Former Pocomoke police chief speaks out about pending case
Former Pocomoke Police Chief Kelvin Sewell and his former lieutenant are currently embroiled in a misconduct case and are set to appear in Worcester County Circuit Court in December to fight the accusations. Tuesday after Sewell’s criminal motions hearing, both opened up about what they believe is the truth behind the charges.
Both Sewell and Lynell Green, the former lieutenant claim these misconduct charges are retaliation for an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission federal civil lawsuit they have brought against their former department, the Worcester county states attorney, the sheriff’s office, the state as well as other city employees.
The lawsuit claims Sewell, Green and Franklin Savage, another officer, were treated unfairly because of their race. Eventually culminating in all three losing their jobs.
“We’re going to move on with our lives, we want them to move on they’re the ones keep attacking us over and over and over again and do I think it’s because of the lawsuit, yes, yes it is,” Sewell said.
That case will be heard in Maryland’s federal district court. It’s not clear when that will go to trial.
Sewell’s misconduct case on the other hand, is set for a jury trial December 1 and December 2.
The state claims Sewell and Green interfered with a car crash investigation to benefit a friend. They believe their innocent.
“We didn’t do anything wrong, you know we just came here to do a job and this what happens,” Green said.
Ultimately a jury will rule whether Green and Sewell did anything wrong. Tuesday at the motions hearing though the judge ruled on three motions, two in opposite favor of the defense.
The first keeps information about one of the state’s possible witnesses, a former Salisbury police officer, sealed. As the defense claimed the information would have called the credibility of the witness into question. However the judge ruled the officers actions at his prior place of employment had no merit in this case.
The second motion denies the defense’s ability to use an expert witness. Sewell’s attorneys wanted to call a career law enforcement officer to explain what the duties of a police chief would be in that scenario, but the judge agreed with the prosecutors that claim the expert witness would only confuse the jury.
Sewell admittedly said he was disappointed in the judge’s ruling, but said despite that he still feels confident.
The one victory his defense team did have was the judge denying the state’s motion to bare any talk of the EEOC lawsuit during the trial. The defense stating that the state’s possible witnesses, although they may not be named in the separate EEOC lawsuit, may be friends with some of the defendants. Therefore making it necessary to be able to bring up that lawsuit during cross examination to determine whether those witnesses are biased against Sewell and Green.
