Sex Offender Issues

View the article here | Judge Not Convinced

05/09/2007

Atlanta officer suspended from force for behavior at Virginia-Highland bars

When a Virginia-Highland woman complained to Atlanta police that one of their men in blue was harassing her, the officer retaliated by raping her and videotaping the crime, prosecutors allege in an indictment.

Lamar Gavin, 26, the son of prominent doctors, has since been suspended from the police force, but for unrelated reasons — outrageous off-duty behavior that got him banned from three Virginia-Highland bars, according to his personnel files obtained through the Georgia Open Records Act.

Gavin was slated to be fired effective Nov. 3 but was ordered reinstated by the city's civil service board, which decided that a 30-day suspension and counseling could correct Gavin's "inappropriate conduct."

Now Gavin, who insists he is innocent, has turned his attention to attacking the rape charges and rejoining the city's police force.

Gavin's attorney, Antonio Thomas, said he and his client are expected to meet with Police Chief Richard Pennington on Friday to discuss Gavin's return to the force if he is aquitted of the rape charge.

Gavin is scheduled to appear before a judge Thursday for a brief hearing, with his trial slated for July.

Meanwhile, the woman who says she was raped has gone into hiding and says she's scared he'll hunt her down to keep her from testifying.

An Atlanta police officer who knew Gavin had been banned from Virginia-Highland bars shared her concerns, telling his superiors:

"I'm just concerned about what Gavin may do in the future to myself, [another officer] or any of the citizens that made statements against him," according to police records.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Manis cited worries about possible witness intimidation in her order last month when she denied bond for Gavin, who has remained in jail since his April 10 arrest on a four-count grand jury indictment. He is charged with rape, two counts of burglary, and unlawful eavesdropping/surveillance for the videotape.

Gavin's other attorney, Phinia Aten, filed a motion this week asking the judge to reconsider bond.

Gavin's MySpace screen name is "the ATL bad boy." He last signed on the popular social networking Web site the day before he was taken to jail.

On his MySpace page, which features a photo of him in his police uniform, he wrote: "I try to keep my personal life drama free, but it seems like crazy people find a way into my life. Remember this folks: You can accomplish anything as long as you stay out of jail."

A day later, Fulton County sheriff's deputies arrested Gavin and took him to jail.

The alleged rape victim said she complained to Atlanta police twice last year, in February and April, that Gavin, who lived in her apartment complex and claimed to help with security, was pressuring her to date him.

On one occasion, she said she jerked awake in the middle of the night after hearing a strange noise. She said Gavin was standing outside her apartment and told her he had just scared off a would-be burglar.

The woman contends that internal affairs investigators with the force's Office of Professional Standards told her there wasn't much they could do because it was her word against the officer's.

That summer, the woman says she returned home after a night of drinking and clubbing and passed out on her couch. She said she didn't realize she had been raped until police investigators saw the tape and called her months later.

Gavin's attorneys say the woman had consensual sex with Gavin and trumped up her complaints against him because she has "problems."

The woman admits she had a drinking problem.

On the videotape, Gavin turns to the camera and rattles off the names of the internal affairs investigators and the alleged rape victim while cursing them all, said Fulton prosecutor Linda Dunikoski, who has watched the tape.

"It was real foul," she said.

Gavin then carried the limp woman from her couch to her bed and taped the alleged rape on July, 23, 2006, Dunikoski said.

Thomas, one of Gavin's attorneys, said he didn't know about Gavin's other alleged misconduct.

Gavin, who liked bar-hopping at the same Virginia-Highland taverns where the woman partied, sometimes got rowdy after drinking too much, according to police records of the internal affairs investigation.

Three managers had banned him from their bars — at Atkins Park tavern, Neighbors pub and Dark Horse Tavern, records indicate.

In one incident, Atkins Park employees dialed 911 because a waitress said she was afraid of the off-duty cop, records indicate.

In another incident, Gavin handed his handgun to a civilian, who promptly waved it at two bar patrons at Dark Horse Tavern.

But what led to his firing happened, according to records, occurred at Neighbors pub, where a plain-clothes and intoxicated Gavin pulled out his gun and said: "This is a stick up!"

The former officer's parents, Dr. James R. Gavin III and Dr. Annie Gavin, have declined to discuss the rape allegations except to say, through their attorney, that they feel sure their son will be acquitted and, at that time, they'll discuss the case.