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Wednesday, August 18, 1999 By Sally Kalson
The civil trial is over for Brentwood police Sgt. John Vojtas and the borough that continues to employ him against all sanity. But the lawsuit involving the death of his ex-fiancee Judith Barrett exhumed so many rotting suspicions that the stench is becoming unbearable.
Now it's time for U.S. Attorney Harry Litman to wade in with the fumigators. The testimony in this case cries out for a federal investigation of the Brentwood police department. Someone needs to determine once and for all what kind of a hell-born operation they are running there, and whether it should be purged before another innocent person who ought to be alive winds up dead.
A jury last week got enough of a nose-full to hold Vojtas civilly liable for the wrongful death of Barrett, who died in 1993 of a gunshot wound to the head. The bullet came from his service revolver. The Allegheny County Coroner's Office ruled it a suicide -- although there was precious little to work with, seeing as how Brentwood's finest had removed all the evidence before investigators arrived at the scene.
Barrett's family sued, claiming that Vojtas drove her to suicide with his abusive behavior, and that Brentwood officials knew he misused his police power but refused to stop him.
The jurors ordered Vojtas to pay $215,000 to Barrett's estate. They also found Brentwood created a danger by failing to discipline Vojtas, who had a history of domestic violence, but they didn't order the borough to pay damages because officials couldn't have foreseen her suicide.
Vojtas, of course, was destined for greater fame in the 1995 death of Jonny Gammage, the unarmed black motorist who died in a scuffle with five officers including Vojtas following a routine traffic stop. A jury found Vojtas not guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Brentwood, apparently doubly impressed that this officer was now linked to TWO highly suspicious deaths, promoted him to sergeant.
Maybe now they'll make him chief.
The real result of this trial could be very little. The Barretts may have major problems collecting their award, Vojtas will retain the ludicrous title of law-enforcement officer, and the borough building will return to reeking-as-usual.
Unless, that is, Litman makes a study of the sworn testimony in this case. If I were him, I'd be asking if there were ongoing civil rights violations, corrupt police practices, obstruction of justice and perjury.
And if I were a citizen of Brentwood, I'd be checking the borough's insurance policy. Business-as-usual out there could prove very expensive.
Sally Kalson's e-mail is:skalson@post-gazette.com
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Did Brentwood police Chief Robert Hartshorn improperly pick up Vojtas' gun at the scene of Barrett's death and stuff it into his pants, as a former Baldwin Borough officer testified?