CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Two Kanawha County magistrates say police asked for leniency when setting bond on Desmond Demetrius Clark because he was providing information to police.
Click here to see a compilation of Clark's criminal background
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Two Kanawha County magistrates say police asked for leniency when setting bond on Desmond Demetrius Clark because he was providing information to police.
There are different levels of informant, not all are paid, according to several magistrates who agreed to talk for this story on the condition of anonymity because the judicial code of ethics forbids them from talking about cases.
"They [the police] never tell you he is paid. You never know if they are paid or not. They never say they are paying [someone] to be an informant," a magistrate said. "Usually, the informants I know don't get paid."
Clark is charged with killing the mother of his child, Na'lisha Fiona Gravely, at a Taco Bell on Charleston's West Side on Saturday.
Six of 10 Kanawha County magistrates were interviewed for this story. In addition to the two who confirmed that police asked for leniency for Clark, two others confirmed that police asked for leniency on other offenders besides Clark.
A fifth magistrate would say only that Clark had never been in their courtroom. The sixth magistrate said unequivocally that police never asked for leniency for Clark.
As for other cases, officers often will tell the magistrates whether the person cooperated or not, but that's as far as it goes, the magistrate said.
"I have never had an officer PR someone if they have done violence," the magistrate said. "If it's nonviolent, simple possession, they might ask." (Defendants who receive personal recognizance, or PR, bonds don't have to put up bail immediately to avoid being held in jail.)
Another magistrate agreed that police don't tell magistrates whether someone is a paid informant when they ask for leniency. There is a distinction, according to the magistrate, between informants that are paid informants for police and those that may just provide a little information.
Paid informants are credible enough to be used in court cases, wear a wire or buy drugs for police. But there are others who give useful information to police who are not paid. They can give police good information, but they wouldn't be used in a court case, often because of their long criminal histories.
"Generally, those CIs, confidential informants, are people who have been charged previously. Some are concerned citizens," the magistrate said. "Then they always have people on the street. Officers cultivate that. They give information but are not used for search warrants, but just as information gatherers."
Sgt. S.A. Cooper, chief detective for the Charleston Police Department, said Tuesday that Clark was not a confidential informant for the department's criminal investigation division. Lt. C.A. Carpenter, head of the Metro Drug Unit, said Clark wasn't an informant for his agency.
"There is nothing to suggest [Clark] was working as a CI for any law enforcement agency, state, local or federal," at least in the drug arena, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Frail said this week.
"That includes all the law enforcement agencies from Parkersburg south," said Frail, who oversees federal drug cases in the Southern District of West Virginia.
On Wednesday, Charleston Mayor Danny Jones held a news conference to say that Clark was not a paid criminal informant for police in Kanawha County.
"Desmond Clark was not, was never a sanctioned, paid, continuous, any kind of informant for the Charleston Police Department or any law enforcement agency that I am aware of in this area," Jones said.
The distinction between paid CIs and people who provide information rarely, if ever, makes it to the ears of magistrates, the magistrate said.
Click here to see a compilation of Clark's criminal background
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Two Kanawha County magistrates say police asked for leniency when setting bond on Desmond Demetrius Clark because he was providing information to police.
There are different levels of informant, not all are paid, according to several magistrates who agreed to talk for this story on the condition of anonymity because the judicial code of ethics forbids them from talking about cases.
"They [the police] never tell you he is paid. You never know if they are paid or not. They never say they are paying [someone] to be an informant," a magistrate said. "Usually, the informants I know don't get paid."
Clark is charged with killing the mother of his child, Na'lisha Fiona Gravely, at a Taco Bell on Charleston's West Side on Saturday.
Six of 10 Kanawha County magistrates were interviewed for this story. In addition to the two who confirmed that police asked for leniency for Clark, two others confirmed that police asked for leniency on other offenders besides Clark.
A fifth magistrate would say only that Clark had never been in their courtroom. The sixth magistrate said unequivocally that police never asked for leniency for Clark.
As for other cases, officers often will tell the magistrates whether the person cooperated or not, but that's as far as it goes, the magistrate said.
"I have never had an officer PR someone if they have done violence," the magistrate said. "If it's nonviolent, simple possession, they might ask." (Defendants who receive personal recognizance, or PR, bonds don't have to put up bail immediately to avoid being held in jail.)
