Cornelius Police Department

CORNELIUS, OREGON - NOVEMBER 1, 2013 - The Cornelius Police Department struggled with internal problems within the agency for years. The turmoil intensified in fall 2012 when four Cornelius officers submitted a 15-page letter to city officials alleging ongoing corruption in the department. Benjamin Brink/Staff Photographer

(Benjamin Brink/The Oregonian)

A federal jury's decision that a Washington County cop fabricated evidence in a drug case has prompted prosecutors to consider whether they will continue using the officer as a witness.

Washington County District Attorney Bob Hermann said his office is conducting a review of the civil suit against Deputy Miguel Monico, who has not been criminally investigated related to the case. During the review, Hermann said, his office will examine whether Monico violated any criminal laws.

Following the jury's verdict, readers have questioned what's next for Monico. Below is what we know.

What is Monico's employment status?

A former Cornelius officer, Monico became a deputy with the Washington County Sheriff's Office when the agency started policing the city through a contract on July 1. The Cornelius Police Department dissolved after officials deemed its internal problems unfixable. Under state law, the sheriff's office was required to retain all of the Cornelius officers once the contract took effect.

Monico is assigned to patrol in Cornelius, but he has not worked the road yet, said Sgt. Bob Ray, a sheriff's office spokesman. He is on limited duty for a reason unrelated to the civil case, Ray said.

"The outcome of this decision does not change Deputy Monico's current employment status with the county," Sheriff Pat Garrett said in a statement, addressing the verdict. "We do not have any information about whether the jury's decision will be appealed and that information will likely not be known for several weeks."

The sheriff's office declined further comment.

Background on the civil suit against Monico:

The civil case against Monico and the city of Cornelius went to trial last week before U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman in Portland.

Mata-Gonzalez's attorney John Devlin told jurors that Monico falsified drug evidence and a confession to support charges of possession and delivery of cocaine in 2010. Prosecutors dropped the charges against Mata-Gonzalez three months later, when white powder seized from Mata-Gonzalez's home tested negative for cocaine at the state crime lab.

Devlin said Monico lied in his reports about field test results indicating the white powder was an illegal substance. The officer further lied, Devlin said, when he documented that Mata-Gonzalez had confessed that the white powder was cocaine.

Monico's attorney, Robert Wagner, denied the allegations in his opening statements last week.

According to the plaintiff's attorneys, the white powder was a bath product used by Mata-Gonzalez's wife.

Jurors reached their verdict Monday, awarding $30,000 to Mata-Gonzalez.

Can Monico's testimony be used by the DA's office?

It's unclear whether the verdict will have any overall bearing on prosecutors using testimony from Monico.

District Attorney Hermann on Wednesday said his office is reviewing the verdict, including jury instructions and questions from the jury.

Prosecutors, Hermann said, are identifying pending cases for which Monico is a witness. For those cases, they will send defendants and defense attorneys a letter notifying them of the civil jury's verdict.

Prosecutors are obligated to supply such information as part of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Brady v. Maryland. The 1963 case requires the state to provide defense counsel with evidence related to the credibility of a witness, including police officers.

"The big question," Hermann said, "is what do we do moving forward?"

Hermann said prosecutors are reviewing cases that involve Monico on an individual basis.

On Monico's lower-level cases, Hermann said, his office will need to determine whether to move forward and prosecute the crimes, providing information on the jury's findings to the defense, or drop them.

"Those have to be assessed, literally, right away," he said.

Hermann said his office will also need to look at cases involving Monico's testimony that have already resolved.

Monico has been on the 'Brady list' since last spring:

The Washington County District Attorney's Office keeps a list of cops who have had questions raised about their credibility. The list is a way to alert prosecutors to potential issues with current and former officers who might be called on to testify.

Monico was added to the list last spring, according to the district attorney's office. Questions about his credibility surfaced that April after a federal magistrate judge issued findings and recommendations in Mata-Gonzalez's civil case. Judge Paul Papak wrote that a "finder of fact" could determine the officer lied about a confession and about a drug field test.

"It is highly implausible that Gonzalez would confess to law enforcement officials that a powder he knew to be cascarilla (soap) was in fact a controlled substance," Papak wrote.

Though they weren't binding in the civil case, Papak's recommendations triggered the district attorney's office to "consider Officer Monico to be a 'Brady list' witness immediately," Hermann wrote in an April 17, 2013 letter to the Cornelius police chief.

In a follow-up letter to the city on April 23, Hermann wrote that prosecutors would continue to use Monico as a witness, notifying the defense of the judge's recommendations. To his knowledge, Hermann said, the recommendations have not been ruled admissible in any case.

Monico is also suing the city of Cornelius:

Monico is one of four officers who in 2012 submitted a letter to city officials alleging ongoing corruption in the Cornelius Police Department.

After signing the letter, Monico filed two tort claim notices against the city and city officials. First, he alleged that officials violated the state's whistleblower protection statute and other laws by identifying him after the letter was submitted. Later, he sent the city an additional tort claim notice and alleged that officials caused him harm and were retaliating against him when they recommended he be placed on the Brady list.

Monico, along with former Cornelius Sgt. Shawn Watts, in December filed a $1.5 million lawsuit against the city. The suit is pending in federal court.

In it, Monico claimed that being placed on the Brady list could ruin a career in law enforcement.

Emily E. Smith of The Oregonian staff contributed to this report.

-- Rebecca Woolington