The veteran Baltimore police sergeant falsely charged with an administrative sex offense received an “excellent” performance review during the same time the police department’s charging committee now alleges he was failing to supervise his squad.

“The sergeant displays high standards of professional behavior and follows my directions and orders,” Lt. Timothy Devine wrote in Sgt. Robert Smith’s performance evaluation spanning July 1, 2005, to Dec. 31, 2005. “Sgt. Smith rates excellent when compared to his peers.”

The glowing performance review is a “smoking gun piece of evidence” that shows the Baltimore Police Department’s charging committee is acting inappropriately again — by continuing to pursue administrative charges against Smith, said his attorney, Clark Ahlers.

The department has already said it plans to drop administrative sex offense charges against Smith, after he and Ahlers spoke out in the media about the provably false charges.

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However, the police department is still attempting to fire Smith, saying he failed to properly submit confiscated drugs to evidence control.

Prosecutors, police investigators and witnesses — including the alleged victim — all have maintained that Smith was not present during an alleged rape of a teenage girl at a police station on Dec. 27, 2005.

Ahlers has said all of the charges are retribution for the sergeant refusing to drop a civil suit against the department.

Police spokesman Sterling Clifford has declined to comment on the case.

Ahlers said all evidence points to Smith being a top-notch supervisor: During his tenure, his department received fewer complaints of misconduct about his Southwest Flex Squad than previously; arrests and productivity increased; and the unit received letters of commendation from the police commissioner and deputy commissioner.

“The unit has performed in an outstanding manner and in my experience is the best in the department focused on the goal of reducing violent crime,” Devine wrote in Smith’s performance review.

Smith is suing the city for $1.5 million in a defamation lawsuit allowed to proceed to trial by Maryland’s highest court. The suit accuses the department of defaming Smith, supervisor of the disbanded Southwest Flex Squad, after a search warrant was leaked to the media accusing him of violating drug laws in 2005.

No drugs were found on Smith or any of his property, though some drugs were found in the office, according to the state’s highest court. Smith denies any involvement in the misplaced evidence.

On Feb. 20, Karen Hornig, the police department’s chief legal counsel, wrote a letter to Ahlers saying the department wanted to see Smith, who is on administrative duty, “return to the streets” in exchange for dropping his suit.

After Smith refused, the department charged him administratively Feb. 27 with helping former Officer Jemini Jones sexually assault a woman. Jones was already acquitted of the rape charge in Baltimore City Circuit Court after his attorney successfully argued there was no physical evidence to support the woman’s claim.

Testimony from the trial and an official duty roster show Smith was on vacation during the alleged incident.

City Councilman Jack “Bernard” Young, a strong supporter of Smith, said he was upset the department is still pressing forward with charges.

“I’m shocked,” said Young, D-12th District.  “I thought this was settled.”

lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com