Trial set to begin for Atwater detective on paid leave for nearly two years

An Atwater police detective who’s been on paid administrative leave for nearly two years will finally have her day in court this week.

The jury trial for Lisa Howard is set to begin Tuesday, according to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office. Howard is facing misdemeanor DUI and hit-and-run charges and has been on paid leave since Aug. 5, 2013, costing taxpayers in Atwater nearly $137,000 for her salary and benefits.

Howard was placed on leave after she allegedly drove her 2011 Chevy Camaro into a palm tree, two parked cars and then a house on Augusta Lane on Aug. 1, 2013. After the 2 a.m. crash, the off-duty officer abandoned her smashed car and left the scene, according to Atwater police and CHP reports.

Authorities believed Howard had been drinking based on her “red, watery” eyes and a smell of alcohol, according to the reports, but she retreated inside her home and refused to come out for sobriety testing. The District Attorney’s Office filed the two misdemeanor charges against her in November 2013.

Howard declined comment when reached by the Merced Sun-Star last week.

Howard’s court hearings were continued at least eight times over the past year, resulting in the 33-year-old officer being off duty for 20 months while being paid. Court records indicate the hearings were often rescheduled because of a conflict with attorneys’ schedules.

Howard’s attorney is Modesto-based Kirk McAllister. He did not respond to requests for comment.

Atwater police Chief Frank Pietro said Howard’s administrative leave is the longest he’s ever seen in his 30 years at the Police Department. Police officials at neighboring law enforcement agencies in Merced and Livingston agreed, saying they’ve never had an officer out of service for more than a few months.

Pietro said his hands are tied when it comes to Howard. He can’t terminate her or put her back to work until the court case is resolved. The situation is frustrating, the chief said, because he’s paying for an inactive officer.

“Obviously that hurts, especially when our financial situation is not real healthy these days,” Pietro said. “It doesn’t sit well with us to pay someone a large sum of money who is out. We’re looking forward to this thing being over with.”

The prosecutor in the case, Deputy District Attorney Sara Rosenthal, estimated the trial could take three days. “As with any case, we hope there is a swift resolution,” Rosenthal said. “We’re ready for trial. Unless I hear otherwise, we assume that we’re ready to go, and we’re prepared.”

Rosenthal said it’s not unusual for misdemeanor cases to drag out this long because of scheduling conflicts. She said the case has been handled by the District Attorney’s Office the same as any other misdemeanor case.

Pietro said his department will conduct an internal investigation into the circumstances surrounding Howard’s crash, which could lead to disciplinary action. He said he won’t pursue that investigation until the criminal case brought by the District Attorney’s Office is over.

If found guilty, Howard could face a maximum sentence of six months in county jail for each misdemeanor charge. The trial begins at 10 a.m. Tuesday with possible jury selection in the afternoon.

This story was originally published March 15, 2015 at 4:52 PM with the headline "Trial set to begin for Atwater detective on paid leave for nearly two years."