U.S. Department of Justice Kenneth L. Wainstein United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Judiciary Center 555 4th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530
September 28, 2006

MPD Officer pleads guilty to a federal civil rights violation after striking a handcuffed defendant

Washington, D.C. - A 16-year-veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department, Orlando Hale, pled guilty today to using excessive force against a handcuffed defendant, thus violating the defendant’s federally protected civil rights, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor announced.

Hale entered his guilty plea before Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Officer Hale is required to resign from the Metropolitan Police Department. Hale will also face up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.00 when he is sentenced on December 12, 2006.

According to the government’s investigation, on November 24, 2005, at approximately 2:30 a.m., a police dispatcher notified officers of the Seventh District that there was a man threatening a woman with a gun inside of an apartment located at 2715 Robinson Place, SE, Washington, D.C. Hale was on duty that morning, and he responded to the call. Hale and other uniformed officers arrived at the apartment building, where they encountered the defendant, who was then handcuffed while the officers conducted their investigation. The defendant repeatedly told Hale that there were no guns in the apartment.

As officers searched the apartment for a handgun, the defendant was seated on the floor with his hands handcuffed behind his back. According to other MPD officers, the defendant was compliant and did not pose any threat to the officers who were on the scene. An officer who was assisting Hale then found a loaded 9mm handgun inside one of the apartment’s bedrooms, and announced what he had found to his fellow officers, including Hale. Hale then walked over to the defendant, stood over him, and stated “why did you lie to me,” or words to that effect. Hale then made a fist with his right hand, and punched the defendant in the face 2-3 times.

In announcing today’s guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Taylor praised the Metropolitan Police Department officers who were witnesses to this assault and later cooperated, noting that their full and complete cooperation during the course of the investigation made the successful prosecution of the case possible.

Mr. Taylor also commended the investigative efforts of the Metropolitan Police Department officials who handled the preliminary investigation into this matter; the Metropolitan Police Department’s Force Investigation Team; the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Civil Rights Unit; as well as Department of Justice Attorney Christine Dunn of the Civil Rights Division and Assistant United States Attorney John Cummings.