YONKERS
A city man who accused a police officer of brutalizing him will get a $5,000 settlement from the city.
Nicholas Satchell, 31, an unemployed mechanic, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city alleging that a police officer slammed his face into a brick wall on Knowles Street on April 26, 2007.
Satchell was not arrested during the encounter.
Satchell said the civil trial occurred in October, but the jury could not reach a verdict.
U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald subsequently asked the two sides to reach a settlement, which Satchell said ultimately left him unsatisfied.
"This whole thing to me wasn't about money. I want charges to be pressed against that cop," Satchell said yesterday.
"I wanted that cop to go through what a normal person on the street would go through if they beat up somebody and got arrested."
Yonkers Deputy Corporation Counsel Mark Blanchard said the settlement did not mean the city acknowledged any wrongdoing by its police officers.
He said the city settled the matter to avoid the expense of repeating the trial.
The City Council approved Satchell's settlement Feb. 24.
Satchell could not identify the officer who he alleged hurt him, but court papers indicated that the officer's badge number was 526.
According to Satchell's federal complaint, he was walking on Knowles Street near Riverdale Avenue to meet a woman he was dating around 10 p.m. when a police vehicle approached and a police sergeant informed him that he matched the description of a robbery suspect.
Another police officer arrived, and Satchell was handcuffed and "aggressively" searched.
The lawsuit alleges that the second police officer slammed Satchell's head into a brick wall after he was handcuffed, causing cuts and bleeding to his face.
After receiving the injury, Satchell alleged that his assailant made a racist remark.
"I knew that you didn't rob anyone because if you did, you would have run, (racial epithet)," the lawsuit stated.
Satchell, who is black, said that after the officers let him go, he bought a camera to document his injuries.
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http://lohud.com/article/20090303/NEWS02/903030337/-1/SPORTS
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Monday, March 02, 2009
Former Sheriff Jim Dorion Arrested on Warrant for Burglary
COEUR D'ALENE
Late Monday afternoon authorities confirmed they had tracked down former Nez Perce County Sheriff Jim Dorion to Louisiana after a nationwide arrest warrant was issued for him last Friday.
Dorion was arrested at 4:28 PM local time in the Caddo Parish in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was arrested by deputies from the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office and booked into the jail as "Jimmy Dorion" and was listed as an out of state fugitive.
He is wanted on three counts of accessory to burglary which were filed by the Idaho Attorney General's office last Friday. The Nez Perce County Court said early Monday it would not release the records related to the case until Dorion was found.
Sources close to the case however indicated that Dorion withheld information involving a burglary at Lewiston High School in June of 2006, a year after he took over as sheriff.
The Idaho Attorney General's Office began investigating Dorion last May after he was accused of misconduct. Around that same time Dorion went on paid medical leave for pancreatic cancer but was fired three months later from his post when he failed to prove his medical condition before the end of his 90-day medical leave from his post.
However Dorion's revelation last May that he had pancreatic cancer came as he was facing increasing scrutiny for on-the-job behavior that included failing to show up for work and falling off his horse while riding with the sheriff's posse at the Asotin County Parade.
The incident at the Asotin County parade led to Dorion confessing he had been "self-medicating" due to his cancer diagnosis which was never substantiated.
Dorion's successor, Sheriff Dale Buttrey, says he find the whole situation his predecessor is involved in is both a surprise and disgusting. Sheriff Buttrey said that if Dorion was brought to trial and found guilty he would be a disgrace to their office and law enforcement in general.
Buttrey said he's now working on restoring the public's trust.
Jury Awards $3 million for Mentally Ill Man who Died after being Tasered
HOUSTON
A Harris County jury on Monday awarded $3 million to the mother of a mentally ill man who died after he was shocked 18 times with a Taser gun and hogtied during an arrest four years ago.
Shirley Nagel sued four deputies with the Precinct One Constable's Office after they arrested her schizophrenic son, Joel Don Casey, in 2005 on a mental health warrant and he died.
Casey's death was later ruled a homicide. An autopsy concluded he died of psychotic delirium with physical restraint associated with heart disease.
The jury found three of the four deputies used unreasonable and excessive force during the arrest, the Houston Chronicle reported on its online edition Monday.
Nagel, 74, wept after the jury's verdict was read.
"The jurors were listening," she said. "We need a policy change. They really need to outlaw hogtying."
Nagel indicated she and others are forming an advocacy group to outlaw such restraint practices and to push for humane treatment of the mentally ill.
