NORTHWEST BERGEN
Two Ramapoughs also charged in Mahwah encounter
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
By CAROLYN SALAZAR and KIBRET MARKOS
STAFF WRITERS
TYSON TRISH / THE RECORD
Emil Mann Jr. gets a hug from his mother Charlene Defreese before Thursday's press conference announcing the filing of a civil rights lawsuit over the fatal shooting of Emil Mann.
Nearly a year after the fatal shooting of a Ramapough Mountain Indian, a Bergen County grand jury on Tuesday indicted a New Jersey park police officer on charges of reckless manslaughter.
The indictment, handed up following a three-month inquiry, charges Officer Chad Walder with the shooting death of 45-year-old Emil Mann during a confrontation April 1 near Stag Hill in Mahwah.
Also indicted were Mann's cousin, Otis Mann, on charges of disarming a police officer, aggravated assault and resisting arrest; and tribe member Harold N. Dennison on charges of carrying a switchblade and a handgun loaded with hollow-point bullets.
Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli cautioned that the grand jurors only filed an indictment -- another jury would determine Walder's guilt or innocence during a public trial. That likely won't be for another 18 months, he said.
"Officer Walder is entitled to his day in court and ... a jury of his peers," Molinelli said in a news conference at the courthouse.
Authorities were making arrangements with Walder's attorney so he could turn himself in, the prosecutor said. Court appearances hadn't yet been set for any of the defendants, he said.
Family and tribe members who gathered at the community center on Stag Hill embraced when they heard the news.
"Thank you, God. Thank you," some shouted between sobs.
"We're glad that we got some justice out of this," said Mann's brother, Morris, his eyes welling with tears.
"The family and the community has faith in the legal system," said tribal chief Dwaine Perry. "We are hopeful for a positive outcome in the end."
Perry wouldn't comment on the indictments against Mann and Dennison.
The shooting sparked protests and accusations of racial bias from members of the tribe, who said they had merely gathered that day for a family picnic when the officers showed up, igniting tensions. Mahwah Police Chief James N. Batelli accused the park agency of a "lack of professionalism."
The issue became so highly charged that Governor Corzine and the attorney general at the time, Zulima Farber, stepped in, brokering months of closed-door meetings with the group.
Although at first received with uncertainty, the governor was given a glowing reception during a meeting last summer, when he signed an executive order creating a state commission to study issues important to Native Americans in the state.
A spokesman in Corzine's office said the governor had no comment Tuesday about the indictments.
Walder was immediately suspended without pay Tuesday, said Elaine Makatura, spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the park police. She declined to comment further.
Walder's attorney, Robert Galantucci, said he was disappointed. .
"These people were lying in wait for him," Galantucci said. "He was ambushed and viciously attacked by Mr. Mann. His life was in jeopardy, and he had the scratches and bruises to prove it.
"This was a case of politics influencing the system of justice, and when that happens, justice loses."
According to court testimony, prosecutors and public records, park police went to the Ramapo Mountains to enforce a ban on ATVs. They arrested Dennison and, hours later, chased Otis Mann, who they said was riding an ATV. A scuffle ensued.
Another altercation broke out nearby, this one involving Walder and Emil Mann, who was shot three times. He died of his injuries nine days later.
Dennison's attorney said the charges against his client will likely be dropped because he did nothing wrong. It was park police officers who erred by venturing onto county property, where they had no jurisdiction and where ATV riding isn't against the law, he insisted.
"Our position is that my client's arrest was illegal," said the lawyer, Ronald J. Brandmayr. "They had no business being where they were."
Steven Schefers, Otis Mann's attorney, said his client maintains his innocence. "The truth will hopefully prevail," he said.
The 19 grand jurors began their task on Jan. 16. Twenty-three witnesses were called and thousands of pages of documents were presented, Molinelli said.
Prosecutors waited about eight months to present their findings because of reluctant witnesses and the desire of a crime scene topographer for the woods to look exactly as they did the day of the shooting -- with the trees bearing no leaves, the prosecutor said.
"There were still witnesses we didn't speak to," he said, "but in our judgment they were not witnesses we really needed."
The shooting led the park police to review training policies. A few weeks ago, the department named a new chief, Frank Rodgers, a lieutenant colonel with the state police.
In January, Emil Mann's family filed a civil rights lawsuit in Hackensack against Walder and two other officers who were involved. The suit -- which also targets the State Park Police Department -- seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
Walder is the first officer to be indicted in Bergen County in more than 16 years for an on-duty shooting, Molinelli said. The last was Gary Spath, a white Teaneck police officer who was charged in 1990 with the fatal shooting of Phillip C. Pannell, a black teenager. Spath was acquitted of reckless manslaughter.
Staff Writer Jason Tsai contributed to this article. E-mail:
salazar@northjersey.com and
markos@northjersey.com
* * *
The defendants
Indictments returned Tuesday in the shooting death of Ramapough tribe member Emil Mann:
N.J. Park Police Officer Chad Walder, Franklin Lakes
Charge: Reckless manslaughter
Conviction carries: Up to 10 years in prison
Otis Mann, Monroe, N.Y.
Charges: Disarming a police officer, aggravated assault, resisting arrest
Conviction carries: Up to 10 years in prison on the most serious charge
Harold Dennison, Mahwah
Charges: Unlawful possession of a handgun, switchblade knife and hollow-nose bullets
Conviction carries: Up to five years in prison
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