The purported details of Darren Rainey’s last hour are difficult to read.
“I can’t take it no more, I’m sorry. I won’t do it again,’’ he screamed over and over, according to a grievance complaint from a fellow inmate, as Rainey was allegedly locked in a shower with the scalding water turned on full blast.
A 50-year-old mentally ill inmate at the Dade Correctional Institution, Rainey was pulled into the locked shower by prison guards as punishment after defecating in his cell and refusing to clean it up, said the fellow inmate, who worked as an orderly. He was left there unattended for more than an hour as the narrow chamber filled with steam and water.
When guards finally checked on prisoner 060954, he was on his back and dead. His skin was so burned that it had shriveled from his body, a condition referred to as slippage, according to a medical document involving the death.
But nearly two years after Rainey’s death on June 23, 2012, the Miami-Dade medical examiner has yet to complete an autopsy and Miami-Dade police have not charged anyone. The Florida Department of Corrections halted its probe into the matter, saying it could be restarted if the autopsy and police investigation unearth new information.
“They told people that he had a heart attack,’’ said a source close to the prison system with knowledge of the case.
The shower treatment was only one form of punishment inflicted by the prison’s guards to keep mentally ill patients in line, according to the inmate/orderly and two other sources privy to the goings-on at the state prison.
The inmate/orderly, a convicted burglar named Harold Hempstead serving a decades-long sentence, filed repeated formal complaints, beginning in January 2013, with the DOC inspector general, alleging that prison guards subjected inmates — housed in the mental health unit — to extreme physical abuse and withheld food from some who became unruly. The complaints were sent back, most with a short, type-written note saying the appeal was being returned “without action” or had already been addressed.
In September, another inmate was found dead inside his cell. Richard Mair, 40, hanged himself from an air conditioning vent.
According to the police report, Mair left a suicide note in his boxer shorts claiming he and other prisoners were sexually and physically abused on a routine basis by guards.
DOC officials declined to be interviewed for this story. A spokeswoman said Friday that the agency would provide public records in response to the newspaper’s formal written requests, but no comments.
Over the past several weeks, the newspaper has requested maintenance records, grievance logs, prison death records, guards’ disciplinary records and emails by administrators, including DCI Warden Jerry Cummings.
As of Friday, the agency had released a handful of documents: a single report about a prison guard admonished for falling asleep on duty last year; brief, coded disciplinary records for Hempstead, Rainey and several other inmates who Hempstead says were also subjected to searing hot showers as punishment; and a heavily redacted copy of the DOC inspector general’s report on Rainey’s death.
On Friday, the Herald learned from three independent sources that Cummings and four of his top aides had been temporarily relieved of duty last week.
It’s not clear why Cummings and other administrators were suspended, or for how long.
The DOC did not respond to an email query about the suspensions late Friday.
Rainey’s family, meanwhile, finds the silence surrounding his death disturbing.
“Two years is a very long time to wait to find out why your brother was found dead in a shower,’’ said Rainey’s brother, Andre Chapman.
Rainey, who was serving a two-year sentence for possession of cocaine, was scheduled to be released in July.
Numerous complaints
Between January and February 2013, Hempstead filed numerous grievances and complaints with DOC officials about Rainey’s death, all alleging that the circumstances were being covered up.
His reports, replete with the names of other inmate witnesses and prison guards on duty that evening, describe what he and others purportedly saw and heard that night. The details in his complaints match the wording in the inspector general’s report — at least the parts not redacted.
The inspector general’s report said that the video camera in the shower area showed DOC officer Roland Clarke place Rainey in the shower at 7:38 p.m.
Hempstead said the shower had sufficient room for an inmate to avoid a direct hit from the spray, but that the extreme heat would eventually make the air unbreathable as the scalding water lapped at inmates’ feet.
Hempstead wrote that he and other inmates, whose cells are directly below the shower, began hearing Rainey’s screams about 8:55 p.m. It went on for about 30 minutes before it sounded like he fell to the shower floor, he said in his complaint.
The DOC inspector general’s report said Clarke found Rainey dead at 9:30 p.m. and called for medical assistance.
“I then seen [sic] his burnt dead body naked body go about two feet from my cell door on a stretcher,’’ Hempstead wrote.
Miami-Dade homicide investigators were called to the prison.
But another inmate, a convicted murderer named Mark Joiner, wrote in a letter to the inspector general that he was ordered to “clean up the crime scene’’ prior to the area being secured.
Early in the week after the incident, maintenance workers at the prison disabled the plumbing that fed the shower, Hempstead told the Herald in an interview at the prison.
Despite all his written complaints, Hempstead was never interviewed by anyone from the prison system, he said. Another inmate was spoken to, according to the report. That’s presumably Joiner, although the DOC will not divulge the name. The Herald is waiting for a transcript of that interview, which DOC officials said would be redacted of any information pertaining to an open criminal investigation.
As for the video camera in the shower area, the inspector general’s report noted that it malfunctioned right after Clarke put Rainey in the shower. As a result, the disc that may have recorded what happened was “damaged,’’ the report said.
The redacted report doesn’t say how Rainey’s body was found, whether the water was on or off when he was found or whether state investigators ever questioned any of the guards or nurses in the unit at the time of Rainey’s death.
The union that represents the prison guards was not aware of the incident as of this past week. No record was provided to the Herald to indicate that anyone has been held accountable for what happened.
A suicide note
Mair was found hanging in his cell on Sept. 11, 2013. A braided rope, made from cut sections of bed sheets, was attached to the ceiling air vent and looped around his neck, according to a Miami-Dade police report.
Tucked into a pocket sewed into his boxer shorts was a suicide note in which Mair, serving life for second-degree murder, described a litany of abuses against inmates in the mental health unit.
“Life sucks and then you die, but just before I go, I’m going to expose everyone for who and what they are,’’ he wrote.
“I’m in a mental health facility...I’m supposed to be getting help for my depression, suicidal tendencies and I was sexually assaulted.’’
He then goes on to allege that guards forced inmates in the unit to perform sex acts and threatened them if they filed complaints.