Another magistrate agreed that police don't tell magistrates whether someone is a paid informant when they ask for leniency. There is a distinction, according to the magistrate, between informants that are paid informants for police and those that may just provide a little information.
Paid informants are credible enough to be used in court cases, wear a wire or buy drugs for police. But there are others who give useful information to police who are not paid. They can give police good information, but they wouldn't be used in a court case, often because of their long criminal histories.
"Generally, those CIs, confidential informants, are people who have been charged previously. Some are concerned citizens," the magistrate said. "Then they always have people on the street. Officers cultivate that. They give information but are not used for search warrants, but just as information gatherers."
Sgt. S.A. Cooper, chief detective for the Charleston Police Department, said Tuesday that Clark was not a confidential informant for the department's criminal investigation division. Lt. C.A. Carpenter, head of the Metro Drug Unit, said Clark wasn't an informant for his agency.
"There is nothing to suggest [Clark] was working as a CI for any law enforcement agency, state, local or federal," at least in the drug arena, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Frail said this week.
"That includes all the law enforcement agencies from Parkersburg south," said Frail, who oversees federal drug cases in the Southern District of West Virginia.
On Wednesday, Charleston Mayor Danny Jones held a news conference to say that Clark was not a paid criminal informant for police in Kanawha County.
"Desmond Clark was not, was never a sanctioned, paid, continuous, any kind of informant for the Charleston Police Department or any law enforcement agency that I am aware of in this area," Jones said.
The distinction between paid CIs and people who provide information rarely, if ever, makes it to the ears of magistrates, the magistrate said.
Police will tell magistrates that someone is giving good information and ask that to be taken into consideration for bail, the magistrate said.
"I've also had police say the opposite. 'Give this guy a higher bond.' It goes both ways," the magistrate said.
Police will tell magistrates they know where someone is staying and that they can be picked up easily and that they will show up for court, according to the magistrate.
"That's a different world from what we're talking about with confidential informants," the magistrate said. "Even this guy that gets drilled on a lot of these things may be informational on other things."
Police ask on a regular basis for a low bail or a personal recognizance bond in cases where a defendant is working with them, a different magistrate said.
"Either it's a confidential informant or they're going to turn state's evidence or roll over on somebody," the magistrate said.
One magistrate said they make a mark on the paper, which they alone recognize, when police ask for leniency on an offender. Cutting deals to those who provide information for police is a part of the system, the magistrate said.
"It happens when police arrest someone. He's going to be an informant for [the officer]. That's police work. I've never done it with a violent charge. Nine times out of 10, you can read the complaints and tell whether this is a violent domestic," the magistrate said.
"There are some that are just pushing, grabbing by the arm, something like that. And there are some where it is pretty graphic. A cut down the eye, busted lip. You go from there. I can't remember any of the officers asking me to go easy on anything violent."
One magistrate scrolled through the list of Clark's offenses on a computer. The magistrate said police do ask for leniency, but that had never happened with Clark in their courtroom.
The magistrate said there were only a few of Clark's cases where it looked like police might have asked for leniency.
The magistrate said they go through a person's file case by case when police ask for leniency.
"I look at what he's been charged with," the magistrate said. "They'll say, 'He's been cooperative. I wouldn't be upset if you set a ... PR bond.'"
That sometimes translates into police having a new informant, the magistrate said.
One of the two magistrates who say police asked for leniency on Clark considered what might have been going through Gravely's mind if she knew Clark was working with police.
"She's probably thinking, 'Hey, you know, if he's working for the police, what happens?' ... If he ever said to her, 'Look I work for police. You file what you want to. I'll be out of jail.' What could she do?" the magistrate asked.
Looking back on releasing Clark, the magistrate said, "It's such a common practice. We don't know what they're doing in their investigation. If someone is going to help, if they're going to help police some, you do it. Looking back on any of them, it's should you do it or not. ... And if they don't have a violent background, you do it for defendants as well as for the police. If they ask you to help out, you do what you can."
Staff writer Andrew Clevenger contributed to this report. Reach Gary Harki at gha...@wvgazette.com">gha...@wvgazette.com or 348-5163.
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