Diversion program denied for police officer
SANTA CRUZ >> A motion for a Chico State University Police Department officer to be considered for a diversion program was denied March 12 in Santa Cruz County Superior Court.
The officer, Travis Lawler of Paradise, is facing misdemeanor battery charges after an off-duty altercation with a Santa Cruz motel employee that happened in November. Lawler has been with the Chico State University Police Department for 25 years and had previously worked for the Butte County Sheriff’s Office.
Lawler, his parents and his wife were present at the hearing. Lawler, who is being represented by William M. Clark of the Sacramento law firm Mastagni Holstedt, filed the motion to be considered for a diversion program. A diversion program allows criminal charges for low-level misdemeanors to be dropped if a set of conditions are completed.
Carlos Barba, a Santa Cruz County assistant district attorney, filed a motion for a discovery request from the Santa Cruz Cruz County District Attorney’s Office to examine Lawler’s personnel records for complaints and disciplinary actions. However, Superior Court Judge Stephen Siegel reviewed Lawler’s personnel records privately and found that “none of the records are subject to disclosure.”
A setting to determine the next hearing is scheduled for April 29. The next hearing would be a preliminary hearing to determine if there’s enough evidence to proceed to trial.
Lawler remains out on his own recognizance, and according to a letter from his parents, he remains out on paid leave. Lawler is still listed as a sergeant on the Chico State University Police Department website.
Barba filed an opposition to the diversion program on March 5.
According to the opposition document filed by Barba, the “defendant’s role in law enforcement, his aggressive and violent behavior, and his lies regarding this incident, are all aggravating, concerning, and significant reasons to deny diversion on this case.”
Lawler and his wife were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary in Santa Cruz when the incident occurred. Court documents state that Lawler, as an off-duty sergeant, committed battery on the motel employee simply because he wanted the temperature of the jacuzzi in the motel room to be set at 104 degrees and it would not go past 98 degrees.
The opposition states that Lawler refused to accept an explanation for the malfunctioning jacuzzi by the motel employee and “resorted to cursing out the victim on the phone, approaching the victim in an aggressive manner, not wearing a mask during the pandemic, and shoving the door and then the victim extremely hard.”
The injuries suffered by the motel employee were not severe, however, the court document states that Lawler showed a “lack of remorse” after shoving the employee.
According to the DA’s opposition, Lawler also lied to the officers and was uncooperative during the investigation, claiming that he was acting in selfdefense and that the hotel employee was the one who escalated the situation.
However, the documents state that after reviewing surveillance footage, the officers found that it contradicted Lawler’s version of the event and the motel employee “never approached or got any closer” to Lawler.
The document also states two loaded firearms found in Lawler’s room were confiscated by the Santa Cruz Police Department and that Lawler was intoxicated.
The court document also notes that Lawler had attempted to undermine the officer’s authority and refused to sign the citation until it was filled out completely to his standards and said to the officer “I am a sergeant by the way.”
Lawler, who had lived in Paradise for 20 years, is a Camp Fire survivor. In the court documents, Lawler’s defense is that the traumatic events from the Camp Fire had changed his life drastically leading to a build up of resentment and anger. Letters written from family members and coworkers to the judge stated that the events that occurred in Santa Cruz were out of character for Lawler.