On August 14, 2009, I filed an Internal Affairs Complaints against Sergeant William Adams based on the Appellate Division’s August 7, 2009 unpublished decision in State v. Arthur Hoyle, Docket No. A-2405-08T4.
According to p. 2 of the decision, Adams testified in the Middle Township Municipal Court that he had stopped Mr. Hoyle’s car on January 3, 2008 based upon a warrant that Adams testified was still in effect on that date. Yet, Cape May County Superior Court Judge Susan F. Maven found that the warrant had been executed well prior to the stop and was not valid at the time of the stop. (See p. 8.)
Thus, it appears that Sergeant Adams a) stopped Mr. Hoyle’s automobile without lawful reason, and/or b) misled the Municipal Court by testifying that the warrant had been active when in fact it was not.
By letter dated September 4, 2009, Captain Richard C. Smedberg sent me a form letter indicating that “the investigation and review of all information currently available to the office indicates that the officer followed the appropriate department policies and procedures.”
My complaint, Appellate Division decision and the department’s response are on-line here.
