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1865
Q. And Biondolillo, you believe everything that
he says, correct?
A. I have a lot of trust in my command staff. I
have a lot of trust in Mr. Biondolillo. I've worked
with Mr. Biondolillo for 20 plus years. I found him
to have full integrity, honest. And quite frankly do
I trust him? Absolutely.
Q. You believe everything that Biondolillo noted
in PBA 10 and City 3?
A. Everything that's in the Investigative
Summary?
Q. Yes, sir.
A. Yes. Absolutely.
Q. Absolutely. Okay.
Now, when Biondolillo was working with FDLE,
were you his supervisor?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And during that time were you his
supervisor when he was indicted on the criminal,
federal criminal charges?
MS. MEVERS: The City is going to object
to this line of questions. First of all,
it's improper impeachment. An indictment is
not admissible for showing bad character.
Moreover she is seeking questions
BAILEY & ASSOCIATES REPORTING, INC.
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in regards to the character of the Deputy
Chief for the sole purpose as it relates to
thin indictment to show a propensity of a
bad act which is impermissible for these
proceedings.
MR. ARBITRATOR: Response.
MS. DUFFY: The record's clear that he
was indicted. He went to trial. That's not
where I'm going with this.
If you can just give me some
leeway. It goes towards the investigation
itself and how it was conducted, this
investigation.
MS. MEVERS: The Deputy Chief being
indicted or not being indicted has no
bearing on whether or not he undertook this
investigation as to Mr. Cuddeback's conduct
in a fair and thorough manner.
1866
MR. ARBITRATOR: Where are you going?
MS. DUFFY: The way that this particular
investigation was conducted and taking or
not taking of the Grievant's statement.
MS. MEVERS: And I would simply say that
whether or not he was indicted in some
previous employment has no bearing on how he
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1867
1 initiated and pursued the investigation as
2 it related to Mr. Cuddeback's conduct.
3 MR. ARBITRATOR: You may proceed.
4 BY MS. DUFFY:
5 Q. With regards to Biondolillo, did you, sir,
6 specifically request that FDLE hold off on conducting
7 an administrative inquiry or taking administrative
8 action against Biondolillo until the criminal case
9 had been resolved?
10 A. Until the criminal case had been resolved?
11 At one point, yes, in the -- towards the back end of
12 the investigation, yes.
13 Q. Okay. And did FDLE in fact agree with you
14 and hold off on the administrative case against
15 Biondolillo until the criminal charges were resolved?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. Okay. In this particular case, sir-- and
18 just backing up. With regards to Biondolillo, his
19 statement was not taken from FDLE prior to the
20 criminal charges being resolved, correct?
21 A. Correct.
22 Q. Okay. After the criminal charges were
23 resolved, his statement was in fact taken, correct?
24 A. Correct. He gave a voluntary statement.
25 Q. Okay. And with the information that's been
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1868
1 provided thus far, would you agree with me that at no
2 point in any of the documentation does it reflect
3 that he gave, he being Biondolillo, gave a voluntary
4 statement?
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MS. MEVERS: The City would again just
renew its objection. This is wholly
irrelevant as to whether or not Deputy Chief
Biondolillo undertook his investigation of
Cuddeback in a fair, thorough, and unbiased
manner.
MR. ARBITRATOR: What's the relevance?
MS. DUFFY: It's the manner in which
this investigation proceeded, Your Honor.
This witness testified as the
supervisor of an employee, regardless of who
it was, that the administrative
investigation should not proceed until after
this criminal.
The testimony thus far has been
that there -- I believe on Direct
Examination the Chief believed there was a
crime that had been committed or potentially
committed by Sergeant Cuddeback, theft
reference the 20 hours.
MR. ARBITRATOR: Camp time.
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