He said guards — identified by name in the note — gambled on duty, sold marijuana and cigarettes, and stole money and property belonging to inmates.
“If they didn’t like you, they put you on a starvation diet,’’ he wrote.
He also alleged that guards encouraged racial hatred by forcing white and black inmates to fight each other in the yard, claiming that the guards would place bets on who would win.
Mair’s next of kin was in prison in Maine and unavailable for comment.
There’s no evidence that the state inspector general’s probe into Mair’s death addressed any of the allegations in the suicide note.
The probe concluded that guards had been negligent in failing to adequately check on Mair the evening he killed himself.
Les Cantrell, state coordinator for Teamsters Local 2011 — the union representing the state’s 17,000 corrections and probation officers — said there has been a spike in prison complaints across the state. Employee turnover is staggering, he said, particularly among prison guards who are often forced to work long hours to compensate for officers they have lost and failed to replace.
“In general, we have a difficult time retaining good officers,’’ Cantrell said. “Assaults on officers have risen and inmates know they are short-staffed.
“It makes it unsafe for the officers and for the inmates,’’ he said.
The six-page inspector general’s investigation into Rainey’s death was completed in October 2012. DOC Inspector General Jeffrey Beasley closed the case, concluding there was not enough information to issue any finding.
“...the exact cause of death has not been determined by the Medical Examiner. Upon receipt of the autopsy report, it will be included in the investigative file,’’ the report said, noting that if “administrative matters” subsequently arise as a result of the autopsy, they will be addressed at a future time.
The report, which includes brief written statements by Clarke as well as other guards and nurses, has large passages that have been redacted — obscured with a black marker.
The Department of Corrections has not responded to requests from the Herald to provide the legal justification for each redaction, as required under the state’s public records law.
After Hempstead was interviewed at the prison by a Herald journalist on April 14, Miami-Dade homicide investigators also paid him a visit to interview him about the two-year-old case, he wrote in a letter emailed to Gov. Rick Scott last week through a family member.
According to the letter, three corrections officers, including a sergeant, responded to the visits by threatening to set him up with false disciplinary reports and to place him in solitary confinement if he didn’t stop talking to the media and police.
He said he feared for his safety and wanted to be relocated to a different prison.
Last week, the Herald sought clearance to speak with Hempstead in the prison a second time after receiving a letter from him authorizing the return visit.
Jessica Carey, spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections, responded that Hempstead “had a custody classification which prohibits interviews at this time.’’
When pressed further about whether he was being punished, Carey said she had made “a mistake’’ and directed a Herald reporter to fill out a visitation form.
Neither Miami-Dade police nor the Miami-Dade medical examiner responded to requests for information about the Rainey case. Each say his death is still an open investigation, but did not address why it has taken almost two years.
Showing posts with label torture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label torture. Show all posts
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Monday, July 06, 2009
Officers Josehp Szelenyi & Booby Hoover on Trial for Tasering Woman while Handcuffed
A jury will decide whether two Newburgh Heights police officers were following department protocol or abusing their power when they shocked a Cleveland woman repeatedly with a Taser while she was handcuffed.
Officers Joseph Szelenyi, 32, and Bobby Hoover, 33, stand trial this week in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, accused of holding Kim Bankhead captive for hours at their police station and torturing her with a Taser, an electroshock weapon that temporarily incapacitates its target.
Prosecutors say the officers shocked the woman at least a half-dozen times until she complained of chest pain and was taken to a hospital.
Szelenyi and Hoover are charged with felonious assault. Judge Brendan Sheehan threw out charges against a third officer, Christopher Minek, 26, because prosecutors could not produce enough evidence to suggest he participated in shocking the woman.
In opening statements Monday, defense lawyers argued that police used the Taser to control Bankhead, who was so intoxicated she could not perform the basic field sobriety test.
At her Municipal Court hearing in February 2008, Bankhead pleaded no contest to operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Charges of disorderly conduct, driving in a prohibited area, failure to yield and resisting arrest were dismissed.
But she has since filed a civil lawsuit in federal court, in which she is asking for $1.5 million in damages from each of the officers who used the Taser, saying the experience left her traumatized, anxious and chronically depressed.
Bankhead and her husband, Michael, had been drinking at the Crankshaft bar in Newburgh Heights on Nov. 25, 2007, and were on their way home around 9 p.m., when Bankhead said police lights surrounded her car.
Police ordered her out of the driver's seat, she said. And when she demanded to know why she had been pulled over, Bankhead said, Szelenyi slammed her head against the hood of his police cruiser, busting her lip and knocking her out cold. When she regained consciousness, Bankhead struggled against the officer, who had handcuffed her and was loading her into the backseat of his car. Without warning, Szelenyi shocked her in the leg, she said.
At the police station, the officers handcuffed Bankhead to a bench while they prepared to book her on charges of driving under the influence and resisting arrest. Afraid and distraught, Bankhead panicked, screaming for help and trying to wriggle free from the handcuffs, she testified.
Hoover shocked her repeatedly, she said. He even told her, in lewd language, that he was enjoying it and encouraged her to give him a reason to do it again, Bankhead told the court.
Defense lawyers countered that Bankhead was so drunk that she nearly collided head-on with a police cruiser and parked her car on a tree lawn when she finally pulled over. She could hardly walk, let alone complete a field sobriety test. And she was aggressive, yelling for her husband to attack the police who were arresting her, they said.
Attorneys for the officers also argued that Bankhead produced no evidence or documentation of injuries inflicted by the Taser and that she only experienced chest pains, a symptom of anxiety, after police tried to book her in jail.
The trial continues Tuesday.
Officers Joseph Szelenyi, 32, and Bobby Hoover, 33, stand trial this week in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, accused of holding Kim Bankhead captive for hours at their police station and torturing her with a Taser, an electroshock weapon that temporarily incapacitates its target.
Prosecutors say the officers shocked the woman at least a half-dozen times until she complained of chest pain and was taken to a hospital.
