeter to take his hands off his gun while Jeter’s hands, according to Trinidad, were under his stomach and Courter must have known where his own gun was located.
“It was Courter’s sensory perception,” Clark said. “A jury would have to determine that. The issue is whether Courter perceived that this guy tried to take his firearm. If he believed that, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Clark said his client wrote in his report that there were two video disc recordings.
“Why didn’t the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office have the second disc?” Clark asked. “It means you went to the grand jury without reviewing the evidence.”

Clark said Jeter had refused a breath test and was charged with a DWI.
“No one has explained that,” he said.
A spokesperson for the municipal court said they could not comment on the matter.