Schoolcraft v. The City Of New York et al

Filing 308

DECLARATION of NATHANIEL B. SMITH in Support re: 305 MOTION for Summary Judgment .. Document filed by Adrian Schoolcraft. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit, # 2 Exhibit, # 3 Exhibit REDACTED, # 4 Exhibit, # 5 Exhibit, # 6 Exhibit REDACTED, # 7 Exhibit REDACTED, # 8 Exhibit, # 9 Exhibit, # 10 Exhibit REDACTED, # 11 Exhibit, # 12 Exhibit, # 13 Exhibit, # 14 Exhibit, # 15 Exhibit, # 16 Exhibit REDACTED, # 17 Exhibit, # 18 Exhibit, # 19 Exhibit REDACTED, # 20 Exhibit)(Smith, Nathaniel)

PLAINTIFF'S MOTION
EXHIBIT 6

Page 98
STEVEN WEISS

1

2

Q.

3

entries

4

A.

When did you mention these
to Lauterborn?
At some point after this
he,

there

5

was an incident where,

6

Schoolcraft asked the duty captain to

7

respond directly to his post and sometime

8

between the period that that happened and

9

the period that the captain spoke to him

10

about that bizarre request,

11

my recollection,

Q.

12

in a

Officer

i t came up,

from

conversation.

When you had this discussion

13

with Lauterborn you were a

14

81st Precinct,

sergeant at the

right?

15

A.

Yes.

16

Q.

So this conversation with

17

Lauterborn happened sometime before

18

April

2009,

correct?

19

A.

Yes.

20

Q.

And the discussions

that you had

hold on right there -- what do you

21

with

22

recall

23

entries?

24

25

A.

telling Lauterborn about the unusual

Just that there was bizarre

stuff written in his memo book.

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That there

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Page 99
STEVEN WEISS

1

2

wasn't stuff you would generally see in a

3

cop's activity log.
Q.

4

5

Did you show copies of the

unusual entries to Lauterborn?

6

A.

I

7

Q.

Did you have copies of the

8

don't think so,

no.

unusual entries?

9

A.

10

copies.

11

Q.

I

don't think I

Why not?
MR.

12

ever made

Objection.

SHAFFER:

13

A.

It just --

14

Q.

What is

A.

The unit that when officers are

15
16

I

don't know.

the early intervention

unit?

17

having issues,

18

sometimes outside of work,

19

counseling is my best understanding of i t .

20
21
22
23
24
25

Q.

sometimes work related,
they provide

Who did you speak to at early

intervention?
A.

A police officer.

I

don't

recall his name.

Q.

This was a

police officer who

worked in the early injury invention unit of

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2

STEVEN WEISS
NYPD?
A.

3

4

was.

That's what I

believe i t

The early invention unit.
Where is the early invention

Q.

5

6

Yeah.

unit located?

7

A.

Somewhere in headquarters.

8

Q.

What did you tell the police

9

officer from the early invention unit about

10

Schoolcraft?

11

A.

That I

was worried about his

12

worried about him,

13

discovered that at some point while he was

14

on that -- apparently,

15

leave at some point,

16

some kind of incident with his father

17

upstate,

18

and that there was a burglary in his

19

father's

20

had Officer Schoolcraft's deceased mother or

21

brother's ashes in i t that had been stolen

22

and that he was trying to locate the people

23

that did that and i t was causing him some

24

type of mental distress and that kind of

25

coupled with this weird stuff here,

212-267-6868

because he --

I

had

while he was on that

that there had been

where his father was hospitalized

residence and there was an urn that

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I

was

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Page 101

1

STEVEN WEISS

2

concerned for his wellbeing,

3

handling the situation.

4

advice as

wanted some

to what to do.

Q.

5

So I

how he was

When you're referring to this

6

stuff here in your prior answer,

7

referring to -- what were you referring to?

9

I

A.

8

mean,

were you

the bizarre entries in

the memo book and just his behavior calling

10

the duty captain to his foot post.

11

arguing with me about being off post.

13

Hadn't he already received a

Q.

12

failing evaluation by this time,

A.

14

Kind of

as well?

You see that's the thing,

I

15

would imagine that that evaluation was

16

prepared before that.

17

dates when I

18

invention.

19

gun and shield,

20

the time I

21

shield were removed within like a

22

i t was somewhere -- you figure out the

23

time frame for me.

24

25

Q.