Assistant Harris County Attorney Frank Sanders said the deputies were not trying to hurt Casey, 52, or violate his constitutional rights. The county planned to appeal the verdict.
Casey was arrested in his mother's home. After he complained one of the handcuffs hurt him, deputies used a Taser on him multiple times, said Nagel's attorney, Kent Spence.
Casey was thrown down on the street and hogtied before one deputy dropped a knee on his neck and popped his head back, Spence said.
Sanders, who alleged that Casey was resisting the deputies, said the deputies have a dangerous job, doing 5,000 to 6,000 mental commitments a year.
A Harris County jury on Monday awarded $3 million to the mother of a mentally ill man who died after he was shocked 18 times with a Taser gun and hogtied during an arrest four years ago.
Shirley Nagel sued four deputies with the Precinct One Constable's Office after they arrested her schizophrenic son, Joel Don Casey, in 2005 on a mental health warrant and he died.
Casey's death was later ruled a homicide. An autopsy concluded he died of psychotic delirium with physical restraint associated with heart disease.
The jury found three of the four deputies used unreasonable and excessive force during the arrest, the Houston Chronicle reported on its online edition Monday.
Nagel, 74, wept after the jury's verdict was read.
"The jurors were listening," she said. "We need a policy change. They really need to outlaw hogtying."
Nagel indicated she and others are forming an advocacy group to outlaw such restraint practices and to push for humane treatment of the mentally ill.
Assistant Harris County Attorney Frank Sanders said the deputies were not trying to hurt Casey, 52, or violate his constitutional rights. The county planned to appeal the verdict.
Casey was arrested in his mother's home. After he complained one of the handcuffs hurt him, deputies used a Taser on him multiple times, said Nagel's attorney, Kent Spence.
Casey was thrown down on the street and hogtied before one deputy dropped a knee on his neck and popped his head back, Spence said.
Sanders, who alleged that Casey was resisting the deputies, said the deputies have a dangerous job, doing 5,000 to 6,000 mental commitments a year.
Fire Island's Reputation Under Scrutiny as Police Abuse Trial Begins
Fire Island's reputation as a safe getaway could come under scrutiny this week when a police abuse trial begins.
George Hesse, 40, the acting police chief of one of the island's main party towns, Ocean Beach, is charged with stomping a tourist so badly he needed emergency surgery.
Part-time Officer Arnold Hardman, 58, is accused of not telling paramedics the victim had been beaten and had instead overdosed on drugs.
Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota called them "thugs in police uniforms" and an example of "a police department gone wild."
The attack took place early on Aug. 28, 2005, after vacationing Samuel Gilberd, a Manhattan software exec, drunkenly threw a beer glass from a bar into the street. After he was given a summons for littering, he angrily kicked the station house door.
Hesse dragged Gilberd back into the station for a beating, Spota said, and when he was already unconcious, Hesse stomped on his mid-section so hard that he ruptured Gilberd's bladder.
Gilberd's wife, Kana Manglapus, found him out cold on the station house floor. He spent ten days in the hospital.
A week after the incident, the Ocean Beach cops filed charges of resisting arrest against Gilberd. They were later dismissed.
The chief and thee cops were indicted in 2007, a week after five officers he fired filed suit claiming he ran a corrupt department where cops routinely covered up police brutality.
When bringing the charges, Spota criticized Ocean Beach officials for quietly settling numerous police brutality lawsuits over the last two decades.
Over the last year, charges were dismissed against ex-NYPD officer William Emburey, 43. The fourth cop, Paul Carollo, 48, of Commack, has taken a plea in exchange for testifying.
Gilberd, who has also filed a $22 million civil suit against the village, has since moved to California but will return to testify.
Jury selection in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead will resume Tuesday.
George Hesse, 40, the acting police chief of one of the island's main party towns, Ocean Beach, is charged with stomping a tourist so badly he needed emergency surgery.
Part-time Officer Arnold Hardman, 58, is accused of not telling paramedics the victim had been beaten and had instead overdosed on drugs.
Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota called them "thugs in police uniforms" and an example of "a police department gone wild."
The attack took place early on Aug. 28, 2005, after vacationing Samuel Gilberd, a Manhattan software exec, drunkenly threw a beer glass from a bar into the street. After he was given a summons for littering, he angrily kicked the station house door.
