Montgomery, Maryland, Officer Investigated for DUI Trial Testimony

A Montgomery County police officer is being investigated for possible perjury after a drunken-driving trial last month in which video surveillance footage cast doubt on her testimony.

The Police Department's criminal investigations division is handling the case with assistance from the internal affairs unit, a police spokeswoman said last night.

Officer Dina Hoffman, a three-year member of the force, testified repeatedly at trial that when she approached a stopped Lexus last year in Gaithersburg, she found George Zaliev behind the steering wheel, according to a transcript of the trial. Zaliev was charged with driving under the influence.

But at the trial, Zaliev's attorney, Paul Mack, followed Hoffman's initial testimony with video footage from a security camera at a nearby business. The footage shows that when Hoffman approached the Lexus, Zaliev was in the back seat, according to testimony.

"You never saw him in the front seat, correct?" Mack asked the officer.

"As the video shows, I guess I didn't," Hoffman said.

The officer also apologized. "It's been over a year. I deal with a lot of these cases every day, so my apologies," she said.

District Court Judge Dennis M. McHugh immediately ruled Zaliev not guilty. "You don't have a case," he told prosecutors.

Hoffman could not be reached for comment last night. She remains on active duty, according to police.

Mack, the defense attorney, said that after the trial, he notified Montgomery Police Chief J. Thomas Manger and State's Attorney John McCarthy of what he considered serious problems with Hoffman's testimony.

Any prosecution of the case would be handled by the Howard County state's attorney's office. A spokesman for the Montgomery state's attorney said the matter was referred to Howard because Montgomery prosecutors could be questioned as fact witnesses.