Szelenyi and Hoover are charged with felonious assault. Judge Brendan Sheehan threw out charges against a third officer, Christopher Minek, 26, because prosecutors could not produce enough evidence to suggest he participated in shocking the woman.
In opening statements Monday, defense lawyers argued that police used the Taser to control Bankhead, who was so intoxicated she could not perform the basic field sobriety test.
At her Municipal Court hearing in February 2008, Bankhead pleaded no contest to operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Charges of disorderly conduct, driving in a prohibited area, failure to yield and resisting arrest were dismissed.
But she has since filed a civil lawsuit in federal court, in which she is asking for $1.5 million in damages from each of the officers who used the Taser, saying the experience left her traumatized, anxious and chronically depressed.
Bankhead and her husband, Michael, had been drinking at the Crankshaft bar in Newburgh Heights on Nov. 25, 2007, and were on their way home around 9 p.m., when Bankhead said police lights surrounded her car.
Police ordered her out of the driver's seat, she said. And when she demanded to know why she had been pulled over, Bankhead said, Szelenyi slammed her head against the hood of his police cruiser, busting her lip and knocking her out cold. When she regained consciousness, Bankhead struggled against the officer, who had handcuffed her and was loading her into the backseat of his car. Without warning, Szelenyi shocked her in the leg, she said.
At the police station, the officers handcuffed Bankhead to a bench while they prepared to book her on charges of driving under the influence and resisting arrest. Afraid and distraught, Bankhead panicked, screaming for help and trying to wriggle free from the handcuffs, she testified.
Hoover shocked her repeatedly, she said. He even told her, in lewd language, that he was enjoying it and encouraged her to give him a reason to do it again, Bankhead told the court.
Defense lawyers countered that Bankhead was so drunk that she nearly collided head-on with a police cruiser and parked her car on a tree lawn when she finally pulled over. She could hardly walk, let alone complete a field sobriety test. And she was aggressive, yelling for her husband to attack the police who were arresting her, they said.
Attorneys for the officers also argued that Bankhead produced no evidence or documentation of injuries inflicted by the Taser and that she only experienced chest pains, a symptom of anxiety, after police tried to book her in jail.
The trial continues Tuesday.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Torture: Unreliable, Ineffective, Illegal
The issue of torture and security keeps reemerging in the news, as we debate matters of national survival and our core values. The issue is often posed in the following way: What if a terrorist had information about an urgent threat to American lives and the only way to obtain that information would be to torture it out of him? The responses range from: No, even if we were under grave threat, torture would violate our principles and we should never do it; to, torture doesn’t work or produces unreliable information, so, we violate our principles and get nothing for it.
My own view is that principles and values are important. We should not torture because it is wrong and it violates the spirit of U.S. and International law. We know that in the real world, people violate principles all of the time. Does that mean we should have no principles? Does that mean we should develop less stringent ones? One of our most deeply held ethical principles is about the sanctity of human life. The commandment is: “Thou shall not kill”. It does not say: “don’t kill except in self defense”. The principle is don’t kill. Yet, we kill all of the time. Does that mean the principle should be watered down? One could argue that it has never been an absolute principle. Wars and capital punishment have long violated this principle. Nevertheless, its presence has influenced human behavior for thousands of years. It has not eliminated brutality but it has delegitimized it.
Since we can’t operate a civil order without killing people, we focus on the method of killing. When we remove someone from life, it should be done with a minimum of pain in the process. The eighth amendment of the United States constitution prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment”. Water boarding is a cruel punishment, although we have recently learned it is not as unusual as we thought. By holding accused terrorists as “enemy combatants”, they do not receive the protections of the American constitution. Alumni of the Bush Administration and its defenders argue that without torture, America would have been subjected to further terrorist attacks. It is a claim that logically cannot be proven or disproven, but is, of course, irrelevant.
The danger in eliminating the ban on torture as a method of investigation is that it erodes a critical principle. We know that the principle will be violated during times of duress, but if it is eliminated, torture will be legitimized and its day to day use will be increased. Is that the type of world that America wants to build? Are those the values that we have raised the world’s strongest military to defend? America's claim to moral leadership is fundamentally debased by the defense of torture.
It is a tough world out there and there are evil people who are out to do us harm. No one living in New York City or Washington D.C. on September 11, 2001 could ever deny that point. We need to be aggressive and vigilant in defending our families, property and ideals. But in the process of doing that we need to defend our way of life—and that includes our values and self image.
If America is subjected to another large scale terrorist attack, you can be certain that Dick Cheney and his pals will blame it on the “softer” approach to defense and interrogation advocated by President Obama. I believe this is a ridiculous argument. It is also a political argument and an effort to restore the post-Vietnam image of the Democrats as the party that is soft on defense. We do not need to use brutal tactics to reduce criminal behavior. Vigilance, intelligence, skill and strategic thinking are far more effective. Here in New York City nearly two decades of increasingly professionalized policing has taken place along side steady reductions in crime. While civilian complaints against police misconduct continue, and that misconduct continues, no one would argue that the increased safety of New Yorkers was accomplished through increased incidences of police brutality.
Brutality is not a cost free strategy. When police act within the law and behave with professionalism and dignity, it delegitimizes outlaw conduct. George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson’s famous broken window theory states that if one window in an abandoned building is broken, soon the rest will be broken as well. Misconduct is contagious. The importance of order and rules of correct behavior should never be underestimated. I would argue that if the “window” is broken by the police, if our government tortures prisoners, the situation is worse. If the people who are responsible for enforcing our laws—and our principles—violate those laws and principles, it fosters disrespect for all principles and laws. Ultimately that makes us less safe. That is the case on the streets of New York City. When our police act within the law, they build respect for law. If police are corrupt and brutal, the fabric of public order becomes frayed. While the analogy is far from perfect, I think it works that way in the international arena as well.
While I find torture personally abhorrent, and I suspect it is not all that effective as an interrogation method; the central point is that torture is not the type of behavior we expect from civilized, law abiding nations. When we look for loopholes in the Geneva Conventions we undermine the rule of law. Torture is ineffective, illegal, and a violation or our principles. The arguments in favor of it are far weaker than the arguments against it. President Obama is correct in prohibiting torture, and we should applaud his efforts to end its practice.
