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Hot cases 3.0

The offenders in these hot cases have more than a few things in common. The former Lutheran pastor and schoolteacher are both accused of liking kids…in that way. And two cousins who share the name Cook (albeit spelled differently) have a history of committing crimes together. Now, they’re each suing police officers for $2 million and $10 million, and hoping the civil system will treat them better than the criminal justice system did.

The peeping porno pastor
Gregory Briehl, a former pastor at Peace Lutheran Church, turned himself in last July for possession of child pornography and unlawful videotaping. Briehl pleaded “no contest” to two misdemeanor counts of videotaping adults in his bathroom at home as they undressed, sometimes climbing trees or a swing set to peep. A jury trial is set for March 27 for charges related to child pornography allegedly found on Briehl’s computer. He resigned his position at the church last spring, before the indictments.

Sour note


CHS Chorus Director Jonathan Spivey was indicted on seven counts of child sex abuse last November.

Jonathan Spivey, Charlottesville High School chorus director of 15 years, was indicted in November on seven counts of child sex abuse. He’s accused of having four instances of sexual contact and three instances of verbal propositioning of students he supervised. He is free on $50,000 bond, but cannot have any contact with his own minor children. A grand jury hearing to set trial will be held February 20.

Ingo shooter and cousin
Robert Lee Cooke is serving a 10-year prison sentence for killing a police dog while fleeing a burglary in October 2004. He is also in a wheelchair from gun shot wounds he sustained when Albemarle police officer Andy Gluba fired his service weapon during the incident. Now, Cooke is suing Gluba for $2 million in Albemarle Circuit Court—the lawsuit was filed last October.

He’s not the only Cook(e) displeased with local police service. Cooke’s counsin, Kerry von Reese Cook, with whom he robbed the By-Pass Market when they were teenagers in 1988, was shot by cops in a domestic disturbance at a Friendship Court apartment in August 2004.
He was in a coma for three weeks, and now uses a colostomy bag. He filed suit last August, seeking $10 million from the officers on that call, Police Chief Timothy J. Longo, the police department and the City. Hearings have not been scheduled for either lawsuit.

Cook’s lawyer, William Rogers of Port Haywood, says they are waiting until Cook’s criminal case, which ended in a mistrial, is re-heard. Janice Redinger, Cooke’s counsel, could not be reached by press time. The lawyers have one year from the filing date to serve the suits.

More hot cases to follow in 2007!
Court cases to follow in 2007
More cases for the new year

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