MARION, OH (MARION COUNTY NOW)—In a third filing with the Marion County Common Pleas Court Judge Todd Anderson, a motion was made to dismiss all charges against Marion Police Officer Brendan Damron.

 Damron, who is facing serious charges including two counts of rape against an adult female family member, is free on a $250,000 bond as his attorney, Joel Spitzer aggressively pursues this and other motions.

The motion to dismiss is based on the improper merger of administrative and criminal investigations:

“The indictment is the direct and a derivative product of compelled statements obtained under threat of administrative discipline in circumstances where the Chief of Police  was present, observed, and actively relied on those statements to issue immediate administrative discipline and to inform, initiate or assist in the Defendant’s criminal prosecution.”

According to the document, Damron, a Marion police officer, was the subject of an internal investigation conducted by Investigator Rittenour. The interview which took place on February 12th, the Chief of Police was present and observed the proceedings. 

At the conclusion of the interview, the motion says that Chief McDonald issued a suspension letter to Damron, explicitly relying on the statements made by Damron during his interview. That same statement and Chief McDonald’s disciplinary action were then subsequently used to initiate and support the criminal investigation and prosecution as well as administrative action. This, according to the motion, culminated in the indictment Damron now faces.

the motion cites the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, prohibiting compelled self-incrimination, along with Ohio law requiring strict separation of administrative and criminal investigations.

The motion argues that Damron’s statements were made under coercion because of the Chief’s presence and immediate disciplinary action.The motion asserts that the prosecution “directly and derivatively used these compelled statements, violating Garrity guidelines, thus making dismissal the only appropriate remedy.”

Garrity Rights protect public employees from being compelled to incriminate themselves during investigatory interviews conducted by their employers.