Another DC officer testifies celebrity police escorts were routine

There was more testimony on Monday in the whistleblower trial of a D.C. police captain. A second officer testified that Chief Cathy Lanier lied when she said the department did not escort celebrities. In fact, the officer told the court celebrity escorts were routine and Lanier liked to have her picture taken with the performers.

The attorney representing Hilton Burton is trying to prove that Chief Lanier knew the police department had been escorting celebrities for years, and when Burton blew the whistle and told the city council she was lying, the chief retaliated against Burton and demoted him two ranks to captain.

On Monday, a second officer bolstered Burton's case.

Stanley Radzilowski spent as many as a dozen years in the Special Operations Division (SOD) of the D.C. Police Department, and in that time, he saw officers escort singer Britney Spears, actress Sharon Stone, rock bands AC/DC and U2 as well as a host of others.

The now-retired officer told the court he served in SOD when Chief Lanier was the commander. When asked if there were escorts during that time, he replied, "I'm sure there were."

Radzilowski also told the court he would ask performers they were escorting if they wouldn't mind taking a picture with Lanier.

As far as a written policy on how to handle celebrity escorts, Radzilowski said there was none.

He was also asked if Burton's 2011 testimony at the city council, in which he questioned the chief's veracity, was untruthful.

Radzilowski replied no and Chief Lanier's defense attorneys objected and asked Judge Brian Holeman to strike the testimony from the record. He refused.

Another officer, Scott Baum with internal affairs, told the court he was asked to investigate whether Burton lied to the city council in a specific portion of his testimony.

He said there were insufficient facts and he couldn't prove it one way or the other.

In her defense, Lanier says she demoted Burton for his performance, in the way he handled two deadly barricades and a controversial parade – and not because of his testimony at the council.

In another development, Captain Stuart Emerman was transferred and promoted last week to work directly under Assistant Chief Lamar Greene, who is also being sued along with the chief.

Emerman approved the Charlie Sheen escort and is expected to testify on Tuesday.

In their claim that Burton was demoted for performance, the chief's defense attorneys are questioning the way two barricades were handled during Burton's time as SOD commander. One ended with a man's suicide and the other ended in a police shooting.

On Monday, the lieutenant in charge of the emergency response team at the time took the stand to discuss the tactics of the operations and he will be back on the stand Tuesday.