Attempts for plea deal fail in former Burlington cop case

Several attempts to resolve the case of former Burlington Police Officer Christopher Lopez failed Thursday morning after a judge rejected two drafts of a plea agreement. 

Lopez, 27, of Bolton instead pleaded not guilty to a charge of giving false information to a police officer and was allowed to remain free on conditions following his appearance in Vermont Superior Court in Burlington. 

Lopez resigned from the Burlington Police Department in February after it was suspected that he had lied in a police affidavit establishing charges in a drug case. The case had stemmed from an October 2016 traffic stop. The charge states that Lopez had sworn in front of another Burlington police officer to the truthfulness of his affidavit.

Judge Alison Arms said the parties came close to an acceptable plea agreement. She also noted that the parties might be presenting the agreement to a different judge the next time. 

"This is a case that really strikes at the heart of the administration of justice," Arms said. "The court makes hundreds of decisions per day and relies on the truthfulness of these officers."

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An initial plea agreement presented to the judge would have allowed Lopez to plead no contest to the charge and pay a fine of $1,000 as a sentence. Arms asked the parties to continue negotiating. A second agreement with a heftier sentence was presented, but ultimately also rejected.

By pleading no contest, Lopez would have neither admitted nor disputed the charges, but he would have acknowledged there was the potential for conviction if the case went to trial. Lopez is maintaining that the suspected lie in the affidavit was a "drafting error," Assistant Attorney General Evan Meenan said.

Both Meenan and Lopez's lawyer Lisa Shelkrot agreed that there would be risks to each of their cases in going to trial. Meenan said the plea deal was the swiftest way to ensure it would be difficult for Lopez to serve as a police officer again. 

Smelling marijuana

At the heart of the case, according to court papers, was whether Lopez knowingly lied in his affidavit or made an error in recounting the traffic stop chronologically. Officials have said they believe Lopez lied in his affidavit about smelling marijuana coming from a vehicle he stopped in October 2016.

Vermont State Police interviewed Lopez in late February after reviewing the affidavit in question and Lopez's body camera footage from the stop. According to the body camera video, Lopez tells another Burlington police officer that he doesn't smell anything coming from the car. Other officers who responded to the stop also later told state police they didn't smell marijuana coming from the car.

Lopez told state police Sgt. Eric Albright that he "absolutely smelled marijuana" after three to four approaches to the car. He said he didn't tell the suspect, Michael Mullen, or the other occupant of the car that he smelled marijuana "because he was trying to tip-toe and be gentle with his ultimate goal being getting consent" to search the car, according to Albright's affidavit.

Lopez told the investigator that he tried to turn off his body camera while speaking with the other officer, but later discovered when he watched the video that the camera remained on. Burlington Police Department policy at the time allowed officers to switch off their body cameras when having on-scene conferences with other officers. 

"He said it was because he was thinking aloud about his best course of action for getting into Mullen's vehicle, that it was common practice as far as he knew amongst BPD officers, and he does it when he is bouncing ideas off fellow officers to avoid giving defense attorneys ammo," Albright wrote in the affidavit. 

The potential lie was uncovered when it became the focus of a hearing in Mullen's case, at which Mullen's then-lawyer was asking for evidence to be tossed. The hearing was ultimately continued.

Lopez said he felt uneasy about attending the hearing after discovering the mistake in Mullen's case. He also reported the error to his superior, Lt. Matt Sullivan.

Sullivan later told state police that Lopez told him "he has previously used the smell of marijuana as a ruse during traffic stops to ask for consent," according to Albright's affidavit. 

Lopez told state police he wished he could have just gone back and amended his affidavit. Lopez told Albright, "I have no reason to lie." 

A second draft rejected

A second draft of the agreement brought before the judge during Thursday's hearing also included a no contest plea to the lying accusation and a sentence of one year on probation and 80 hours of community service. The sentence also included possibility for up to six months in prison if Lopez violated probation. 

Arms asked the lawyers to consider adding a condition that would require Lopez to write letters of apology to the men he had stopped in October 2016 in addition to requiring that the community service hours be directed toward having Lopez speak to police officers about his case. 

All eventually agreed to accept the letter-writing condition and have 10 of 80 community service hours devoted to speaking to police. When Arms asked that the $1,000 fine be added back in, Lopez's lawyer Lisa Shelkrot said she was not prepared to do that. 

Shelkrot and Lopez declined comment on the way out of court. 

After the hearing, Assistant Attorney General Meenan said he believed the state and the judge had the same goals in mind, but had different opinions as to what type of plea agreement could accomplish those goals. 

"Our goal was specific deterrents and general deterrents," Meenan said. "The message needs to be sent that if you lie in an affidavit for probable cause, or in any other manner when acting as a law enforcement officer, your career will be over in the state of Vermont and you will have a permanent conviction on your record and it will be difficult for you to be a law enforcement officer anywhere else in the country." 

The court has scheduled the case for another hearing on Oct. 18. If convicted, Lopez faces up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $1,000. 

Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizMurrayBFP.