Former Wichita cop becomes issue in sex-crimes trial

A Sedgwick County prosecutor is asking to exclude from an upcoming sex-crimes trial any reference to a former Wichita police officer who was the subject of a police investigation now reportedly under scrutiny by the FBI.

“Allowing the defense to delve into irrelevant and collateral allegations of police misconduct will tend to prejudice the jury” in the sex-crimes trial, Assistant District Attorney Andrea Nelson Bakker said in a motion filed in court.

The motion refers to Tiffany Dahlquist, who recently resigned from the Police Department.

Nelson Bakker filed the motion Monday asking to “exclude any comment or reference about any discipline, investigation, resignation of WPD Officer Dahlquist or any reference to an alleged federal investigation of the same throughout the entirety of the proceedings.”

Dahlquist’s attorney, Jonathan McConnell, said that she resigned effective last Thursday over how the Police Department handled an internal investigation of her. She was wrongly suspected of being in a hit-and-run accident last year, McConnell said. Dahlquist “is herself the victim of police misconduct,” he said.

The Eagle also has reported that a Wichita police detective testified in a separate lawsuit that his supervisors covered up misconduct by an off-duty officer suspected of driving drunk in a hit-and-run accident in September 2016. The testimony didn’t identify Dahlquist by name, but circumstances described matched the incident for which Dahlquist was investigated.

Private investigator Colin Gallagher said law enforcement sources have told him that the FBI is investigating the Wichita Police Department’s investigation of Dahlquist.

In the sex-crimes case, Dahlquist had been listed as a potential witness in charges against 40-year-old Jordan Lewis. Not all witnesses are called to testify at trial.

Lewis faces 13 charges: two counts of aggravated human trafficking, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of rape, three counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy, one count of criminal sodomy and one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

His trial is set to begin Monday.

Nelson Bakker said in her motion that Dahlquist was an officer who responded to the scene in the Lewis case – that “Dahlquist’s entire interaction with one of the victims is captured on Axon body camera” – and that prosecutors don’t plan to call her as a witness in the trial.

Gallagher, the private investigator, said Wednesday that he has assisted the legal team that is defending Lewis.

“It is my job to assist my attorney to defend our client with all our resources,” Gallagher said. Referring to Dahlquist, he said: “And as such, one of the key witnesses to this case is an officer on the Police Department. She had contact with both our client, as well as alleged victims in this case. Her testimony is pertinent … if we want to point out differences in statements from any party that she had contact with.

“If the officer has a history, or if the officer is accused of something that would impugn her credibility, then that has to be … brought up in court because it is pertinent to the case,” Gallagher said. “She is a key component.”

Mark Schoenhofer, the defense attorney for Lewis, couldn’t be reached for comment.

The prosecutor’s motion says the “defendant alleged in a discovery motion that an officer was under federal investigation. After due diligence, the State could neither confirm nor deny this.”

A hearing on the motion to exclude any reference to Dahlquist is scheduled for Friday.

Contributing: By Amy Renee Leiker of The Eagle

This story was originally published October 26, 2017 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Former Wichita cop becomes issue in sex-crimes trial."