Two Phoenix Fire Department captains have avoided criminal charges of lying under oath. Maricopa Capt. Sam Richardson and Capt. Fred Andes were accused of lying under oath about an arson investigation near 40th Street and Campbell Avenue in May 2009. In the case, the homeowner was arrested on suspicion of arson. The charges were dropped later in part because a DPS report showed that there was no evidence tying the owner to the fire. DPS investigators recommended six charges of false swearing for Richardson, and one charge of false swearing for Andes.
In Arizona, to convict someone for false swearing, a prosecutor must prove a person made incorrect statements under oath knowingly. According to County Attorney Bill Montgomery, both captains made incorrect or impeachable statements but both believed those statements were true. “Not bringing criminal charges obviously did not result in us saying that there was nothing wrong with what happened here, or with what the investigation identified,” Montgomery said.
Law Enforcement Liaison Keith D. Manning signed a letter addressed to acting Phoenix Fire Chief Kara Kalkbrenner. In the letter, Manning suggested that both fire investigators need to be retrained in dozens of key areas, including crime scene integrity, court testimony, witness credibility, the Rules of Evidence and the Rules of Criminal Procedure.
Captain Richardson and Captain Andes, along with their supervisor, were put on administrative leave with full pay and benefits following the DPS report. In August of 2014, they returned to work but had been reassigned to other divisions.
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