Attorney For Bristol Twp. Manager Calls Grand Jury Report ‘Poisoned By Bias & Improper Motives’

The taxpayer-funded attorney for Bristol Township’s manager has filed a response to a scathing Bucks County grand jury report issued in February.

The 27-page response to the grand jury report was filed last Friday by Philadelphia-based attorney Harvey Sernovitz, who represents Township Manager William “Bill” McCauley.

In the response, Sernovitz calls into question whether the district attorney’s office had influence over an investigation into an alleged cover-up of a crash by an off-duty officer last year. He also wrote that the 37-page grand jury report is “poisoned by bias and improper motives on the part of the District Attorney, improper manipulation of the grand jury, a failure to properly instruct the grand jury on the law applicable to the facts of this matter, and the failure to present to the grand jury exculpatory evidence.”

Prosecutor Robert James said Thursday that the response filed by Sernovitz is inaccurate. He said he stands by the report that was released after a grand jury investigation which did not end with any charges being filed.

The grand jury report included details on an investigation regarding accusations that several members of the Bristol Township Police Department were covering up what McCauley suspected was a possible DUI crash committed by off-duty Sgt. Kevin Burns in late 2014. The 37-page report outlined ways Township Manager Bill McCauley took advantage of the crash caused by a police officer who was drinking – but reportedly not intoxicated – in an alleged attempt to harm the career of some department members.

Included in the report were judgments of McCauley’s character, as determined by testimony at the Grand Jury hearings.

“We find the behavior of William McCauley unethical,” the grand jury wrote. The also described his testimony as “utterly without credibility” and raised concerns over his role to oversee some aspects of the police department.

Following word of McCauley’s investigation, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and Bucks County Detectives took over the probe of the incident. McCauley reportedly did not cease his investigation after receiving a letter directing him to do so from the District Attorney David Heckler.

The Commonwealth previously stated that McCauley had no right to investigate the police department. During the July hearing, they acknowledged that McCauley has the right to conduct an “investigation,” just not a “criminal investigation.”

“The grand jury Report is, itself, a cover up of the cover up. Its object is to protect certain Bristol Township police officers and to do so at the expense of the reputation, character and career of William J. McCauley, III. This is a grand jury that was totally dominated by the district attorney’s office and deliberately led into unauthorized areas of investigation without proper instruction on the law and without full access to all of the relevant evidence in possession of the prosecutor,” the response reads.

In July, Sernovitz came before Bucks County Judge Wallace Bateman in Doylestown and requested the report be withdrawn. He also successfully requested that he be allowed to file the response that was sent to Doylestown last week.

As of Friday afternoon, Bateman had not made a public statement or issued an opinion about the report or whether he would grant the request to squash it, which is almost unheard of in Pennsylvania.

Sernovitz argued in July that the report can hurt the reputation of McCauley and was influenced to be in the favor of the police.

“The District Attorney went so far as to have two of his detectives present when the grand jury was editing a draft of their Report. The presence of the two detectives from his office in the grand jury while they were deliberating was a direct violation of the grand jury rules, and vitiates the entire grand jury Report,” Sernovitz’s reply states.

James said the grand jury process was followed correctly and the grand jury had every right to file a scathing report, which came after testimony from crash scene bystanders, police officers and McCauley.

“That report is completely in their purview,” James said. “[The grand jury] found his (McCauley’s) testimony uncredible.”

While the grand jury was called to look into the Burns incident and the follow-up investigation, the focus appears to shifted to McCauley and how he manages.

McCauley, who has led the township since 2012, has long been known to have a personality conflict with Burns and has butted heads in the past with the police leadership he investigated after the off-duty officer’s crash. He removed Lt. John Godzieba from the acting chief role after he served in that position for 14 months due to the crash. At the time same time, Sgt. Ralph Johnson was appointed acting chief. Johnson was McCauley’s “hand selected” choice to run the department, which was without a permanent chief since James McAndrew retired in July 2014 after a long medical leave, according to the grand jury report

Sernovitz called into question the relationship between Godzieba, who was demoted from acting chief after Burn’s crash and Bucks County Chief of Detectives Chris McAteer.

James said McAteer heard of the crash, assigned investigators and recused himself. The prosecutor added that McAteer did the right thing and stayed away from the investigating grand jury.

In the time since the grand jury report has come out, the Bristol Township Council has hired a civilian police department director. The position is in place of a police chief and reports directly to McCauley.

There were rumblings in the halls of the Bucks County Justice Center and in Bristol Township in spring that another grand jury was digging into the township. Since that time, no officials have confirmed the rumors or mentioned what the grand jury was investigating.

McCauley, according to several township employees, is not often seen at the Bath Road Municipal Complex during normal business hours. Recently, Scott Swichar was appointed by council to the vacant deputy township manager position.

At the most recent council meeting, a bill from Sernovitz of $24,000 was approved. The fees covered the attorney’s work representing McCauley. The other township employees involved in the grand jury matter did not request taxpayer-funded council, Sernovitz said.

McCauley was not able to be reached for comment Friday morning.

Click here to read Sernovitz’s response to the Grand Jury report

Click here to read the full Grand Jury report