_________________
Other Information: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/05/torture-the-smoking-gun.html
My own view is that principles and values are important. We should not torture because it is wrong and it violates the spirit of U.S. and International law. We know that in the real world, people violate principles all of the time. Does that mean we should have no principles? Does that mean we should develop less stringent ones? One of our most deeply held ethical principles is about the sanctity of human life. The commandment is: “Thou shall not kill”. It does not say: “don’t kill except in self defense”. The principle is don’t kill. Yet, we kill all of the time. Does that mean the principle should be watered down? One could argue that it has never been an absolute principle. Wars and capital punishment have long violated this principle. Nevertheless, its presence has influenced human behavior for thousands of years. It has not eliminated brutality but it has delegitimized it.
Since we can’t operate a civil order without killing people, we focus on the method of killing. When we remove someone from life, it should be done with a minimum of pain in the process. The eighth amendment of the United States constitution prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment”. Water boarding is a cruel punishment, although we have recently learned it is not as unusual as we thought. By holding accused terrorists as “enemy combatants”, they do not receive the protections of the American constitution. Alumni of the Bush Administration and its defenders argue that without torture, America would have been subjected to further terrorist attacks. It is a claim that logically cannot be proven or disproven, but is, of course, irrelevant.
The danger in eliminating the ban on torture as a method of investigation is that it erodes a critical principle. We know that the principle will be violated during times of duress, but if it is eliminated, torture will be legitimized and its day to day use will be increased. Is that the type of world that America wants to build? Are those the values that we have raised the world’s strongest military to defend? America's claim to moral leadership is fundamentally debased by the defense of torture.
It is a tough world out there and there are evil people who are out to do us harm. No one living in New York City or Washington D.C. on September 11, 2001 could ever deny that point. We need to be aggressive and vigilant in defending our families, property and ideals. But in the process of doing that we need to defend our way of life—and that includes our values and self image.
If America is subjected to another large scale terrorist attack, you can be certain that Dick Cheney and his pals will blame it on the “softer” approach to defense and interrogation advocated by President Obama. I believe this is a ridiculous argument. It is also a political argument and an effort to restore the post-Vietnam image of the Democrats as the party that is soft on defense. We do not need to use brutal tactics to reduce criminal behavior. Vigilance, intelligence, skill and strategic thinking are far more effective. Here in New York City nearly two decades of increasingly professionalized policing has taken place along side steady reductions in crime. While civilian complaints against police misconduct continue, and that misconduct continues, no one would argue that the increased safety of New Yorkers was accomplished through increased incidences of police brutality.
Brutality is not a cost free strategy. When police act within the law and behave with professionalism and dignity, it delegitimizes outlaw conduct. George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson’s famous broken window theory states that if one window in an abandoned building is broken, soon the rest will be broken as well. Misconduct is contagious. The importance of order and rules of correct behavior should never be underestimated. I would argue that if the “window” is broken by the police, if our government tortures prisoners, the situation is worse. If the people who are responsible for enforcing our laws—and our principles—violate those laws and principles, it fosters disrespect for all principles and laws. Ultimately that makes us less safe. That is the case on the streets of New York City. When our police act within the law, they build respect for law. If police are corrupt and brutal, the fabric of public order becomes frayed. While the analogy is far from perfect, I think it works that way in the international arena as well.
While I find torture personally abhorrent, and I suspect it is not all that effective as an interrogation method; the central point is that torture is not the type of behavior we expect from civilized, law abiding nations. When we look for loopholes in the Geneva Conventions we undermine the rule of law. Torture is ineffective, illegal, and a violation or our principles. The arguments in favor of it are far weaker than the arguments against it. President Obama is correct in prohibiting torture, and we should applaud his efforts to end its practice.
_________________
Other Information: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/05/torture-the-smoking-gun.html
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Feds Investigate old Allegations that Chicago Police Tortured Murder Suspects
Federal prosecutors continue to investigate decades-old allegations that Chicago police routinely tortured murder suspects, focusing on a half-dozen detectives following the recent indictment of former Cmdr. Jon Burge, the alleged ringleader, sources said.
Subpoenas served on the city show that prosecutors are looking at detectives long linked to Burge and the South Side precincts where he worked mostly during the 1980s. Among them: former Sgt. John Byrne, considered Burge's right-hand man, and former detective Peter Dignan.
It is not surprising that the investigation has widened beyond Burge. Last October, when prosecutors announced Burge's indictment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges, U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald said the charges "should serve as a warning" to those officers who worked for him and took part in alleged brutality.
"If their lifeline is to hang on a perceived code of silence, they may be hanging on air," said Fitzgerald, cautioning other officers could be hit with similar charges.
Now a clearer picture is emerging of where the investigation is heading. Prosecutors are looking for medical records or testimony by a doctor to corroborate claims of brutality, the sources said, and want to avoid pitting the testimony of a former inmate against that of an officer.
A case in point is Andrew Wilson, who was convicted of killing two police officers after giving a confession that Burge and his men allegedly coerced. Wilson contended he was beaten and shocked and forced to press his chest and abdomen to a hot radiator. He died in prison in 2007.
Last month prosecutors asked a judge to allow them to use Wilson's testimony from previous hearings and civil proceedings at Burge's upcoming trial.
The Chicago Police Board found Burge guilty in 1983 of violating department rules, a determination that ultimately led to his firing a decade later. Wilson's facial injuries and burn marks had been photographed by jail personnel and doctors following his 1982 arrest. The supervising physician at the Cook County Jail, John Raba, even wrote the police superintendent asking for an investigation.
"Dr. Raba and other witnesses who participated in the examination and/or treatment of Wilson have been located and are available to testify at trial," said last month's filing.
Federal authorities have also interviewed Gregory Banks, who says Byrne and Dignan and other detectives placed a plastic bag over his head to force him to confess in 1983 to a murder.