Hesse dragged Gilberd back into the station for a beating, Spota said, and when he was already unconcious, Hesse stomped on his mid-section so hard that he ruptured Gilberd's bladder.
Gilberd's wife, Kana Manglapus, found him out cold on the station house floor. He spent ten days in the hospital.
A week after the incident, the Ocean Beach cops filed charges of resisting arrest against Gilberd. They were later dismissed.
The chief and thee cops were indicted in 2007, a week after five officers he fired filed suit claiming he ran a corrupt department where cops routinely covered up police brutality.
When bringing the charges, Spota criticized Ocean Beach officials for quietly settling numerous police brutality lawsuits over the last two decades.
Over the last year, charges were dismissed against ex-NYPD officer William Emburey, 43. The fourth cop, Paul Carollo, 48, of Commack, has taken a plea in exchange for testifying.
Gilberd, who has also filed a $22 million civil suit against the village, has since moved to California but will return to testify.
Jury selection in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead will resume Tuesday.
Minnesota Plaintiffs File Lawsuit Against Officers
Plaintiffs are suing for nearly $2 million in seven suits that name police, law enforcement agencies and the Twin Cities as defendants.
Plaintiffs who say they’ve been beaten, violated and robbed of their rights filed civil suits in federal court late last week, alleging significant misconduct during the Republican National Convention and seeking nearly $2 million in damages.
The suits, the first major action since the September convention, request damages ranging from $100,000 to $1 million, and name Ramsey County and its sheriff’s department, St. Paul and its police and Minneapolis and its police as defendants.
For example, a University of Minnesota employee alleges that she was singled out by law enforcement officers and strip-searched in front of men. Others claim unlawful suppression of both individuals and independent media.
Attorney Ted Dooley, who is representing seven of the plaintiffs who filed the cases, said he’s optimistic about his clients’ chances either in out-of-court settlements or before juries, should any of the cases make it to trial.
“The specifics in the cases vary as you’d expect, but the underlying harm is either the willful or blatantly ignorant attack of the people who were there to express political dissent,” he said. “There was an utter disregard for the right to do that.”
As a condition of hosting the RNC, the city of St. Paul requested the convention host committee pay the $1.1 million premium on a $10 million insurance policy that would cover suits stemming from RNC-related police action.
St. Paul City Attorney John Choi said the city has forwarded the lawsuits to the insurance company providing the policy.
“I expect that the insurance policy would cover the other defendants,” he said.
The insurance company will hire outside counsel to handle the defense of the defendants named in the suits.
Minneapolis spokesman Matt Laible said the city attorney’s office has not yet seen the suits against Minneapolis and also said it is policy not to comment on pending litigation.
The much-scrutinized Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department and St. Paul Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
'I think it was meant to degrade me'
Plaintiffs who say they’ve been beaten, violated and robbed of their rights filed civil suits in federal court late last week, alleging significant misconduct during the Republican National Convention and seeking nearly $2 million in damages.
The suits, the first major action since the September convention, request damages ranging from $100,000 to $1 million, and name Ramsey County and its sheriff’s department, St. Paul and its police and Minneapolis and its police as defendants.
For example, a University of Minnesota employee alleges that she was singled out by law enforcement officers and strip-searched in front of men. Others claim unlawful suppression of both individuals and independent media.
Attorney Ted Dooley, who is representing seven of the plaintiffs who filed the cases, said he’s optimistic about his clients’ chances either in out-of-court settlements or before juries, should any of the cases make it to trial.
“The specifics in the cases vary as you’d expect, but the underlying harm is either the willful or blatantly ignorant attack of the people who were there to express political dissent,” he said. “There was an utter disregard for the right to do that.”
As a condition of hosting the RNC, the city of St. Paul requested the convention host committee pay the $1.1 million premium on a $10 million insurance policy that would cover suits stemming from RNC-related police action.
St. Paul City Attorney John Choi said the city has forwarded the lawsuits to the insurance company providing the policy.
“I expect that the insurance policy would cover the other defendants,” he said.
The insurance company will hire outside counsel to handle the defense of the defendants named in the suits.
Minneapolis spokesman Matt Laible said the city attorney’s office has not yet seen the suits against Minneapolis and also said it is policy not to comment on pending litigation.
The much-scrutinized Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department and St. Paul Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
'I think it was meant to degrade me'
Michelle Gross, president of the civil rights group Communities United Against Police Brutality, also works as manager of staff training and development for University of Minnesota Physicians.
