For Biased Pension Ruling
NYPD Medical Board Scolded by Judge

By REUVEN BLAU

A Manhattan Supreme Court Justice has ruled that the NYPD's Medical Board failed to fairly evaluate a disability retirement petition filed by an officer who was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after she fatally shot a deranged man who attacked her.

Justice Alice Schlesinger concluded that the Board of Trustees of the Police Pension Fund overlooked critical evidence and incorrectly listed key facts concerning Officer Jean Weller's application for accidental disability retirement benefits.

Preordained Ruling?

"The Board even seems to cherry-pick portions of letters and reports it received and to disregard completely, without inclusion or comment, the parts that do not support its position," Justice Schlesinger's 11-page decision stated.

In July 2001, Officer Weller was approved for an ordinary disability retirement benefit after she sustained a serious back injury in an unrelated car accident on Nov. 3, 2000.

But four months before that crash, she was assaulted by a man who suddenly ran into moving traffic on the Grand Central Parkway and then attempted to jump into her vehicle as she sat in the passenger's seat.

The incident, which was reported in the media and involved her partner as well, caused her to develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, her doctors said. As a result, Ms. Weller filed a second application for retirement benefits, seeking to be granted an Accident Disability Retirement. That status entitles officers to receive an annual tax-free pension equal to three-quarters of their final salary.

The board reviewed her new application three times, but rejected each petition, citing how Officer Weller returned to work several months after being weaned off medications that helped her deal with stress from the shooting.

The attack occurred as Ms. Weller was driving home from work while traveling with Sgt. Steven Borchers. According to reports, the deranged man, D'Andre Darnell Cisco, suddenly rolled out of his car, forcing a livery car to swerve out of the way.

Mr. Cisco then reached into the officers' car, which had stopped to see what was going on. According to several witnesses, for no apparent reason Mr. Cisco then started hitting Sergeant Borchers, who slammed on the accelerator and rear-ended the livery car in front of him.

But Mr. Cisco followed the cops and began punching and kicking Officer Weller through her window. During the scuffle, she grabbed her .38 caliber revolver from her ankle holster and shot at him three times, witnesses said.

Justifiable Homicide

Sergeant Borchers also shot at Mr. Cisco, who fatally collapsed with half his body still inside the car on top of Ms. Weller. The Queens District Attorney's Office later concluded that the highway shooting was a justifiable homicide.

Right after the attack, Officer Weller was taken to Long Island Jewish Hospital, where she was treated for trauma and lacerations. She later began experiencing symptoms including: difficulty in falling asleep, irritable mood, racing heart, pacing, constant thoughts about the shooting, and feelings of guilt for having caused the death of someone else.

As a result, she was diagnosed with PTSD and prescribed several different medications. She was also placed on sick leave.

As she started to feel better, her psychiatrist began gradually lowering her medications. In late November 2000, the NYPD's Psychological Evaluation Unit (PEU) recommended that she be returned to full duty with her firearms, which had been taken away earlier.

Resumed Drugs, Therapy

But Justice Schlesinger's decision noted that the board's three rejections of Officer Weller's petitions failed to note that shortly after she came back to work, the symptoms returned, and she resumed both the drugs and the psychotherapy.

"The Board ignores these facts completely," Ms. Schlesinger said. "There is a huge gap in all three Board decisions in discussing the significance of Weller's actual psychological state beginning December 2000 when the medications were resumed."

As a result, she ordered the board to re-review Ms. Weller's application "for a fresh, unbiased evaluation."

Jeffery L. Goldberg, Ms. Weller's attorney, hailed the decision. He called the board's rulings against Ms. Weller "startling," and argued that it did not give his client "an honest or unbiased review."