Star witness in corruption trial: I'm saving myself

His cross-examination should have been brutal.

Defense lawyers had called Jeffrey Walker everything from "an amoral creep" to a "despicable, rotten liar." On the witness stand, he called their clients bullies and fellow rogue cops.

But as the 46-year-old disgraced narcotics investigator turned star government witness withstood intense questioning from the defense Wednesday, he responded with a surprisingly honest admission.

"I was a thief and a liar before," he said of his time on the Philadelphia Police Department's Narcotics Field Unit. "I was a thief and a liar during. I was a thief and a liar after."

That comment - elicited by defense lawyer Jack McMahon on Walker's second day on the stand, in the corruption trial of six former colleagues on the elite narcotics squad - set the tone, as the defense team tried every which way to catch him in a lie and sully his credibility.

Throughout, Walker answered each of the questions calmly, directly, and with little equivocation, even while addressing his own less-than-honorable actions.

Yes, he had repeatedly lied in court hearings on drug cases to cover up his own past sins, he said.

Yes, his false testimony had sent innocent men to prison. But this time, he assured jurors, they had a reason to believe he was telling the truth: He was testifying to save himself.

"Saving myself is the most important thing in the world," he said. "It's my soul, the thereafter. I wanted to save myself from myself."

Of course, McMahon pointed out, there was also the small matter of a felony plea agreement and his own forthcoming sentencing to keep Walker working to please prosecutors.

In 2013, an FBI sting caught Walker planting drugs on a suspect, filing false police reports, and later robbing the man's house. He pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and gun charges last year, and quickly agreed to turn on his former colleagues.

In so doing, his testimony formed the backbone of the government's racketeering conspiracy case against Officers Thomas Liciardello, Brian Reynolds, Michael Spicer, Perry Betts, Linwood Norman, and John Speiser.

On Tuesday, Walker painted a devastating portrait of their rogue drug squad, detailing incident after incident in which, he said, they pocketed drug money, planted evidence, beat up suspects, and later lied about it in court.

But McMahon wasn't about to take his word for it.

He trawled through years of the officer's dirty laundry, including 22 Internal Affairs complaints, problems with supervisors, a history of long-term depression, and a drinking problem that led to frequent bouts of falling asleep on the job.

It got so bad, McMahon said, that Walker once showed up to work drunk and told others he had lost his service weapon.

Walker didn't deny it, but said he had merely misplaced the weapon, which was later found under the seat of his car.

Liciardello and other squad members teased him so mercilessly, Walker said, about that and his other problems that he eventually felt ostracized from the squad.

"It couldn't have been the fact that you're a drunk and your sleeping compromised surveillance and compromised safety," McMahon shot back. "That didn't have anything to do with it."

At times during Wednesday's questioning, McMahon appeared to be setting Walker up to be contradicted by others later.

Over and over, the lawyer insisted that the squad's supervisors, including their then-boss, Sgt. Joe McCloskey, were at crime scenes where Walker said he and the others stole money.

Walker denied that or said squad members stole when their supervisors weren't looking.

Defense lawyers have said they plan to call McCloskey and several other of the department's top brass to testify.

At other moments, McMahon offered explanations for seemingly damaging accusations Walker lobbed earlier.

Although the officer had testified that he, Liciardello, and the rest of the squad often searched houses, stole money, and applied for search warrants later, McMahon highlighted some cases where search warrants had been obtained beforehand.

But as he did Tuesday, Walker again recalled small details from incidents that mirrored what jurors had heard.

Describing a November 2007 raid on the City Avenue apartment of marijuana dealer Michael Cascioli, Walker testified Wednesday that then-Chief Inspector William Blackburn took part in the operation while drunk.

Cascioli had told jurors during his April 1 testimony that when Blackburn showed up that night, "He looked a little tipsy."

McMahon, however, dismissed those small moments of corroboration, focusing instead on instances where Walker's past grand jury testimony and statements to the FBI seemed to contradict each other.

In his description of the Cascioli raid Tuesday, Walker said he saw Norman lean the man over an 18th-floor balcony and threaten to throw him off.

But in an earlier interview with FBI agents, McMahon contended, Walker had said he saw Norman pick Cascioli up and hang him over the balcony upside down by his feet.

Walker insisted that was not what he had said.

"I don't know. I don't remember. I said a lot of things," he maintained in his flat monotone.

"Ha. I know you've said a lot of things," McMahon quipped back. "On that I agree with you."

Walker's cross-examination is expected to resume Thursday.