In her $250,000 suit, she alleges Ramsey County Sheriff’s deputies strip-searched her, and only her, in the presence of men during the Aug. 29 raid of a meeting space used by protesters.
Gross said she was compliant with the deputy, but believes she was targeted because she was wearing an anti-police brutality T-shirt and videotaping the raid.
She says the officer touched under her bra and around the top of her underwear while she was being merely detained, not arrested.
“I felt pretty weird about it at the time, but there was so much other weirdness going on,” Gross said. “The whole thing was surreal, it was just bizarre.”
The rented house that was raided was used only as a central point for protesters to meet and talk — First Amendment-protected activities, Gross said.
In addition to the monetary damages she’s seeking, Gross also said she hopes her suit forces policy changes.
“I want them to not do this to anybody else,” she said. “I think it was a power move and I think was meant to degrade me.”
'This series of attacks on free speech…'
Protester Jason Johnson of Oakland, Calif., filed a $1 million suit against the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and more than a dozen officers from the two departments.
Officers at a protest in Mears Park on Sept. 2, the second day of the convention, plucked Johnson from a crowd of protesters and used a Taser on him.
Afterward, according to the suit, Johnson raised his hands and offered no resistance. Police continued to repeatedly use the Taser on Johnson.
The suit states Johnson required medical attention for seven separate Taser wounds and was bloodied during “the battery.” He also reportedly suffered “severe emotional distress” and requires “continuing medical care for the trauma of the unlawful tasering .”
Johnson said the police action was unprovoked.
“At all times relevant to this lawsuit, [he] acted peaceably and in a law-abiding fashion before he was tasered,” the suit reads.
Though the incident in question happened in downtown St. Paul, the city of Minneapolis is also named in the suit because some officers from its police department were involved.
'…and particularly on our freedom of the press'
Wendy Binion of Portland, Ore., came to the RNC as a journalist for Portland Indymedia. She filed a $100,000 suit against the city of St. Paul and more than a dozen St. Paul police officers who took her into custody during the same Mears Park protest where police used a Taser on Johnson.
She was one of the first people arrested at the start of an evening that would hours later culminate in police using tear gas, concussion grenades and “less-lethal” projectiles.
The diminutive Binion questioned the force of multiple riot gear-clad police that handled her. Police also seized the camera she was using to videotape the demonstration and other personal effects.
She was initially charged with a riot-related felony, but that was dismissed. She faces no charges now, but she said she’s heard she’s under investigation for criminal conspiracy to commit riot, a probe that could be open for several years.
Binion said she was peacefully carrying out her duties as a journalist, but was targeted because she is part of the independent media.
Police took her camera and by the time she got it back, Binion said, it was damaged.
“They were taking away people’s right to document their own history,” she said.
Attorney Dooley said the police force at the RNC, made up of more than 100 different law enforcement entities that signed joint-powers agreements, “coordinated this series of attacks on free speech and particularly freedom of the press.”
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Officer Douglas Whitten Charged with Drunk Driving after Hitting Bus
LOWER TOWNSHIP
A veteran township police officer was charged with driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident early Saturday after he allegedly sideswiped an NJ Transit bus.
Police were called to an accident in Town Bank around 1:40 a.m. A driver for NJ Transit said the bus was traveling west on Town Bank Road near Bayshore Road when an oncoming gray pickup truck swerved into the westbound lane and sideswiped the bus.
The truck then drove away, police said. Neither the two passengers aboard nor the bus driver were injured. The bus sustained minor damage and did not have to be towed.
Officers began to search the area for a truck with front-end damage. About four hours later, police Sgt. John Chew saw scrape marks gouged in the pavement on Crawford Road that led to a home. Parked there was a gray pickup truck with heavy front-end damage.
The truck was registered to Lower Township Police Officer Douglas Whitten, 44. Investigators spoke to Whitten and took him to the police station where an alcohol breath test was administered.
Police charged Whitten with drunk driving, leaving the scene of an accident and failing to report an accident. The department immediately suspended Whitten, a 14-year veteran with Lower Township. The department also notified the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office about the arrest of a police officer.
In a statement, Police Chief Ed Donohue said he was disappointed with the officer, adding that Whitten had served Lower Township well for 14 years.
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http://www.nbc40.net/view_story.php?id=8460
A veteran township police officer was charged with driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident early Saturday after he allegedly sideswiped an NJ Transit bus.
