Man held in '06 Cheney incident wants V.P. queried under oath

By Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Cheney was in Beaver Creek in 2006 when Steven Howards spoke to him.

Joe Mahoney / The Rocky

Steven Howards talks to his son, Koby, 11, about a fish they caught last weekend. Howards was arrested in June 2006 in Beaver Creek after an encounter with Vice President Dick Cheney.

Cheney was in Beaver Creek in 2006 when Steven Howards spoke to him.

Joe Mahoney / The Rocky

Steven Howards talks to his son, Koby, 11, about a fish they caught last weekend. Howards was arrested in June 2006 in Beaver Creek after an encounter with Vice President Dick Cheney.

Secret Service agents have given such varied accounts of what led to the 2006 arrest of a Denver-area man accused of assaulting Vice President Dick Cheney, the man's attorney says there may be only one way to clear things up - depose the vice president.

David Lane, lawyer for Steven Howards, said he plans to file a motion in federal court in Washington, D.C., next week to question Cheney under oath. Attorneys for the vice president have refused repeated requests for a deposition, he said.

"Given the wide differences of view, he is the only one with certain knowledge," Lane said, according to a story in Friday's New York Times.

According to depositions already taken of the five Secret Service agents involved in the Beaver Creek arrest, only some of the agents saw the encounter, in which Howards criticized the administration's policies in Iraq.

The agents give differing accounts of what occurred, with some saying there was no assault.

Jailed in Eagle County

Howards was in Beaver Creek with his family in June 2006 when he spotted Cheney on the street. The vice president, in town for a conference sponsored by former President Ford, was surrounded by people, shaking hands and posing for photographs.

Howards, an environmental consultant, approached the vice president.

According to a lawsuit Howards later filed in federal court, he was two to three feet away from Cheney when he addressed him.

"I think your policies in Iraq are reprehensible," he said.

Howards told the Rocky that he may have lightly touched Cheney's arm or shoulder, though the lawsuit makes no mention of any contact.

After the encounter, Howards continued walking down the street with his son. About 10 minutes later he was approached by Secret Service agents who accused him of assaulting Cheney.

Howards denied the claims, but was taken to the Eagle County jail, where he was held for about three hours and issued a summons for misdemeanor harassment.

The Eagle County District Attorney's office dismissed the charge in July 2006, after District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said it became clear Howards hadn't pushed Cheney.

In October 2006, Howards filed a federal lawsuit, claiming he was arrested in retaliation for speaking his mind about the government's policies in Iraq - a violation of his First Amendment right to free speech.

Accounts get muddier

The lawsuit also accuses the agents of arresting Howards without probable cause.

Secret Service officials could not be reached for comment Friday, though they have declined comment in the past because the case is ongoing.

In court filings responding to Howards' lawsuit, attorneys for Virgil "Gus" Reichle Jr., the agent who initiated the arrest, said that while Reichle didn't see the encounter, he believed he had probable cause for an arrest because other agents told him there had been an assault.

In the months since, accounts of what occurred have become even muddier.

Reichle, who was based in Denver at the time, told Lane during a deposition that the other agents told him there was an assault, then later changed their story, presumably because Cheney didn't want to be inconvenienced by a court case.

According to a deposition, another agent said Reichle contacted him a few hours after the arrest and asked him to trump up the encounter to make the arrest appear legitimate.

burnetts@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5343

What led to Howards' lawsuit

JUNE 16, 2006

* Steven Howards, on a trip with his wife to take his two sons to piano camp, sees Vice President Dick Cheney at an outdoor mall in Beaver Creek. Cheney was posing for pictures and shaking hands with members of the public.

* Howards approaches Cheney and says, "Your policies in Iraq are reprehensible." Howards says he moved on at that point.

* A few minutes later, Howards is approached on the mall by Secret Service Agent Virgil "Gus" Reichle Jr. who asks him, "Did you assault the vice president?"

* Howards denies touching Cheney, but Reichle handcuffs him and takes him to the Eagle County jail, where he was held for three hours until he was bailed out by his wife.

JULY 10

* The charge against Howards of misdemeanor harassment is dismissed in state court at the request of Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlburt. "Later on, it appeared it was just essentially his disagreeing with the vice president's policies. That's not harassment, " Hurlbert said.

OCT. 3

Howards files a lawsuit against Reichle and four other Secret Service agents alleging he was arrested in retaliation for having exercised his First Amendment right of free speech, and that his arrest also violated his Fourth Amendment protection against unlawful arrest.