I

don't remember

spoke to this guy at early
It was while he s t i l l had his
within

but at real short

spoke to him,

his firearm and his

So i t was about a

week.

So

week between

the time that you spoke to the police

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STEVEN WEISS

2

officer from early intervention and when

3

Schoolcraft had his gun and shield removed?
A.

4

It was a

week or two

'cause I

5

remember him coming back to the precinct and

6

that's one of the meetings

7

about earlier and he wouldn't really

8

elaborate on what had happened,

9

he wasn't modified,

10

I

had spoken

other than

but he didn't have his

firearm anymore.

Q.

11

Did you provide any other

12

information to the early intervention unit

13

about Schoolcraft?

A.

14

Yeah,

I

faxed them a

copy of a

15

newspaper article that I

found on the

16

internet regarding this incident with his

17

father and the missing ashes.

18

Q.

Did you send him anything else?

19

A.

I

20

Q.

Was -- i t was a

21

A.

Yes,

22

Q.

Did you f i l l

don't think so.
him?

i t was definitely a

him.

out any forms or

23

follow any patrol guide procedures with

24

respect this

25

early intervention unit?

212-267-6868

interaction you had with the

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Page 103
1

STEVEN WEISS
A.

2

No,

that I

remember,

I

don't.

(Plaintiff's Exhibit 126,

3

4

document,

was marked for

5

as of this date by Mr.

6

Q.

identification

Smith.)

Showing you what's marked as

7

126.

It's a

two-page document Bates Stamp

8

Numbers 2844

9

article that you were

through 45.

Is this

the

just referring to?

10

A.

Yes.

11

Q.

Is that your handwriting on the

12

first page?

13

A.

14

September

15

Yes,

i t is.

'07 and January

In relation to the

the bottom

Q.

16

Yeah,

'08

this thing on

you anticipated my next

17

question.

The handwriting on the right-hand

18

column on the first page,

your handwriting?

19

A.

Yes.

20

Q.

What about the handwriting phone

21

number 646-610-4509;

22

handwriting?

23

A.

Yes.

24

Q.

What's that a

25

A.

It's a

212-267-6868

is that your

number to?

headquarters number,

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but

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STEVEN WEISS

1

2

I

don't know what i t ' s to.

3

Q.

One Police Plaza?

4

A.

Yes.

5

Q.

Is this

6

the phone number of the

early intervention?

7

A.

You have to call.

8

Q.

You sent this article to the

9

I

don't know.

early intervention unit at the time that you

10

were a

sergeant at the 81st Precinct;

11

that right?

12

A.

Right.

13

Q.

Did you send the early invention

14

unit any other information about this

15

is

article?

16

A.

I

don't know.

17

what else I

18

page to the fax.

19

something else.

20

i t was,

21

Q.

22

I

sent them.

I

don't remember

Says there's a

So obviously I

12

sent

What was sent with i t ,

what

don't remember.
You're saying that i t was 12

pages --

23

A.

It says at the top.

24

Q.

But that's for

25

A.

Right.

212-267-6868

the fax

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STEVEN WEISS

1

Q.

2
3

line dated January 12,

2010,

right?

4

A.

Correct.

5

Q.

You were not at the

ICO -- you

6

were not at the 81st Precinct on January 12,

7

2010?

A.

8
9

10

No,
I

be the fax.

I

So this wouldn't

wasn't.

don't know if I

sent them

anything else.

11

Q.

You got to --

12

A.

I

13

said I

don't know i f

I

sent

them anything else.
MR.

14

SMITH:

I

am going to call

15

for

16

early invention unit file pertaining to

17

Officer Schoolcraft including,

18

limited to the copy of the article that

19

the witness has

20

sent to

article.
MR.

23

in the

but not

identified as being

that unit.
MR.

21
22

the production of the file

SHAFFER:
You

You have the

just handed i t to him.

SMITH:

No,

I

know.

I

want

24

their copy of the article and ideally

25

all of the information reflecting when

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STEVEN WEISS

1

2

i t was

transmitted.

This copy does not

3

provide that information,

4

witness faxed,

5

this newspaper article to that unit,

6

then there may be information in their

7

files

8

may be also information about what else

9

was

but if the

as he said,

a

copy of

about when i t was faxed.

There

sent to the unit and what action,

10

if anything,

11

to Schoolcraft.

12

request for
MR.

13

the unit took with respect
So I

am making a

the entire file.
Put i t in writing.

SHAFFER:

14

We will

take under advisement.