Police were called to an accident in Town Bank around 1:40 a.m. A driver for NJ Transit said the bus was traveling west on Town Bank Road near Bayshore Road when an oncoming gray pickup truck swerved into the westbound lane and sideswiped the bus.
The truck then drove away, police said. Neither the two passengers aboard nor the bus driver were injured. The bus sustained minor damage and did not have to be towed.
Officers began to search the area for a truck with front-end damage. About four hours later, police Sgt. John Chew saw scrape marks gouged in the pavement on Crawford Road that led to a home. Parked there was a gray pickup truck with heavy front-end damage.
The truck was registered to Lower Township Police Officer Douglas Whitten, 44. Investigators spoke to Whitten and took him to the police station where an alcohol breath test was administered.
Police charged Whitten with drunk driving, leaving the scene of an accident and failing to report an accident. The department immediately suspended Whitten, a 14-year veteran with Lower Township. The department also notified the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office about the arrest of a police officer.
In a statement, Police Chief Ed Donohue said he was disappointed with the officer, adding that Whitten had served Lower Township well for 14 years.
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http://www.nbc40.net/view_story.php?id=8460
Officer Michael Brown Accused of Drunk Driving
Another Schenectady city police officer has been arrested, tacking on to the department's ever-growing list of members who have gotten into trouble with the law.
This latest arrest involved 27-year-old officer Michael R. Brown of Pattersonville, who allegedly drove drunk on Sunday night before rear-ending another vehicle at Route 9 and Osborne Rd. in Colonie, said Colonie Det. Lt. John Van Alstyne.
Brown sustained injury to his head in the crash, which occurred at around 10:30 p.m.. He was off-duty and driving his 2005 Toyota pickup truck, said Lt. Van Alstyne.
He continued to drive after hitting the car, then stopped about two-tenths of a mile down the road, said Lt. Van Alstyne.
Brown refused a breathalyzer test at the scene. He faces misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a personal injury accident.
He was treated at the scene and released for a cut to his head. A passenger in the car Brown struck was also treated for a non life-threatening injury,.
Brown, who's been with the Schenectady Police Department since 2004, has been suspended from the force for 30 days without pay. The department's professional standards unit has initiated an internal investigation, said a spokesperson.
The department was recently restructured, adding two non-union management positions of assistant police chief and captain of internal affairs, as part of a move to shake up an agency that's become increasingly blemished with reports of troubled officers.
Said Commissioner Wayne Bennett, "The majority of the Schenectady Police Officers conduct themselves in compliance with all laws as well as department rules and regulations. Regrettably, a few officers continue to refuse to abide by these mandates. In such cases, where evidence corroborates non-compliance, I will utilize my authority as disciplinary officer to assess penalties, including termination where appropriate, to put an end to this behavior and further criticism of the Schenectady Police Department. The case of Patrolman Michael R. Brown will be handled consistent with this policy."
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Officer Steven Mohseninia Arrested for DUI After Head-on Crash with Deputy
CANTON, Ohio
An off-duty Akron auxiliary police officer was arrested Sunday on suspicion of driving under the influence after he ran head-on into an on-duty Summity County deputy.
The crash occurred on Arlington Road just north of state Route 619 in the city of Green.
The off-duty Akron auxiliary police officer, Steven R. Mohseninia, was driving his personal vehicle. He made a left turn in front of on-duty Summit County deputy, Michael J. Walsh, who was driving a marked police car. The two vehicles hit head-on causing both vehicles to drive off the roadway.
Walsh received minor injuries as a result of the crash. He was taken to Akron City Hospital. He was treated and released.
Mohseninia was driving a black 2008 Honda Accord. After the crash, he was placed under arrest on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol. He was taken to the Canton Post of the State Highway Patrol Post where he refused to take a breath test.
All traffic and criminal related charges are pending final review.
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http://www.ohio.com/error?url=http%3A//www.ohio.com/news/break_news/40507517.html
An off-duty Akron auxiliary police officer was arrested Sunday on suspicion of driving under the influence after he ran head-on into an on-duty Summity County deputy.
The crash occurred on Arlington Road just north of state Route 619 in the city of Green.
The off-duty Akron auxiliary police officer, Steven R. Mohseninia, was driving his personal vehicle. He made a left turn in front of on-duty Summit County deputy, Michael J. Walsh, who was driving a marked police car. The two vehicles hit head-on causing both vehicles to drive off the roadway.
Walsh received minor injuries as a result of the crash. He was taken to Akron City Hospital. He was treated and released.
