Beverley Hills - A Beverly Hills police sergeant is suing the city, claiming he faced retaliation after reporting that a detective made inappropriate remarks about Whitney Houston's body at her death scene.
City News Service says Sgt. Brian Weir filed the suit on Monday in Los Angeles.
Houston was 48 when she drowned in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton two years ago. Weir contends that Detective Sergeant Terry Nutall, kneeling by the singer's body, removed a sheet and remarked that she was “still looking good,” along with similar comments.
In his initial legal claim last year, published by the Los Angeles Times, Weir described Nutall's actions in detail.
“Nutall, for no legitimate (reason) knelt beside and leaned over the decedent (and) removed the sheet and/or other covering from the body of the decedent to an area below the pubic region of the decedent's body,” it said.
He then “came in close proximity to touching the body .. while making inappropriate comments to the effect .. that the decedent 'looked attractive for a woman of her age and current state' and 'Damn, she's still looking good, huh?'“
“Nutall... treated the dead body of the decedent in a way that Nutall knew would outrage ordinary family sensibilities,” he alleged in the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles on September 11.
Weir alleges that he was stripped of various privileges when he raised the alleged misconduct with superiors. He claims to have been harassed, removed from the SWAT and K-9 units and denied promotions.
Weir said he responded to the Beverly Hilton Hotel - where Houston was due to attend a traditional pre-Grammys party that Saturday evening - as the senior patrol sergeant on duty at the time.
Police Lt. Lincoln Hoshino says he wasn't aware of the lawsuit but that he considers similar claims Weir made earlier to be baseless. - Sapa-AP and Sapa-AFP