15

Q.

16

Exhibit 126,

17

A.

Yes.

18

Q.

Why were searching on the

19

internet for

20

A.

You found this article,
on the internet?

Schoolcraft?
I t was

-- I

was

--

21

I

was worried about the guy a

22

Why specifically I

23

I

24

have posted that was on there.

25

know.

imagine I

212-267-6868

I

did i t ,

I

like I

said,

l i t t l e bit.
don't recall.

was looking for anything he may
I

don't

don't really remember what led me
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2

STEVEN WEISS
to do

Q.

3

4

He was

not within your

supervision at that time,
A.

5
6

it.

As

the

ICO,

line of

was he?

everybody is

in my

line of supervision.

Q.

7

Did Mauriello ask you

8

search for

9

to do a

information about Schoolcraft on

the internet?

10

A.

No.

11

Q.

Did Lauterborn ask you

12

to do a

search on Schoolcraft?

13

A.

No.

14

Q.

Did Caughey ask you

15

search on the

internet for

to do a

Schoolcraft?

16

A.

No.

17

Q.

So you did this on your own

18

initiative?

19

A.

My best recollection,

20

Q.

Do you recall

21

Caughey about

22

speaking with

intervention unit?

23

24

A.

I

speaking to

yeah.

don't recall

the early

specific

conversation we had about i t ,

Q.

25

212-267-6868

no.

Do you recall generally talking
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STEVEN WEISS
about Officer Schoolcraft with Caughey?

3

A.

4

Schoolcraft,

5

Q.

6

We spoke about Officer
yes.
What did you speak with Caughey

about Officer Schoolcraft?
A.

7

Everything from the memo book to

8

the CD

9

evaluation.

10

I

gave him,

to this,

he appealed his

Q.

When you say referring to this

12

A.

To the article.

13

Q.

I

11

14

mean the Leader Herald

article?

15

A.

Correct.

He appealed his

16

evaluation,

17

we couldn't find out why,

18

assignment would be after he came back to

19

the precinct with no gun.

20

conversation.

21
22

Q.

25

what his

It came up in

Did i t come up in conversation

contacting the early intervention unit?

23
24

he all of sudden had no gun and

MR.

A.

I

SHAFFER:

Objection.

don't have a

specific

recollection of speaking to about i t .

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It

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STEVEN WEISS

1

2

like I

said,

3

know.

We spoke about a

5

I

don't

lot of things.

What do you recall occurring at

Q.

4

i t may or may not.

the appeal meeting that you attended?
His performance was discussed.

A.

6

7

There was some discussion about how somebody

8

working in a

9

81st Precinct could go weeks and months on

place as busy crime wise as the

10

end without having been involved in stopping

11

anybody in regards to robberies

12

occurred or grand larceny -- i t would be

13

impossible to not see any kind of action

14

that would necessitate the police to take

15

criminal enforcement action.

16

statements about the law and he mentioned

17

the FBI at some point and/or the feds or

18

something like that.

19

i t was proper to stop somebody and we talked

20

about rights,

21

animal

22

send into the employee suggestion that we

23

have an cruelty unit or that there was an

24

ASPCA police department that was probably

25

looking for guys.

212-267-6868

He made some

We talked about when

violation,

thing again.

that

I

he mention the

believe I

told him to

That's pretty much my

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STEVEN WEISS

1
2

A.

I

don't recall,

no.

3

Q.

Do you recall Schoolcraft asking

4

about whether or not there were any

5

performance goals or quotas?

6

A.

I

don't remember that.

7

Q.

Do you recall asking Schoolcraft

8

whether or not he was

9

conversation?

A.

10
11

I

think I

recording the

did ask him that

actually.

12

Q.

Why did you ask him that?

13

A.

Just out of curiosity.

14

he was

16
17

recording.

Q.

15

See if

What made you think that he was

recording it?

A.

He

just

he

just was odd.

I

18

don't know how else to describe i t .

19

something that I

20

on the activity logs.

21

documentation that every single thing that

22

was going on.

23

progression in my thought processes

24

could be recording everything.

25

how else to.

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It

I t was

could see him doing based
This almost obsessive

just seemed like a

I

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natural
that he

don't know

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Page 112
STEVEN WEISS

1

Q.

2

3

believed that he was recording?

A.

4

5

I

I

don't know when the first time

-- i t occurred to me that he might be.

Q.

6

7

Was that the first time that you

On how many occasions did i t

occur to you that he might be recording?

