By J.J. Huggins
Staff writer
June 26, 2008 12:11 am LAWRENCE — The lawyer for a former Methuen police officer yesterday accused former Methuen police Chief Joseph Solomon and former Deputy Chief Joseph Alaimo of lying about blocking her client's attempt to get another job. Attorney Sharon Meyers is representing Shaun Cronin, who is suing Solomon and Alaimo, saying they slandered him and hindered his job search after he said he was forced to resign in 2003. Cronin is likely to get his job back, Methuen Mayor William Manzi recently said. Meyers, during a hearing in Lawrence Superior Court yesterday, said Solomon and Alaimo both previously testified during depositions and said they never talked to anyone in the Lawrence Police Department about Cronin. The hearing was held because Solomon's and Alaimo's lawyer, Andrew Gambaccini, is asking the judge stop the case from going to trial. The judge did not make a ruling yesterday, rather, he took the case under advisement. The court has scheduled a follow-up hearing for Sept. 5. Cronin, Alaimo and Solomon did not attend yesterday's hearing. Lawrence police considered hiring Cronin after he resigned from Methuen. Meyers has an internal Lawrence police memo saying Solomon told Lawrence Capt. Michael Molchan that Cronin has "too many issues." In the memo, Solomon said Cronin, if hired by Lawrence, would abuse his powers. Solomon also said Cronin made up a story about getting into a fight with a motorist because "he was just looking for medals and recognition," the memo says. The Lawrence memo says Alaimo told the captain that Cronin would be a problem for Lawrence police. Meyers noted the transcripts from Solomon's and Alaimo's depositions, in which they were asked if they spoke to anyone in the Lawrence Police Department about Cronin. "Never spoke to a single officer in the Lawrence Police Department," Alaimo is quoted as saying. Solomon is quoted as saying Molchan contacted him and asked for all background, personal and internal affairs information about Cronin, and Solomon said he wouldn't release anything without a signed form. "That was the extent of our conversation," Solomon said, according to the transcripts. "They lied," Meyers told Judge John Lu yesterday. Gambaccinisaid Solomon testified that he didn't remember his conversation with Molchan, which took place around February 2004. He said the Lawrence police memo attributes only a "half dozen" words to Alaimo. He said it's common for people to forget conversations that took place years ago. Gambaccini's argument that the lawsuit should be dropped hinges on four main points. The first was that Cronin signed a form saying he agreed to let anybody with information about him to give that information to Lawrence police. Meyers said Solomon's and Alaimo's statements "stepped over their bounds" of what they were allowed to release about Cronin. Gambaccini's second point was that Solomon's and Alaimo's statements were opinions, not defamation. His third point was that Cronin's attorney has to prove actual malice. The fourth point relates to an affidavit from Lawrence police Chief John Romero, in which Romero said he was not aware of the information in the Molchan memo when it was determined that Cronin wouldn't be offered a job. "Chief Romero is the decision maker as to who is hired and who is not hired," Gambaccini said. Cronin alleges he was accused of misconduct and threatened to resign or be fired. He resigned. Meyers said Cronin "was assured he would get a neutral recommendation" if he resigned, and that's hardly what he got. "There was no promise of neutral recommendation," Gambaccini argued. Meyers said Cronin is not the type of officer who seeks medals and recognition. "That's not who he is," she said.
Memo says Cronin had 'several problems' r Methuen police hired Cronin in July 1987. He had four car accidents — at least three of which were in his cruiser — between 1987 and 1991, and in only one instance did police place all the blame on the other driver. r Police suspended Cronin for a day for excessive absenteeism in 1994, and warned him for "patterned absenteeism" in 1996, after he took off eight Sundays from January to November 1995. r Cronin didn't show up for a trial in 1998, which Cronin said was because of a family emergency. r A citizen filed a complaint against Cronin, saying he acted in "an inappropriate manner" in 1998. The citizen later withdrew the complaint. r Cronin went to a home to get his stepdaughter on Sept. 12, 2002. The girl wasn't supposed to be at the home, and Cronin took her out in handcuffs and put her in his cruiser. r Police had problems with their radios on May 4 and May 24, 2003. They said Cronin was "keying" his radio while other officers were speaking, thus interrupting their transmissions. Cronin denied that. Source: Lawrence police memo
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