Jan 11, 2008 9:53 pm US/Eastern
Timoney's Testimony In Fee-Free SUV Deal Postponed
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
A court ordered appearance by Miami police Chief John Timoney before Miami's Civilian Investigative Panel has been postponed.
The CIP, which probes complaints about police, announced the delay Friday morning, the same day Chief Timoney was ordered to appear.
Nearly five months ago, a CBS4 investigation revealed that Chief Timoney had accepted the free use of a luxury Lexus SUV in an apparent violation of his own department's policy and he's under a court order to testify before the CIP.
Friday's delay was due to the fact that Miami City Manager Pete Hernandez has plans to go to court to challenge the court order obtained by the CIP. CIP officials feel the decision to challenge the court order is impeding their investigation.
"I think that the city attorney, whose signature appears on the fax, is questioning our jurisdiction," said CIP Chairwoman Brenda Shapiro.The CIP is also looking into whether Miami's top cop violated the department's policy on truthfulness due to the fact that he first denied he was getting the Lexus, from Lexus of Kendall, for free.
The CIP first subpoenaed chief Timoney on November 30th, 2007 and a hearing was set for December 6th but he backed out the day before he was set to testify.
A second subpoena was issued December 10th. While he did show up for a CIP meeting a week and a half later, he said he was there of his own volition and not because of a subpoena. He went on to say that he believes the CIP does not have jurisdiction over him and he refused to testify or produce any of the documents identified in the subpoena.
The CIP wants Timoney to turn over hundreds of pages of records related to a city probe into his free use of that luxury Lexus SUV. He has not turned over any of the records.
On January 4th, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Victoria Sigler ordered Chief Timoney to comply with the CIP's subpoena. He still hasn't done so.
The chief did not return
CBS4 phone calls for comment. The City Attorney's office and the Manager's office said the two were not available for comment.
The questions surrounding Timoney do not end with the CIP, his on-going scrutiny will continue at a public hearing before the Miami-Dade County Ethics Commission which has found probable cause to the believe that Miami's top cop had broken the law. That hearing takes place later this month.
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