Mohseninia was driving a black 2008 Honda Accord. After the crash, he was placed under arrest on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol. He was taken to the Canton Post of the State Highway Patrol Post where he refused to take a breath test.
All traffic and criminal related charges are pending final review.
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http://www.ohio.com/error?url=http%3A//www.ohio.com/news/break_news/40507517.html
Robert Lee Welch Dies After Being Tasered
A man died shortly after sheriff's deputies used a Taser on him at his Montgomery County home Saturday, authorities said.
Deputies received a call about 7 a.m. of a possible suicide attempt at a residence in the 6500 block of Golden Oaks Drive. Robert Lee Welch, 40, had been pushing people there and would not respond to family members, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said.
Deputies approached and tried to talk to Welch, who was not wearing clothing, authorities said. When Welch wouldn't respond, deputies tried to detain the man, who resisted and struggled, authorities said.
Deputies then used a Taser to help control the man, authorities said. Paramedics at the scene began treating Welch, who was not breathing and did not have a pulse.
Welch was taken to a Conroe hospital, where he died. An autopsy will be conducted at the Southeast Texas Forensic Center to determine the cause of death.
The incident is being investigated by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit, Texas Rangers as well as the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.
Tasers, which can deliver a 50,000-volt electrical charge, have drawn controversy across the country. Montgomery County added Tasers to its arsenal in 2006 through federal grants.
The Houston Police Department started using Tasers in 2004. A Houston Chronicle analysis showed that HPD officers deployed their Tasers 1,724 times between December 2004 and May 2008, triggering 69 internal affairs investigations.
Critics worry that the weapons are often used on people who have not committed crimes.
Deputies received a call about 7 a.m. of a possible suicide attempt at a residence in the 6500 block of Golden Oaks Drive. Robert Lee Welch, 40, had been pushing people there and would not respond to family members, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said.
Deputies approached and tried to talk to Welch, who was not wearing clothing, authorities said. When Welch wouldn't respond, deputies tried to detain the man, who resisted and struggled, authorities said.
Deputies then used a Taser to help control the man, authorities said. Paramedics at the scene began treating Welch, who was not breathing and did not have a pulse.
Welch was taken to a Conroe hospital, where he died. An autopsy will be conducted at the Southeast Texas Forensic Center to determine the cause of death.
The incident is being investigated by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit, Texas Rangers as well as the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.
Tasers, which can deliver a 50,000-volt electrical charge, have drawn controversy across the country. Montgomery County added Tasers to its arsenal in 2006 through federal grants.
The Houston Police Department started using Tasers in 2004. A Houston Chronicle analysis showed that HPD officers deployed their Tasers 1,724 times between December 2004 and May 2008, triggering 69 internal affairs investigations.
Critics worry that the weapons are often used on people who have not committed crimes.
Corrections Officer Lon Sainato Charged with Sexual Assault
MORRISTOWN
A Morris County corrections officer was charged with sexual assault and official misconduct after detectives said he coerced a man performing community service into allowing the officer to perform a sex act on him, Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi announced Sunday.
Lon Sainato, 52, of Whippany, was charged Sunday and remains in the Sussex County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail set by Superior Court Judge Salem Ahto.
The alleged act took place on Feb. 22 at the Cedar Knolls Fire House, while the victim was performing his community service and while Sainato was supervising him in his official capacity as a law-enforcement officer, Bianchi said.
The victim, 30, was ordered to perform 60 days on the Sheriff’s Labor Assistance Program (SLAP), a community-service program run by the Morris County Sheriff’s Department. As a SLAP inmate, the victim is on probation and/or parole and is institutionally detained on those days on which he serves his SLAP sentence.
Bianchi stated that the investigation was conducted by the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes Unit, Professional Standards Unit, and Special Enforcement Unit in cooperation with the Morris County Sheriff’s Office Correctional Facility Internal Affairs Unit.
“The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office has investigated and will now prosecute another public official who has violated their oath of office, and abused the privilege of honorably serving the public,” Bianchi said in a statement provided by his office.
“This officer brought shame and dishonor to himself but not to an otherwise honorable profession and well-run agency. Throughout this investigation Morris County Sheriff Edward V. Rochford, Undersheriff Ralph McGrane, Warden Frank Corrente and the Correctional Facility Internal Affairs staff fully cooperated and assisted in this investigation. I continue to have full confidence in the Morris County Sheriff’s Office Correctional Facility. The conduct of this officer in no way is reflective of the department as a whole.”
