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Civil Service panel backs Easton officer's firing

By Vicki-Ann Downing, Enterprise staff writer
EASTON— The Massachusetts Civil Service Commission says the town was right to fire former police Sgt. Robert P. Grinham three years ago, but Grinham is appealing the decision in Superior Court.

Grinham, who had worked for the Easton Police Department for nine years, was fired by former Town Administrator Martha L. White in August 2005 after two patrolmen testified during a closed disciplinary hearing that Grinham grabbed a prisoner by the neck and head, banged the prisoner's head against a cell wall, punched and kicked him.

The Civil Service Commission said Grinham violated the Police Department's code of conduct by using conduct unbecoming a police officer, using excessive force, knowingly filing a false report, failing to comply with procedures and giving “the person arrested an untrue reason for the arrest.”

Grinham's lawyer, Kenneth H. Anderson of Byrne and Drechsler in Boston, has appealed the decision in Suffolk Superior Court, saying it was based upon errors of fact and not supported by evidence. Grinham is seeking reinstatement to his job with compensation.

No date has been set to hear the appeal.

Administrative Magistrate Maria A. Imparato, who heard the Grinham case for Civil Service last spring, said in a written decision that she gave weight “to the credible testimony” of Patrolman Michael Golden and “the credible and reluctant testimony” of Patrolman Robert Tuohy.

“I believe that both officers Golden and Tuohy were distressed by the actions of (Grinham),” Imparato wrote. “They have no reason not to speak the truth, in view of the fact that Officer Tuohy was a friend of (Grinham), and Officer Golden had no reason to want to harm (Grinham).

“Furthermore, it is well known that a police officer hates to testify against another officer,” Imparato wrote. “I believe that both officers testified truthfully.”

The incident that led to Grinham's firing occurred on April 22, 2005, when Grinham approached a vehicle parked along Route 138 and asked the driver, a woman, to submit to a field sobriety test.

She passed the test, but her boyfriend and passenger, Damian Matta of Brockton, who, police said, was drunk at the time, became angry at the questioning. Grinham decided to place Matta in protective custody, but at the police station, told Matta he would be arrested on charges of disorderly conduct.

When Matta threw a boot in Grinham's direction, Grinham became enraged, the patrolmen testified. He took Matta's neck and slammed the side of Matta's head off the cell wall. Then, according to testimony, he threw Matta to the ground and punched and kicked him as Matta lay in a fetal position.

After placing Matta in a cell, Grinham punched him on the right cheek with a closed fist, then kicked him in the stomach, according to testimony.
Tuohy said Grinham told him not to write his report on the incident until Grinham had written his report. Golden said Grinham told him that if he was questioned about the incident, he should say that Matta was resisting arrest.

Grinham told Golden that the midnight shift was “a tight shift,” according to testimony, and that Matta was a “scum bag” and “deserved it.”

The patrolmen reported the incident separately to their superiors.

In November 2006, in a case prosecuted by the attorney general's office, Grinham was found not guilty in Taunton Superior Court of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and violating Matta's civil rights.

A Middleboro resident and father of three, Grinham worked for the Randolph Police Department from 1987 to 1991 and for the MBTA police from 1991 to 1996. At the time of his firing in Easton, he earned $82,620 a year.

Vicki-Ann Downing can be reached at vdowning@enterprisenews.com

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