At least three Douglas County criminal cases have been dismissed in the aftermath of a recent ruling that raised doubts about a Lawrence police officer’s credibility.

In one of the now-dismissed cases, court documents show, Officer Stuart “Mike” Peck was ready to testify that the defendant claimed to be a “major player” in the Lawrence drug scene — with a client list that included judges, lawyers and doctors.

Of the three cases dismissed, two involved drug-dealing; the other was for burglary.

State records show all three former defendants — Isaac E. Smith, 30, James Dyshaun Hawkins, 24, and Dennis O. Johnson, 36 — spent time in prison for other crimes.

The cases were dismissed, said Douglas County Dist. Atty. Christine Kenney, because each involved Peck as a key witness.

Peck was suspended with pay about three weeks ago amid reports of possible misconduct.

Douglas County District Judge Michael Malone ruled Friday that Peck knowingly withheld information used in obtaining a Nov. 3, 2001, search warrant used to search Hawkins’ residence, 406 E. 12th St.

Because Peck misled the court, Malone said he had no choice but to suppress the evidence — cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia — obtained during the search.

“With the evidence suppressed, there wasn’t much left to go forward with,” Kenney said. “So we moved for dismissal.”

Earlier this week, Kenney said she expected more than a dozen cases involving Peck to be dismissed. That assessment no longer may be accurate, Kenney said Thursday.

“A lot of cases are being reviewed to see whether they can go forward without (Peck),” she said. “And some are being looked at to see if they can be dismissed now and refiled later.”

Kenney said her office had not yet compiled a list of the cases dismissed because Peck was not available to testify.

Charges against Smith — felony possession of cocaine and marijuana with intent to sell — were dismissed Jan. 23 because much of the evidence had been collected by Peck during a search of Smith’s residence.

Court documents show Peck was prepared to testify that, in October, Smith had told him “he had been a ‘major player’ in the drug-dealing market in Lawrence for several years and that he had supplied about three-fourths of Lawrence with drugs, including judges, lawyers and doctors.” After a recent car accident, the court documents showed, Smith said he had become a Christian and sold drugs only to support his family.

Charges against Johnson were dismissed earlier this week. He was accused of stealing a woman’s purse Nov. 19 from an unlocked pickup truck belonging to her husband, Cliff Evans of Overbrook. At the time, the truck was parked in east Lawrence.

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Contacted by the Journal-World, Evans said he wasn’t upset by the dismissal.

“It was kind of a petty deal,” he said. “The purse only had 97 cents in it.”

Had the case gone to trial, Peck would have been called to testify.

“We’re disappointed,” said Lt. Dave Cobb of the Lawrence Police Department. “These are cases that, on the surface at least, appeared to good cases, and now that they’re being dismissed, well, it’s just disappointing.”