Buffalo Police Officer Cariol J. Horne walked out of her closed-door disciplinary hearing Saturday morning on the second floor of Buffalo Police Headquarters after the city refused to open it up to the public.
Downstairs in the crowded lobby of headquarters, she was greeted by dozens of supporters who see her as courageous for getting into a fistfight with a fellow officer she felt was using too much force in arresting an East Side man last November.
Horne's supporters, who wanted to attend the hearing, say the departmental charges against her should be dropped and the other officer should be fired.
"She saved the life of a suspect who was already in handcuffs and was being choked out by Officer Greg Kwiatkowski," said Anthony Pendergrass, one of Horne's two attorneys.
Kwiatkowski could not be reached to comment.
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Horne and Kwiatkowski threw punches at each other in the driveway of a home on Walden Avenue near Sumner Place when they responded to a domestic dispute. The fight was witnessed by several other on-duty officers and citizens.
During the scuffle, Horne jumped on Kwiatkowski's back, and Kwiatkowski punched her in the face, police had said. Horne ended up on extended paid sick leave, claiming to suffer from migraine headaches caused by a blow to her mouth by Kwiatkowski.
Witnesses to the fight said Kwiatkowski's face was swollen and red.
Monday, Pendergrass and civil rights attorney Ken Nixon will file a show-cause order in State Supreme Court seeking to have the hearing opened to the public.
"The Buffalo Police Department manual says it's a matter of rights that an officer can have a public trial, but the corporation counsel rested on tradition, saying these hearings have been held in private," Pendergrass said.
Diane T. O'Gorman, the Police Department's attorney, objected on the grounds that the city was not given advance notice of Horne's request for an open hearing, according to Pendergrass.
"It's not my job to notify them of their own rules. I didn't write the manual's content. Ignorance of the law is no excuse," the lawyer said.
Hearing Officer Thomas N. Rinaldo, Pendergrass said, ruled in favor of the city, and the hearing continued in private Saturday with witnesses for the department testifying, even though Horne was not present.
Police Department spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge declined to comment. "It's an ongoing internal process," he said.
Horne, the mother of five children, refused to comment outside Police Headquarters, with her attorney explaining that one of the charges against her is speaking to the media.
"I would imagine that the Constitution [First Amendment] applies to the Buffalo Police Department," Pendergrass said. "However, they're telling us the accused has no right to defend herself."
While Kwiatkowski has been decorated for his actions on the job, he also was previously accused of using excessive force during an arrest but was cleared of brutality charges by a federal jury.
Samuel L. Radford III, co-chairman of the Buffalo Local Action Committee supporting Horne, said her hearing is scheduled to continue Sept. 29 on the second floor of headquarters.
Among the supporters Saturday at headquarters was retired black Police Officer Idella Abram, who said race was a factor in the department bringing charges against Horne.
"I know what she's going through. You're in a system that doesn't want you. You're sworn to do a job and they they tie your hands. They treat black officers like security guards," said Abram, who like Horne is black.
e-mail: lmichel@buffnews.com
