The complaint states Gmoser’s letter references “criminal conduct by a rogue officer” when referring to Hatfield.
In the letter, which was obtained by the Journal-News, Gmoser claims Hatfield “has a pattern of over charging for the purpose of gaining overtime from court proceedings because of a heavy child support obligation and has increased court overtime by separating cases so as to be scheduled both in morning and afternoon sessions.”
Gmoser also said in the letter that Hatfield was “deficient in his understanding of the U.S. Constitution concerning permissible search and Ohio Law concerning obstruction of justice.”
The sheriff’s department conducted an internal investigation into the claims and exonerated Hatfield, according to the lawsuit.
“As a result of that investigation, Deputy Sheriff Hatfield was exonerated; however, he was not returned to his original assignment (road patrol) and has lost substantial overtime wages and time with his family,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges the prosecutor’s actions have caused Hatfield to incur a hostile atmosphere in Butler County and the letter containing the allegations remains in his personnel file, preventing him from being able to transfer to other police departments.
Butler County Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer said the sheriff’s office had no comment on the lawsuit.
The Journal-News obtained a copy of Hatfield’s personnel file, which notes he was hired by the department in January 2004 and was transferred to the transport division on July 8, 2015.
The transfer was not a demotion and did not change Hatfield’s pay, Dwyer told the Journal-News.
“It was not as a result of the letter,” Dwyer said. “It was an administrative decision in the best interest of the agency … we had a need in that division.”
Dwyer said it was not the first time in Hatfield’s career that he had been assigned to the prisoner transport division.
Approximately two years ago Hatfield also received the assignment, according to his personnel file.
“We are constantly moving assignments where there are needs,” Dwyer said.
Most of the eight complaints in Hatfield’s personnel file were minor or unfounded. However, he did receive written reprimands for dumping out a small amount of marijuana from a traffic stop rather than taking it to the property room for destruction. In 2012 he was reprimanded for posting a crash photo on his personal Facebook page.
Butler County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Todd Langmeyer oversaw the investigation into the allegations of improper charging and manipulation of overtime.
“ … we have addressed each issue in this investigation and have found nothing to support the criminal allegations and therefore theses criminal allegations are not substantiated,” Langmeyer stated in his report.
During the investigation, sheriff’s investigators talked to Assistant Prosecutor Jessica Rodkey whose main complaint “was there were cases she wished to plead out, however Deputy Hatfield did not support the position and wanted the case bound over to grand jury,” Langmeyer wrote in the report.
“Additionally, Assistant Prosecutor Rodkey could not recall a single instance where she believed Deputy Hatfield had done anything illegal,” the report states.
Assistant Prosecutor Michael Hon told deputies Hatfield was “hard lined when it came to plea outs,” according to Langmeyer’s report.
“Prosecutor Hon did state Deputy Hatfield presses charges that most deputies would not file,” Langmeyer wrote in the report. “Assistant Prosecutor Hon further stated he has not been aware of Deputy Hatfield doing anything unethical or illegal.”
Gmoser declined to comment about the letter, which was written after a case of Hatfield’s was presented to a grand jury by the prosecutor and an indictment was not returned.
Gmoser said he gave Hatfield a “stern warning … concerning the civil liability that could attach to (Sheriff Jones) and him from impermissible searches and pretext arrests.”
The case in question is from June 2016.
Robert Lewis, of Oxford Twp., was charged with felony obstructing official business while Hatfield was attempting to serve misdemeanor warrants at Lewis’ residence.
Hatfield testified he did not have a warrant to search the house, but received permission from Lewis’ girlfriend when he peered in a back door that was ajar, according to court transcripts obtained by the Journal-News.
Later during questioning by the defense attorney Hatfield said he went in to the house without a warrant after finding the door ajar, then a female inside have him consent to search, according to the transcript.
“When I knocked on the door, the door that was partially ajar. As I said, I made several announcements for someone to come to the door knowing someone was inside the house. No one responded. Concerned for my welfare, I stepped into the kitchen and announced myself several times, and that’s when she came down,” Hatfield said according to the transcript.
While searching the house, Hatfield said the bathroom door was locked but he could hear someone inside. Hatfield said he kicked in the door and found Lewis, according to court documents.
“I nearly slipped. There were clothes all over the floor. I nearly injured myself kicking the door in. I nearly injured him as well. The bathroom was very small,” Hatfield testified.
Hatfield said he was not injured and Lewis did not resist arrest once they were inside the bathroom.
When asked by the defense attorney, “And how do you think Mr. Lewis caused a risk of physical harm to other persons?”
Hatfield said, “By having us attempt to … having to kick down the door. There was certainly a risk of physical harm there. We could hear him pushing on the door on the inside. Had I kicked that door in and and he was standing there, he would have been injured and certainly myself could have been as well.”
In the complaint, attorney Robert Croskery says Gmoser’s letter falsely states Hatfield made an arrest for obstruction of justice without proper understanding of permissible search laws.
“As a result of the letter, a full and complete investigation was conducted by the Sheriff’s department for the charge that he had overcharged for the purpose of getting overtime for court procedures,” the complaint states.
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