The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that his confession had been obtained through brutality and awarded him a new trial after Banks had spent 7 years in prison.
Banks later won $92,000 from the city after filing a federal civil rights lawsuit.
Lawyer Flint Taylor, who represents Banks as well as other alleged torture victims, said prosecutors have interviewed a number of his clients.
"We've had contact with the U.S. attorney and presented several of our clients for interviews," he said. "It's my sense that they're doing a very aggressive and a thorough investigation with regard to some of Burge's midnight crew."
"We're hopeful there will be indictments brought against them and others," he added.
Dignan could not be reached Tuesday for comment. Byrne, who is a private detective in the south suburbs, said he was not surprised that federal prosecutors would focus on Burge's midnight shift officers.
"They're going to do what they feel is necessary," said Byrne, who indicated he has not been contacted by authorities. "They're going to be looking at everyone who was working then."
_____________________
http://www.chicagotribune.com
Subpoenas served on the city show that prosecutors are looking at detectives long linked to Burge and the South Side precincts where he worked mostly during the 1980s. Among them: former Sgt. John Byrne, considered Burge's right-hand man, and former detective Peter Dignan.
It is not surprising that the investigation has widened beyond Burge. Last October, when prosecutors announced Burge's indictment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges, U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald said the charges "should serve as a warning" to those officers who worked for him and took part in alleged brutality.
"If their lifeline is to hang on a perceived code of silence, they may be hanging on air," said Fitzgerald, cautioning other officers could be hit with similar charges.
Now a clearer picture is emerging of where the investigation is heading. Prosecutors are looking for medical records or testimony by a doctor to corroborate claims of brutality, the sources said, and want to avoid pitting the testimony of a former inmate against that of an officer.
A case in point is Andrew Wilson, who was convicted of killing two police officers after giving a confession that Burge and his men allegedly coerced. Wilson contended he was beaten and shocked and forced to press his chest and abdomen to a hot radiator. He died in prison in 2007.
Last month prosecutors asked a judge to allow them to use Wilson's testimony from previous hearings and civil proceedings at Burge's upcoming trial.
The Chicago Police Board found Burge guilty in 1983 of violating department rules, a determination that ultimately led to his firing a decade later. Wilson's facial injuries and burn marks had been photographed by jail personnel and doctors following his 1982 arrest. The supervising physician at the Cook County Jail, John Raba, even wrote the police superintendent asking for an investigation.
"Dr. Raba and other witnesses who participated in the examination and/or treatment of Wilson have been located and are available to testify at trial," said last month's filing.
Federal authorities have also interviewed Gregory Banks, who says Byrne and Dignan and other detectives placed a plastic bag over his head to force him to confess in 1983 to a murder.
The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that his confession had been obtained through brutality and awarded him a new trial after Banks had spent 7 years in prison.
Banks later won $92,000 from the city after filing a federal civil rights lawsuit.
Lawyer Flint Taylor, who represents Banks as well as other alleged torture victims, said prosecutors have interviewed a number of his clients.
"We've had contact with the U.S. attorney and presented several of our clients for interviews," he said. "It's my sense that they're doing a very aggressive and a thorough investigation with regard to some of Burge's midnight crew."
"We're hopeful there will be indictments brought against them and others," he added.
Dignan could not be reached Tuesday for comment. Byrne, who is a private detective in the south suburbs, said he was not surprised that federal prosecutors would focus on Burge's midnight shift officers.
"They're going to do what they feel is necessary," said Byrne, who indicated he has not been contacted by authorities. "They're going to be looking at everyone who was working then."
_____________________
http://www.chicagotribune.com
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Mozambican Police Arrest Officer for Burning Man Alive
Maputo
The spokesperson for the General Command of the Mozambican police, Pedro Cossa, confirmed on Tuesday that the Attorney-General's Office has arrested a senior officer in the Criminal Investigation Police (PIC) for the brutal murder in 2007 of a suspected criminal named Abranches Penicela.
Relatives of Penicela, and human rights organisations have been fighting for justice in this case for over a year. Cossa said that Alexandre Balate, the heard of search and arrest operations in the Maputo branch of PIC, had been under investigation by prosecutors since last year. He was formally detained last Friday.
Penicela was arrested in 2007 on suspicion of participation in a bank robbery. He was held for a period in the Maputo top security prison, but an investigating magistrate ordered his release on the grounds of lack of evidence.
According to the charge sheet against Balate, cited in Tuesday's issue of the independent weekly "Escorpiao", he had earlier, in February 2007, raided Penicela's house, without any search warrant. During this police raid, Penicela was beaten up and called "a thief, a robber and a dangerous criminal".
After the bank robbery, it was Balate who arrested Penicela (again, without a warrant). He was angered by Penicela's release and with two other PIC agents, named as Moise Matusse and Samuel Bila, plotted to kidnap him.
On 14 August, a trap was set for Penicela. According to the charge sheet, he received a phone call from a certain Octavio who wanted to meet him on the road to Swaziland to discuss a truck being imported from South Africa. But when he arrived at the meeting place, he found himself surrounded by police officers, led by Balate.
The police seized Penicela, tied him up and injected him with a drug that rendered him unconscious. He was then taken to Xinavane, where he was blindfolded, thrown onto the floor and shot. Balate then took a container of petrol purchased by his colleagues, poured it over Penicela (who was still alive) and set it on fire.
The autopsy on Penicela said he had second and third degree burns on 90 per cent of his body, and that the burns were the cause of death, although he had also been shot in the head.
Balate was a careless executioner. For when he set fire to Penicela he also burnt his own arm. He invented a story to explain this injury, claiming that he had burnt his arm while tampering with the radiator of his car.
And, despite his terrible injuries, Penicela did not die in Xinavane. He was rescued and taken to Maputo Central Hospital where he was able, the following day, to make a statement, accusing Balate and other police officers. Shortly afterwards, Penicela died of his injuries, but the CD of his dying statements is attached to the prosecutors' charge sheet.
