Santa Rosa police officer's teenage impersonation of CHP officer at issue in closely watched drug case

Testimony began Wednesday in a misdemeanor drug possession case that could indicate how hundreds of criminal matters involving a Santa Rosa police officer, whose prior conviction for pretending to be a cop as a teen came to light earlier this year, will be handled in Sonoma County Superior Court.

Officer Tim Gooler has gained a reputation as a hard-charging cop with a volume of arrests that rivaled those of his peers since he joined the force in 2015. He's appeared as a prosecution witness in nearly 800 criminal cases, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney's office.

But until this year, Sonoma County prosecutors didn't disclose that fact that, like many of the people he investigated, he too had been convicted of a crime.

Cracks in the system

Wednesday's case revealed cracks in the systems designed to protect defendants' rights to challenge the credibility of any witness testifying against them, including the police officers who sent them to jail.

Prosecutors are required by law to disclose to defense lawyers what they know about witness misconduct, particularly dishonesty.

“This police officer has made perhaps the most arrests of any other officer, yet we were never informed he has been incredibly dishonest in the past,” deputy public defender Scott Fishman said outside the courtroom. “This hearing is about getting to the bottom of that.”

District Attorney Jill Ravitch has said no one in her office realized the 19-year-old Gooler they prosecuted for posing as a CHP officer online was the same Officer Gooler who would later be testifying about his arrests from the stand. Prosecutors rely on law enforcement agencies' willingness to share crucial credibility information about their employees, she said.

Former Police Chief Hank Schreeder, who retired in July, said his department didn't believe they were allowed to tell prosecutors about Gooler's conviction because of California laws keeping most police personnel information secret. They have since changed their procedures, he said.

The county's process for following U.S. Supreme Court guidelines for the prosecutor's duty to disclose information that could help exonerate a defendant is expected to be a top issue during questioning in the misdemeanor drug possession case.

The hearings, which are expected to continue over multiple days and into next week, will be focused on a motion by the public defender's office to dismiss the case based on Gooler's credibility issues.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Scott Jamar, who is handling the case, said each case involving Gooler must be evaluated separately based on the facts of the arrest and investigation.

Jamar said that his office aims to restart cases when possible so that the defense will have the opportunity to retry motions and other movements with the benefit of knowing about Gooler's conviction.

“We take these cases very seriously anytime there's allegations against an officer or another witness,” Jamar said. “We have a duty to disclose that, and we take that duty very seriously.”

Drug case a test

In the misdemeanor case, the list of witnesses includes high-ranking law enforcement officials including Schreeder, Assistant District Attorney Bill Brockley, several deputy prosecutors, a court commissioner and one of the county's most veteran defense lawyers. The proceedings have been delayed for months while most local judges recused themselves because of conflicts, such as previously working as prosecutors.

A retired judge from Sutter County, Chris Chandler, is presiding over the case.

It's a high-powered billing for a case involving less than 2 grams of methamphetamine.

Robert McGibben, 58, was riding a bicycle on Sebastopol Road about 11 p.m. Nov. 22, 2017, when he was detained by Gooler, according to court documents.

Gooler noted in his report that McGibben didn't have a light to illuminate his way as required by vehicle code, according to a description of the incident in McGibben's motion to dismiss the case.

Gooler searched McGibben's pockets and found a coin purse with what appeared to be less than 2 grams of methamphetamine, the filings state. Gooler gave McGibben a citation for misdemeanor drug possession and a court date.

Since then, the public defenders representing McGibben have tried to get the case thrown out, initially because of their claims that Gooler had no reason to search McGibben's pockets. That request was denied.

Falsified a CHP ID

In February, after learning about Gooler's criminal history, the public defender's office filed a motion to dismiss the case altogether because prosecutors didn't disclose Gooler's conviction until after he had testified in the case. Fishman said his client was denied the right to confront his dishonesty on the stand.

“Officer Gooler's criminal history demonstrates that he lacks veracity and is a person who lies in order to get the result he wants,” according to the filing.

Gooler got into trouble because of his goal to improve a closed-group website created for teens interested in law enforcement careers, according to details about the case described in a police report, court documents and by Gooler in an interview earlier this year.

Gooler had been writing posts as if he were a working CHP officer out of the Sacramento area, saying things like, “if you know the vehicle code you can stop almost any car lol,” according to court documents.

But he couldn't get administrator access because he wasn't a sworn officer.

He cobbled together a fake ID using the name and badge number of two legitimate officers and the photograph of a friend to show a CHP officer running the site, court filings state.

He got caught. The CHP launched an investigation and in January 2011 he was charged with impersonating an officer, identify theft and possessing a false government ID.

Gooler was represented by veteran defense attorney Steve Gallenson, who was called to the stand Wednesday. Gallenson recalled in his testimony that his goal was to get the most serious charges - impersonating an officer and identity theft, both misdemeanor crimes - against Gooler thrown out so that his client could pursue his ambition to become a police officer.

“What he did, I didn't think he deserved to change his career,” Gallenson said.

Gooler pleaded no contest to falsifying a government ID in 2012, served a year of probation and in 2014 successfully petitioned to have his record expunged.

Conviction not revealed

Nothing in California standards for law enforcement officers prevented Gooler from becoming a police officer. But because his crime involved dishonesty, prosecutors should have been disclosing his conviction to defense attorneys.

That didn't happen.

Wednesday, while the lawyers questioned witnesses and argued legal points, McGibben observed silently from the defense table.

That morning, the 58-year-old man woke up in his encampment in the west county woods near the Graton Day Labor Center where he goes most days to find work.

He put on a clean shirt and jeans, rode his bicycle to a bus stop then caught a bus to the courthouse for the 10:30 a.m. hearing.

Afterward, McGibben said he was just beginning to grasp the idea that his case went beyond his arrest.

“It's not only about me,” McGibben said.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 707-521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.