“If these allegations are proven, this officer is a disgrace to his profession,” Sheriff Edward Rochford said. “He had control over another person and completely violated the public trust. There is no place in law enforcement for anyone who is alleged to have acted in such a reprehensible way. The Prosecutor’s Office moved swiftly on this, and I thank them for getting this person off the street. Officer Sainato has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of his court hearing.”
Sainato was hired by Morris County in 1996. He has been assigned to the Sheriff’s Labor assistance program for the past 10 years. His annual salary is $73,000, Rochford said.
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http://www.ohio.com/error?url=http%3A//www.ohio.com/news/break_news/40507517.html
A Morris County corrections officer was charged with sexual assault and official misconduct after detectives said he coerced a man performing community service into allowing the officer to perform a sex act on him, Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi announced Sunday.
Lon Sainato, 52, of Whippany, was charged Sunday and remains in the Sussex County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail set by Superior Court Judge Salem Ahto.
The alleged act took place on Feb. 22 at the Cedar Knolls Fire House, while the victim was performing his community service and while Sainato was supervising him in his official capacity as a law-enforcement officer, Bianchi said.
The victim, 30, was ordered to perform 60 days on the Sheriff’s Labor Assistance Program (SLAP), a community-service program run by the Morris County Sheriff’s Department. As a SLAP inmate, the victim is on probation and/or parole and is institutionally detained on those days on which he serves his SLAP sentence.
Bianchi stated that the investigation was conducted by the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes Unit, Professional Standards Unit, and Special Enforcement Unit in cooperation with the Morris County Sheriff’s Office Correctional Facility Internal Affairs Unit.
“The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office has investigated and will now prosecute another public official who has violated their oath of office, and abused the privilege of honorably serving the public,” Bianchi said in a statement provided by his office.
“This officer brought shame and dishonor to himself but not to an otherwise honorable profession and well-run agency. Throughout this investigation Morris County Sheriff Edward V. Rochford, Undersheriff Ralph McGrane, Warden Frank Corrente and the Correctional Facility Internal Affairs staff fully cooperated and assisted in this investigation. I continue to have full confidence in the Morris County Sheriff’s Office Correctional Facility. The conduct of this officer in no way is reflective of the department as a whole.”
“If these allegations are proven, this officer is a disgrace to his profession,” Sheriff Edward Rochford said. “He had control over another person and completely violated the public trust. There is no place in law enforcement for anyone who is alleged to have acted in such a reprehensible way. The Prosecutor’s Office moved swiftly on this, and I thank them for getting this person off the street. Officer Sainato has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of his court hearing.”
Sainato was hired by Morris County in 1996. He has been assigned to the Sheriff’s Labor assistance program for the past 10 years. His annual salary is $73,000, Rochford said.
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http://www.ohio.com/error?url=http%3A//www.ohio.com/news/break_news/40507517.html
Two NYPD Officers Accused of Raping Drunk Woman
A police officer is being investigated in the rape of an East Village woman he escorted home after being told she was too drunk to stand, law enforcement sources said.
The officer and his partner came to the woman after a cab driver called 911 on Dec. 7, telling cops she had vomited in his car and couldn't find cab fare, the source said.
Law enforcement sources said they had surveillance video from the victim's apartment building showing the two cops helping the drunken woman inside and returning to the building a second time more than a half hour later. The woman reported the rape to the Manhattan district attorney's office, where officials are currently investigating the complaint, the source said.
Both cops, whose names were not released, were stripped of their guns and badges and placed on modified desk duty.
A lawyer for one of the officers, Stephen Worth, declined to comment.
NYPD Internal Affairs investigators searched both cops' lockers and found one packet of heroin.
The officer accused of rape told colleagues he had forgotten to voucher the drugs after confiscating them in a separate case.
Both cops were given drug tests and passed.
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http://www.metro.us/us/article/2009/03/02/04/0659-82/index.xml
The officer and his partner came to the woman after a cab driver called 911 on Dec. 7, telling cops she had vomited in his car and couldn't find cab fare, the source said.
Law enforcement sources said they had surveillance video from the victim's apartment building showing the two cops helping the drunken woman inside and returning to the building a second time more than a half hour later. The woman reported the rape to the Manhattan district attorney's office, where officials are currently investigating the complaint, the source said.
Both cops, whose names were not released, were stripped of their guns and badges and placed on modified desk duty.
