An Eden Prairie police officer whose faulty search warrant caused the dismissal of a major drug case and called into question other convictions, should be reinstated because he did not intentionally falsify the record, a state arbitrator ruled.
Officer Travis Serafin's actions upended the Southwest Hennepin Drug Task Force in October 2018 and sent Hennepin County prosecutors digging through reams of documents he had handled in dozens of cases. He was fired the following month.
A 100-page decision issued March 12 by arbitrator Joseph L. Daly ordered Serafin reinstated by April 1 without back pay. Eden Prairie issued a statement saying it received notice Monday and was reviewing the award and had made no decisions on whether to appeal.
Serafin's lawyer, Isaac Kaufman of the Law Enforcement Labor Services union, said his client is "very pleased" with the decision. But it's unclear what happens next. Eden Prairie can appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court, reinstate Serafin or negotiate a settlement.
In November 2018, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office announced problems with a search warrant affidavit from Serafin from March of that year in a heroin case that led to drug and murder charges against Timothy Holmes.
Prosecutors said Serafin had a search warrant for Holmes' house, where drugs were found, but he didn't appear to have a warrant to search the car where additional drugs and a gun were uncovered.
A week after making the search, Serafin produced a second warrant application that covered both the house and car, prosecutors said. When asked under oath in court about the two applications, Serafin blamed clerical confusion during a hectic time at work.
Ultimately, the Hennepin County prosecutor dismissed charges against Holmes, dropped pending charges against others and opened investigations into former cases handled by the detective. At the time, then-Chief Assistant Hennepin County Attorney David Brown called Serafin's actions "devastating," saying they eroded public trust.