How OPD wrecked an Orlando man's life

Phillip Marion Warren was a happy-go-lucky Orlando 15-year-old in 1994.

It took Orlando police less than 10 minutes to wreck Phillip’s life.

Phillip blames Orlando Police Officer Charles Stewart with falsely charging him with a crime and lying on an arrest affidavit. Phillip was found guilty of being a minor in possession of a firearm and improper exhibition of a dangerous weapon.

Phillip Marion Warren

Though Phillip today is a married father of three children and works full time as a real-estate agent, the juvenile arrest record has prevented him from pursuing many of his career dreams.

Phillip’s nightmare began late on March 5, 1994 when he and some buddies from Evans High School were preparing to come home from the game arcade at downtown’s old Church Street exchange – a hot spot for teens back in the day.

They walked back to their car that was parked in a lot on the corner of South Street, just off Orange Avenue – on the present-day site of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and across the street from Orlando City Hall.

While they were waiting for some more buddies to get back to the car another carful of black teens pulled into the lot.

 “This car had 4 or 5 guys who I didn’t know, but the guys who were with me, they knew those guys (in the other car),” Phillip said in a recent interview.

“They turned on the music and we were listening to some reggae dance hall music,” Phillip went on.

“We were doing a dance called the bogo,” Phillip explained. “You make a gesture (pointing with his index finger) – the dance move we were doing – a popular thing.

“The next thing you know about 10 different police officers jumped out and had their guns drawn in our face and told us to get down on the ground.”

The officers were “screaming ‘Put your hands up’”, Phillip recalled.

“I put my hands up and I immediately got down on the ground,” Phillip said.

“They kept saying: ‘Where’s the gun?’”

“We didn’t know what he was talking about. There’s no gun,” Phillip said.  “My friend Leland was dancing with a little cap gun, which was a fake gun. It had an orange tip on it. It was probably about 3 inches long. As we were dancing, I did have a cap gun in my hand but I handed that back to Leland.

“When we were on the ground the officers were walking around us. … They were looking for a gun, and they found a gun that was nowhere near me. It was by some vehicle (in the parking lot).”

“The next thing you know, I hear the words say: ‘Well whose gun is it?”

“I saw a flashlight come on my head and he said, ‘It’s his gun.’”

“I immediately jumped up. They grabbed me and put me in cuffs. I’m screaming, resisting saying ‘That’s not my gun. That’s not my gun. Check the fingerprints. Check the fingerprints, that’s not my gun.”

“They didn’t check the fingerprints. The cop – just with his bare hands – put it in an evidence bag and took me off to jail.”

“That was a traumatic experience being locked up with people who had committed murder, but I didn’t want to be victimized (in juvenile detention).

“I had never been to jail before. I had never been arrested.”

After 5 days in juvenile detention, Phillip was released to his parents and then he learned that the pistol -- a Harrington & Richardson revolver – belonged to one of the teens in the other car.

Phillip back in the day

Phillip’s mother did some amazing detective work and tracked down that boy whose mother volunteered a notarized and sworn statement that her son – Aquil McSwain -- not Phillip was in possession of the pistol.

This summer in an interview, Aquil said, “Phillip did not have a gun at all. It was me. I had the gun in my possession and when the police came up I threw the gun under a car. No one claimed the gun so the police said, “You know what. Since no one wants to claim the gun you’re going to jail for it and they took Phillip.”

“I told my mother about the story,” Aquil went on, “and she wrote a letter to the judge stating what I stated to her and then we both went to court and told the judge what the truth was.”

For this story Phillip and Aquil were interview at different times and at different locations. Philip was not present for Aquil’s interview.

Despite Aquil’s admission, Phillip was found guilty on the basis of the arrest affidavit and the testimony of Officer Stewart – who still serves with OPD.

Here is what Officer Stewart’s handwritten and sworn statement said: “I observed the defendant enter the lot with 5 – 6 other males and stand around a white car about 20 yards from me. Someone turned the volume up loud and the defendant began to dance. He then held a small black revolver above his head and danced with it above his head … I called for backup and gave a description of the defendant who I never lost sight of. Officers then moved in having all the males lie on the ground. I searched the defendant and did not find a gun. The defendant was lying next to a vehicle. When Ofc Wadley looked under the car, next to the tire, he found the gun I saw the defendant holding. The defendant was the closest to the vehicle and the gun under the vehicle.”

Files indicate that Officer Stewart has a clean record.

In response to queries regarding this case an Orlando police spokesman wrote: “We take all allegations of untruthfulness seriously. Based on our evaluation, your allegations that an officer lied in a police report are completely unfounded. We will point out to you that the video you produced and provided a link to in which Mr. Warren talks to you on camera about holding a gun in his hand during the incident that led to his arrest.”

In the video clip, which can be viewed by clicking here, Phillip said he played with a toy gun – not a real gun – for a few moments while he was dancing.

Phillip said the police took the toy and the real revolver – two different items -- into custody. The police spokesman never explained why officers didn’t fingerprint the real gun, which would have proven Phillip’s innocence.

Phillips father Marion Warren, a retired U.S. Navy Master Chief Petty Officer – the highest non-commissioned officer rank in the Navy, describes himself as a strict disciplinarian and solid judge of character.

He dropped off Phillip at the mall on the day of the incident. When he heard his son had been arrested, he immediately said, “Not Phillip.”

Mr. Warren doubts the officer’s identification of Phillip because it was so dark at the time of the encounter.

“Phillip was selected because of his height. He was much taller than the other kids with him,” Mr. Warren said.

He and his wife spent more than $20,000 on lawyers to defend their son and try to overturn, or appeal, the guilty verdict.

Mr. Warren felt their family was let down by the lawyers who didn’t properly present a strong defense for Phillip.

“The State Attorney tried to make an agreement with me that he’ll drop one case but he’ll plead guilty, but we said no because we knew he was innocent.”

The guilty verdict sent Phillip into an emotional tailspin. He stressed out and was in and out of jail on a variety of mostly minor charges.

Eventually, in his early 20s after his mother was killed in an accident, Phillip got back on course, graduated from Oklahoma State University with a BA in business administration and started a family.

Phillip’s father is convinced that his son’s life would have taken an entirely different trajectory, if not for that first arrest. Philip’s sister – the oldest of two children – is a colonel in the U.S. Army.

Mr. Warren said his son was unable to get jobs with the federal government because of his tainted record.

And that’s why, Phillip – 23 years after the OPD arrest – is still fighting to clear his name and record.

“I want to see Officer Charles Stewart answer for what he’s done to me,” Phillip said.

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