The charge sheet cited by "Escorpiao" declared that there was "no doubt" that the death of Penicela was "a summary execution". Balate and his companions had thus committed first degree murder, with the aggravating circumstances of premeditation, and the use of torture and acts of cruelty to increase the victim's suffering.
The spokesperson for the General Command of the Mozambican police, Pedro Cossa, confirmed on Tuesday that the Attorney-General's Office has arrested a senior officer in the Criminal Investigation Police (PIC) for the brutal murder in 2007 of a suspected criminal named Abranches Penicela.
Relatives of Penicela, and human rights organisations have been fighting for justice in this case for over a year. Cossa said that Alexandre Balate, the heard of search and arrest operations in the Maputo branch of PIC, had been under investigation by prosecutors since last year. He was formally detained last Friday.
Penicela was arrested in 2007 on suspicion of participation in a bank robbery. He was held for a period in the Maputo top security prison, but an investigating magistrate ordered his release on the grounds of lack of evidence.
According to the charge sheet against Balate, cited in Tuesday's issue of the independent weekly "Escorpiao", he had earlier, in February 2007, raided Penicela's house, without any search warrant. During this police raid, Penicela was beaten up and called "a thief, a robber and a dangerous criminal".
After the bank robbery, it was Balate who arrested Penicela (again, without a warrant). He was angered by Penicela's release and with two other PIC agents, named as Moise Matusse and Samuel Bila, plotted to kidnap him.
On 14 August, a trap was set for Penicela. According to the charge sheet, he received a phone call from a certain Octavio who wanted to meet him on the road to Swaziland to discuss a truck being imported from South Africa. But when he arrived at the meeting place, he found himself surrounded by police officers, led by Balate.
The police seized Penicela, tied him up and injected him with a drug that rendered him unconscious. He was then taken to Xinavane, where he was blindfolded, thrown onto the floor and shot. Balate then took a container of petrol purchased by his colleagues, poured it over Penicela (who was still alive) and set it on fire.
The autopsy on Penicela said he had second and third degree burns on 90 per cent of his body, and that the burns were the cause of death, although he had also been shot in the head.
Balate was a careless executioner. For when he set fire to Penicela he also burnt his own arm. He invented a story to explain this injury, claiming that he had burnt his arm while tampering with the radiator of his car.
And, despite his terrible injuries, Penicela did not die in Xinavane. He was rescued and taken to Maputo Central Hospital where he was able, the following day, to make a statement, accusing Balate and other police officers. Shortly afterwards, Penicela died of his injuries, but the CD of his dying statements is attached to the prosecutors' charge sheet.
The charge sheet cited by "Escorpiao" declared that there was "no doubt" that the death of Penicela was "a summary execution". Balate and his companions had thus committed first degree murder, with the aggravating circumstances of premeditation, and the use of torture and acts of cruelty to increase the victim's suffering.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Former County Jailer & Husband Tortured their 12-year-old Son
Oconee County authorities arrested a Bogart couple they say tortured their 12-year-old son, meting out horrific punishment that that included handcuffing him in a closet, shooting him with a pellet gun and pepper-spraying him.
The abuse was "systemic" and happened regularly before the family moved from Athens to Bogart two weeks ago, according to Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry.
Sheriff's deputies arrested the child's mother - a 35-year-old jailer with the Walton County Sheriff's Office - and his 37-year-old stepfather Thursday afternoon, hours after the boy's younger brother told a teacher about the abuse, Berry said Friday.
"This is a very serious case, and as soon as it was brought to our attention we put all available investigative effort into it," Berry said. "Unfortunately, I've seen a lot of horrible things done to children, and this is just as bad, if not worse."
The parents were each charged with first-degree cruelty to children and were held without bail at the Oconee County Jail.
The Banner-Herald is withholding their names to protect the identity of the victim and his brother.
The Department of Family and Children Services took custody of both boys Thursday, the sheriff said.
Though the victim had attended school in both Clarke and Oconee counties, no one noticed the abuse because the boy's clothes covered his injuries, Berry said.
Berry didn't know why the boy never told anyone about the abuse, he said, but it's not uncommon for an abused child to fear retribution if he tells.
The victim's 6-year-old brother told a teacher at his Oconee County school Thursday morning.
"Whatever motivated this case coming to light, I am extremely happy about it," the sheriff said.
The younger boy might have felt more comfortable telling a teacher at a new school or worried that his parents would hurt his brother worse, Berry said.
School officials notified the Oconee County Sheriff's Office about the allegations, and deputies arrested the victim's mother and stepfather at their home shortly after 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Berry said.
Investigators examined the boy and found him covered with marks similar to the wounds a person would have if he was shot with plastic pellets, the sheriff said.
The boy's abusers handcuffed him to a coat rack in a closet then shot him, according to Berry, who said the victim's body was covered with pellet marks, including on his genitals.
He was confined in the closet with the door shut for "significant periods of time," Berry said, and restrained in other parts of the house with ligatures that the sheriff would not describe.
Some of the abuse happened while the boy and his family lived in an extended-stay hotel on Macon Highway, Berry said, but Athens-Clarke police had not joined the investigation as of Friday afternoon.
Berry didn't know how long the family lived in Athens. They moved to Georgia from Florida, and investigators found they lived in Loganville in June 2006, he said.
The victim's mother worked as a Walton County jailer for about five months, Berry said.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Saturday, December 13, 2008
The abuse was "systemic" and happened regularly before the family moved from Athens to Bogart two weeks ago, according to Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry.
Sheriff's deputies arrested the child's mother - a 35-year-old jailer with the Walton County Sheriff's Office - and his 37-year-old stepfather Thursday afternoon, hours after the boy's younger brother told a teacher about the abuse, Berry said Friday.
"This is a very serious case, and as soon as it was brought to our attention we put all available investigative effort into it," Berry said. "Unfortunately, I've seen a lot of horrible things done to children, and this is just as bad, if not worse."
The parents were each charged with first-degree cruelty to children and were held without bail at the Oconee County Jail.
The Banner-Herald is withholding their names to protect the identity of the victim and his brother.