8

A.

I

don't know.

9

Q.

Did you ever discuss the

10

possibility that Schoolcraft was recording

11

conversations with anybody at the 81st

12

Precinct?

13

MR.

Objection.

SHAFFER:

14

A.

Ever.

15

Q.

Ever?

16

A.

The possibility that he was,

17

other than meeting,

no,

I

don't believe so.

18

Q.

19

Schoolcraft,

20

A.

I

21

Q.

And he told you what?

22

A.

Best of my recollection was he

23

24
25

So at the meeting you asked
are you recording this?
believe I

did.

said no.

Q.

Did you ever have any

conversations with anybody after that

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STEVEN WEISS

2

exchange where the possibility of

3

Schoolcraft tape recording anything was

4

discussed?

5

A.

I

don't believe so.

6

Q.

So you never had any discussions

7

with Caughey about whether or not

8

Schoolcraft was tape recording?
A.

9

I

don't have any specific

10

recollection of having a

11

it.

Q.

12
13

general recollection

of discussing i t -A.

14
15

You have a

conversation about

No,

I

don't have any

recollection of i t .

Q.

16

Let me

just ask the whole

17

question,

so the reporter has a

18

question and you get a

19

of piecemeal.

20

A.
Q.

whole answer instead

All right.

21

whole

All right.

So do you have any

22

recollection of having any discussion with

23

Caughey about Schoolcraft regarding

24

recording conversations?

25

A.

212-267-6868

I

don't have any recollection of
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STEVEN WEISS

2

having a

conversation with Caughey regarding

3

Schoolcraft recording.
Q.

4

Do you any have recollection of

5

having any discussions with Mauriello about

6

Schoolcraft taping conversations?

7

A.

No.

8

Q.

Do you have any recollection of

9
10

discussions

about Schoolcraft taping?

11
12

that you had with Lauterborn

A.

I

don't have any recollection,

no.

13

MR.

SMITH:

14

good time

15

12:53.

16

45 minutes,

17

I

think this

up by midafternoon.

18
19

lunch.

I t is

If we can keep i t under

MR.

I

can try and wrap up this

SHAFFER:

Sounds good to us.

We will be back at 1:40.

20
21

to break for

is a

MR.
good.

22

SMITH:

MR.

24

the record,

25

Q.

212-267-6868

that sounds

12:53.
(Whereupon,

23

Yeah,

SMITH:

a

recess was

taken.)

We are going back on

i t ' s 1:58.

Before we broke for

lunch we

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1

2

A.

Sure.

3

Q.

Is

4

this the patrol guide

procedure for EDPs?

5

A.

It is a

patrol guide for EDPs.

6

Q.

Did you ever look at a

patrol

7

guide procedure like this or this one in

8

particular with reference to determining

9

whether or not Schoolcraft was an

10

emotionally disturbed person?
At one point i t was

A.

11

--

I

looked

12

over the procedure dealing with removal of

13

firearms

14

or ordering an officer to psych services for

15

evaluation.

16

number.

I t ' s somewhere in the personnel

17

section,

I

18

there's a

19

members of the service,

20

the service that need psychological

21

evaluation.

22

23
24

25

Q.

and there is a procedure referring

I

don't know the procedure

believe,

of the guide,

but

separate procedure dealing with
uniformed members of

When did you look at that patrol

guide procedure?

A.

The same day that he -- he,

meaning Schoolcraft,

212-267-6868

requested the duty

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2

STEVEN WEISS
captain to respond to his foot post.
Q.

3

How did you first become aware

4

that Schoolcraft had requested a

5

duty

captain to respond to his post?

6

A.

I

heard i t on the radio.

7

Q.

What radio did you hear i t on?

8

A.

My department radio.

9

Q.

And just so the record is clear,

10

the department is a

11

people listening to that frequency would

12

hear;

is

13

radio frequency that all

that correct?
MR.

SHAFFER:

Objection.

14

A.

It's a

--yes.

15

Q.

And is that radio frequency that

16

you heard this request by Schoolcraft for a

17

duty captain to come to his post,

18

radio frequency that could be heard beyond

19

the confines of the 81st Precinct?

20

A.

Yes.

21

Q.

Am I

is that a

correct in saying that

22

Schoolcraft's request on the radio on that

23

day for a

24

emanated throughout the patrol borough

25

Brooklyn North

212-267-6868

duty captain was something that

jurisdiction?

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