Legal battle over firing of Madison police chief ends, questions remain

By Jacqueline Pottle

James Basinas was reinstated as police chief Friday, then immediately resigned, ending the long legal battle over his termination but leaving many questions unanswered. After a year of preparation, the trial on his bid for reinstatement had been scheduled to start Monday. An out-of-court settlement was reached Friday."The Town of Madison and James Basinas have reached an agreement to resolve their pending litigation," Selectman John Arruda, chairman, stated Friday. "The terms of the agreement include the following: Madison will reinstate Mr. Basinas to his position as chief of police and, immediately thereafter, Mr. Basinas will tender his resignation to Madison. Although both parties continue to believe in the merits of their respective positions, they agree that it is in everyones best interest to conclude this litigation under the agreed upon terms, the balance of which will remain confidential.Town Counsel Randy Cooper declined to comment on the settlement and neither Basinas, nor his lawyer, Thomas J. Gleason of Gleason Law Offices, P.C. in Haverhill, Mass., could be reached.Basinas, who was hired as chief of police on April 16, 2001, was suspended with pay on April 30 and then fired by board of selectmen a month later on May 30. He was seeking reinstatement to his job as well as $50,000 in lost earnings and other damages. He argued selectmen were without just cause to fire and suspend him, and that they violated his substantive and procedural rights as outlined in state statute 105;2-a, which speaks to the rights and powers of police chiefs; the town denied all liabilities and damages, and in its summary statement filed in court, says, The petitioners conduct and acts provided statutory cause to suspend and terminate his employment pursuant to R.S.A. 105;2-a. The town has acted at all times in good faith.Had the case gone to trial, perhaps some of the 40 individuals named as potential witnesses for the town and former chief would have shed more light on what went on at the time Basinas was fired. The majority of witnesses named in the pre-trial statements are or were involved, to varying degrees, with law enforcement or employed by the town of Madison. On the former chiefs side, some of the 24 witnesses named in the pre-trial statement include Art Reed, the Madison police chief who preceded Basinas, leaving suddenly after being on the job for less than a week; former Madison Sgt. Jim Eldridge; Brian Collins, a past employee of Madison Police Department; Det. Harry Nadeau of N.H. State Police, who provided some coverage to Madison when it was left without a department, Cpl. Tracy Waterman of state police, Bartlett Ptl. Cheryl Price and Earl Sweeney of N.H. Police and Training Standards, residents Mark Graffam and Karen Coffey, Fire Chief Sean-Dunker Bendigo, Highway Agent Billy Chick and Tax Collector Marcia Shackford. On the town side, some of the 29 potential witnesses named in the pre-trial statement include Carroll County Sheriff Scott Carr, Carroll County Attorney Robin Gordon, Lou Reiter, deputy chief of Los Angeles Police Department, who was to serve as an expert witness, three representatives from Municipal Resources Inc., which assisted the town at the time of Basinass termination, John Dow of N.H. Dept. of Employment Security, resident Robert King, EMT James Kugan, Madison rescue paramedic John Duggan, a representative from Verizon Wireless, a representative from Drum Hill Ford of Lowell, Mass., and William Gordon of Ossipee Mountain Electronics.Appearing on both lists are Arruda and Selectman Sonny Graves; Adrian Beggs, former selectman; Basil Chingros, who resigned as an officer shortly after Basinass termination; Robin Frost, former town administrator; Scott Frost, former police chief before Reed, and husband of Robin; Debra Noyes, the secretary of the police department who was suspended at the same time Basinas was and then laid off; Melissa Shackford-Arius, Dets. John Hebert and David Meyers of Carroll County Sheriffs Department, and Chief Thomas J. Goulden of Brookline Police Department. The list of exhibits is even more extensive. The pre-trial statement filed on behalf of Basinas contains 83 exhibits, a total of four pages while the towns is 11 pages long. They exhibits include memos between past and present selectmen, police policies, selectmen's meeting minutes, notes between individuals at town hall, documents relating to Phillip Laverrieries arrest, documents relating to the internal investigation done by Basinas, and a host of others. Shortly after Basinass termination, the town received coverage at no charge from state police and the sheriffs department. At town meeting in March, voters approved an article to maintain a town-run police department instead of contracting with the sheriffs department. Selectmen were recommending the contract. Basinas had tried unsuccessfully in court to try and stop the town meeting vote.Arruda, Graves and former Selectman Eileen Crafts outlined their reasons for terminating the chief in a letter dated May 29, 2002. In it, they alleged numerous problems they encountered with Basinas including allegations he initiated a search and seizure of private property of Phillip F. Laverriere without a search warrant on Dec. 20, 2001; advised a dispatcher who called in a medical aid call that later proved to be a drug overdose that he was too backed up with paperwork to do anything; initiated an internal investigation that allegedly resulted from prohibited activities on the part of his secretary at the time, Debra Noyes, who he alleged was disclosing confidential police information to the town administrator at the time, Robin Frost, and informed and invited a member of the media when dealing with the situation. According to the letter, the basis for that investigation was a policy Basinas developed six days after the incident and 60 days after the alleged violation.Selectmen also allege in the letter that Basinas took the emergency light bar off a cruiser and used the cruiser to drive to and from home in Pelham, used the town cell phone for personal reasons and claimed he worked hours that his cell phone bill indicates he was in Pelham, among other things. A motion by the town to submit more evidence was granted by a judge after the termination that included Basinass alleged failure to file an accident report of a very significant accident, to follow-up on an allegation of sexual assault now being handled by the county and state, to property tag a suicide weapon as evidence, to follow-up and notify Federal authorities of two sawed-off shotguns that were miscellaneously placed in the evidence locker, and, finally, to tell Earl Sweeney of Police Standards and Training what training his part-time officers had.Basinas has denied all the allegations.