The Department of Family and Children Services took custody of both boys Thursday, the sheriff said.
Though the victim had attended school in both Clarke and Oconee counties, no one noticed the abuse because the boy's clothes covered his injuries, Berry said.
Berry didn't know why the boy never told anyone about the abuse, he said, but it's not uncommon for an abused child to fear retribution if he tells.
The victim's 6-year-old brother told a teacher at his Oconee County school Thursday morning.
"Whatever motivated this case coming to light, I am extremely happy about it," the sheriff said.
The younger boy might have felt more comfortable telling a teacher at a new school or worried that his parents would hurt his brother worse, Berry said.
School officials notified the Oconee County Sheriff's Office about the allegations, and deputies arrested the victim's mother and stepfather at their home shortly after 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Berry said.
Investigators examined the boy and found him covered with marks similar to the wounds a person would have if he was shot with plastic pellets, the sheriff said.
The boy's abusers handcuffed him to a coat rack in a closet then shot him, according to Berry, who said the victim's body was covered with pellet marks, including on his genitals.
He was confined in the closet with the door shut for "significant periods of time," Berry said, and restrained in other parts of the house with ligatures that the sheriff would not describe.
Some of the abuse happened while the boy and his family lived in an extended-stay hotel on Macon Highway, Berry said, but Athens-Clarke police had not joined the investigation as of Friday afternoon.
Berry didn't know how long the family lived in Athens. They moved to Georgia from Florida, and investigators found they lived in Loganville in June 2006, he said.
The victim's mother worked as a Walton County jailer for about five months, Berry said.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Saturday, December 13, 2008
Friday, November 07, 2008
New Robbery Charge Filed Against Officer Jorge Arbaje-Diaz
NEW YORK
Federal prosecutors have filed a new robbery charge against a former New York City police officer already accused of helping a robbery crew.
Jorge Arbaje-Diaz (ahr-BAH'-hay dee-AHZ') could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the new charge, filed Friday.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Arbaje-Diaz and six others conspired to rob a suspected drug dealer on Aug. 26. His lawyer did not immediately return a telephone call.
Last week, Arbaje-Diaz was charged in federal court in Brooklyn with participating in a robbery crew that impersonated police and tortured drug dealers.
The 30-year-old has resigned from the force since his Oct. 31 arrest. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Brooklyn. They include robbery and drug dealing and carry a potential 45-year prison sentence.
Federal prosecutors have filed a new robbery charge against a former New York City police officer already accused of helping a robbery crew.
Jorge Arbaje-Diaz (ahr-BAH'-hay dee-AHZ') could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the new charge, filed Friday.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Arbaje-Diaz and six others conspired to rob a suspected drug dealer on Aug. 26. His lawyer did not immediately return a telephone call.
Last week, Arbaje-Diaz was charged in federal court in Brooklyn with participating in a robbery crew that impersonated police and tortured drug dealers.
The 30-year-old has resigned from the force since his Oct. 31 arrest. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Brooklyn. They include robbery and drug dealing and carry a potential 45-year prison sentence.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Officer Natiq Shah Accused of Raping Woman
RAWALPINDI
Regional Police Officer (RPO) Nasir Khan Durrani on Monday suspended a sub-inspector (SI) for raping a woman and ordered registration of a case against him, said a police handout.
Raheena Bibi, wife of Muhammad Anwar, a resident of Shakrial, submitted an application to the RPO, complaining that Sub-Inspector Natiq Shah detained her at Nasirabad police post on the charge of helping the accused involved in some case and subjected her to physical torture.
She was produced before SP who after verifying the facts ordered the SI to release her immediately. After her release, Shah started visiting her house and criminally assaulted her a number of times.
According to Raheena, 35, the officer threatened that he will kill her husband in a police encounter if she did not “cooperate” with him.
Durrani directed DSP, Legal, Khalid Farooq Paracha to hold an inquiry and submit a report to him. After detailed investigations, the inquiry officer confirmed the allegations.
The RPO suspended Shah and ordered registration of a case against him.
Remand of terror suspect extended: Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) No II on Monday extended till November 13 judicial remand of a suspected terrorist facing charges of involvement in Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) attack case.
Having extended the remand of Hameedullah Mehsood of South Waziristan Agency, Judge Sakhi Muhammad Kahoot adjourned the hearing.
Wah Cantonment police arrested the accused for his alleged involvement in POF attack on August 21 that claimed more than 75 lives and injured over 100. The police have kept him in custody for 27 days for investigation.
Regional Police Officer (RPO) Nasir Khan Durrani on Monday suspended a sub-inspector (SI) for raping a woman and ordered registration of a case against him, said a police handout.
Raheena Bibi, wife of Muhammad Anwar, a resident of Shakrial, submitted an application to the RPO, complaining that Sub-Inspector Natiq Shah detained her at Nasirabad police post on the charge of helping the accused involved in some case and subjected her to physical torture.
She was produced before SP who after verifying the facts ordered the SI to release her immediately. After her release, Shah started visiting her house and criminally assaulted her a number of times.
According to Raheena, 35, the officer threatened that he will kill her husband in a police encounter if she did not “cooperate” with him.
Durrani directed DSP, Legal, Khalid Farooq Paracha to hold an inquiry and submit a report to him. After detailed investigations, the inquiry officer confirmed the allegations.
The RPO suspended Shah and ordered registration of a case against him.
Remand of terror suspect extended: Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) No II on Monday extended till November 13 judicial remand of a suspected terrorist facing charges of involvement in Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) attack case.
Having extended the remand of Hameedullah Mehsood of South Waziristan Agency, Judge Sakhi Muhammad Kahoot adjourned the hearing.
Wah Cantonment police arrested the accused for his alleged involvement in POF attack on August 21 that claimed more than 75 lives and injured over 100. The police have kept him in custody for 27 days for investigation.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Lt. Jon Burge Shames his Badge
CHICAGO
A prosecutor says a former top Chicago police officer "shamed" his uniform and badge by allegedly covering up the torture of murder suspects.
A federal indictment accuses former police Lt. Jon Burge of perjury and obstruction of justice, for denying that he and detectives under his command had tortured people suspected of murder.
The denial came in 2003, when Burge was questioned in a civil rights lawsuit filed by a man who said Burge and other detectives had tortured him. Madison Hobley said the officers had covered his head with a typewriter cover until he couldn't breathe.
Hobley was suspected of setting a fire that killed seven people, including his wife and son. He says a confession that was introduced at his trial was fabricated by police. He was convicted and spent 13 years on death row, but was pardoned in 2003.
Burge was arrested this morning at his Florida home. The arrest caps a long controversy over allegations that beatings, electric shocks and death threats were used against suspects.
The allegations contributed to the decision by Illinois Governor George Ryan in 1993 to empty the state's death row.
A prosecutor says a former top Chicago police officer "shamed" his uniform and badge by allegedly covering up the torture of murder suspects.
A federal indictment accuses former police Lt. Jon Burge of perjury and obstruction of justice, for denying that he and detectives under his command had tortured people suspected of murder.
The denial came in 2003, when Burge was questioned in a civil rights lawsuit filed by a man who said Burge and other detectives had tortured him. Madison Hobley said the officers had covered his head with a typewriter cover until he couldn't breathe.
Hobley was suspected of setting a fire that killed seven people, including his wife and son. He says a confession that was introduced at his trial was fabricated by police. He was convicted and spent 13 years on death row, but was pardoned in 2003.
Burge was arrested this morning at his Florida home. The arrest caps a long controversy over allegations that beatings, electric shocks and death threats were used against suspects.
The allegations contributed to the decision by Illinois Governor George Ryan in 1993 to empty the state's death row.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
More Information on Deputy Robert McClain Accused of Torture
IRVINE
Shocking new revelations today in the case of an L.A. County deputy accused of trying to castrate his wife's alleged lover.
34-year old Deputy Robert McClain was charged today with one felony count each of aggravated mayhem, torture, sodomy by force with great bodily injury.
The charges include a sentencing enhancements for personal use of a deadly weapon, great bodily injury to a sexual assault victim and the use of a deadly weapon during a sexual offense.
McClain's 31-year old wife, whose name has been withheld, told her husband Sunday that she was going to leave him for a 23-year-old man who lives in an Irvine apartment complex, where she works in the leasing office.
McClain asked the woman to take him to meet the young man.
The two of them went to the young man's apartment about 10 p.m., but McClain then led the pair to the leasing office, which has a kitchenette area, Farrah Emami of the Orange County District Attorney's Office said.
Court records allege McClain repeatedly punched and kicked the victims and forced them at knife-point undress and ordered them to engage in a sex act.
At one point, prosecutors said, the deputy ordered his wife to castrate the young man.
She "fearfully pretended to follow his instructions" and the deputy used the knife to repeatedly slice the young man's face, according to a statement released by the Orange County district attorney's office.
McClain then used the knife to repeatedly slice the man's face, Emami said.
Authorities say the attack spanned nearly nine hours.
Once they left the leasing office, McClain allegedly forcibly sodomized the woman, chopped off her hair with the knife and ultimately drove her back to their Irvine home, Emami said.
Police were called to the leasing office around 7:30 a.m. on Monday by a cleaning crew.
They found the 23-year old victim bleeding and unconscious on the floor, suffering from apparent stab wounds.
While investigating the attack on the man, police learned that the deputy's wife had driven herself and her 4 children to a hospital around 5 a.m. where she reported the assault.
The father of the injured man said his son's face was beaten so severely that he could hardly recognize him.
"I know it's him, but his face is just swollen so large I can hardly tell it's him," the father said.
He said his son, who would likely require complete facial reconstruction, had yet to regain full consciousness.
He also said that before the attack, his son told him he had fallen for a married woman.
"He said she was beautiful. I couldn't talk him out of it, and I tried three or four times," he said.
McClain, who has served as a sheriff's deputy for 10 months and was assigned to a county jail, will likely be fired, said Sgt. David Infante, a sheriff's spokesman.
He said a decision is expected Thursday.
In the meantime, McClain is being held in the Theo Lacy branch jail on $1 million bail.
A date for his arraignment has not been set.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Officer Gary Allen Steele Held for Torture of Girlfriend
CANTON TOWNSHIP MI.
March 9 2008
An off-duty Police officer accused of striking his girlfriend with a baseball bat and firing three rounds from his service revolver has been arraigned on seven charges, including torture and assault with intent to murder.
Gary Allen Steele, 42, is charged with hitting his 37-year-old girlfriend in the legs with a baseball bat during an argument Tuesday, then firing the shots.
Police were called to the couple’s home in the area of Pinehurst and Glengarry in Canton Township at about 12:30 p.m., and Steele surrendered without resistance.
The torture and attempted murder charges carry possible sentences of life in prison.
Steele was also charged Thursday with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, a 10-year felony; two counts of felonious assault and discharging a weapon in a building, four-year felonies; and using a firearm during a felony, which carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence on conviction.
Steele was held on 10 percent of a $5 million bond, and ordered to appear for preliminary examination on March 17. The seven-year veteran has been suspended with pay, Detroit officials said.
March 9 2008
An off-duty Police officer accused of striking his girlfriend with a baseball bat and firing three rounds from his service revolver has been arraigned on seven charges, including torture and assault with intent to murder.
Gary Allen Steele, 42, is charged with hitting his 37-year-old girlfriend in the legs with a baseball bat during an argument Tuesday, then firing the shots.
Police were called to the couple’s home in the area of Pinehurst and Glengarry in Canton Township at about 12:30 p.m., and Steele surrendered without resistance.
The torture and attempted murder charges carry possible sentences of life in prison.
Steele was also charged Thursday with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, a 10-year felony; two counts of felonious assault and discharging a weapon in a building, four-year felonies; and using a firearm during a felony, which carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence on conviction.
Steele was held on 10 percent of a $5 million bond, and ordered to appear for preliminary examination on March 17. The seven-year veteran has been suspended with pay, Detroit officials said.
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