A lawyer for one of the officers, Stephen Worth, declined to comment.
NYPD Internal Affairs investigators searched both cops' lockers and found one packet of heroin.
The officer accused of rape told colleagues he had forgotten to voucher the drugs after confiscating them in a separate case.
Both cops were given drug tests and passed.
________________
http://www.metro.us/us/article/2009/03/02/04/0659-82/index.xml
Officer Javier Alonzo Arrested for Aggravated Sexual Assault
Update:
EL PASO, Tx.
An El Paso police officer is under arrest for Aggravated Sexual Assault against a woman.
Police say they began investigating the accusation against 16-year veteran officer Javier Alonzo on Tuesday. They found probable cause and issued an arrest warrant for Alonzo, however, he fled El Paso before officers could arrest him.
According to a news release from EPPD, U.S. Marshal's nabbed Alonzo in Austin and turned him over to Austin police. He is now being escorted back to El Paso.
Authorities have not released any details on the alleged attack; however, police chief Greg Allen has ordered the termination of Alonzo.
Previous Post: http://whathappenedtoprotectandserve.blogspot.com/2009/02/veteran-officer-javier-alonzo-arrested.html
EL PASO, Tx.
An El Paso police officer is under arrest for Aggravated Sexual Assault against a woman.
Police say they began investigating the accusation against 16-year veteran officer Javier Alonzo on Tuesday. They found probable cause and issued an arrest warrant for Alonzo, however, he fled El Paso before officers could arrest him.
According to a news release from EPPD, U.S. Marshal's nabbed Alonzo in Austin and turned him over to Austin police. He is now being escorted back to El Paso.
Authorities have not released any details on the alleged attack; however, police chief Greg Allen has ordered the termination of Alonzo.
Previous Post: http://whathappenedtoprotectandserve.blogspot.com/2009/02/veteran-officer-javier-alonzo-arrested.html
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Former Sheriff Bill Keating Charged with Having Sex with Inmates
FORT WORTH, Texas
A former sheriff and several ex-jailers were among 17 people named Friday in a 106-count indictment on charges ranging from having sex with inmates to bringing them drugs at a now-closed county jail.
Former Montague County Sheriff Bill Keating was charged with official oppression and having sex with inmates, according to the indictment. Keating was defeated in a primary election last spring.
Several female jailers were charged with having sex with inmates and bringing them drugs, cell phones and cigarettes, while several male jailers were charged with drug possession and with bringing inmates banned items, according to the indictment.
Several inmates also were charged with drug possession, according to the indictment.
State District Judge Roger Towery has sealed the names in the indictments until the suspects are arrested, but their jobs and charges were made public....
A former sheriff and several ex-jailers were among 17 people named Friday in a 106-count indictment on charges ranging from having sex with inmates to bringing them drugs at a now-closed county jail.
Former Montague County Sheriff Bill Keating was charged with official oppression and having sex with inmates, according to the indictment. Keating was defeated in a primary election last spring.
Several female jailers were charged with having sex with inmates and bringing them drugs, cell phones and cigarettes, while several male jailers were charged with drug possession and with bringing inmates banned items, according to the indictment.
Several inmates also were charged with drug possession, according to the indictment.
State District Judge Roger Towery has sealed the names in the indictments until the suspects are arrested, but their jobs and charges were made public....
Video Shows Deputy Beating 15-year-old Girl
A video showing a King County Sheriff's deputy pummeling a 15-year-old girl in a holding cell was released Friday over the strenuous objections of the officer's attorney.
The case goes beyond police misconduct, County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said in a prepared statement.
"It's about criminal misconduct. And that's why he needs to be prosecuted," he said.
The video of the Nov. 29 incident was disclosed Friday, one day after Deputy Paul Schene, 31, pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault in King County District Court.
Schene, an eight-year veteran, works out of Precinct 4, which covers SeaTac, Burien and high crime areas in White Center and Skyway.
He is the third sheriff's deputy since 2006 to face charges on allegations of excessive force. All three are from the Burien precinct.
A detective assigned to the girl's case discovered the video Dec. 1 and immediately forwarded it to supervisors.
The Seattle P-I requested a copy of the holding cell video and all reports from the incident under the state's open records law. A judge on Thursday denied a request from Schene's attorney to bar the video from public disclosure.
"We take this very seriously and we're very concerned about this," sheriff's Sgt. Jim Laing said Friday. An internal investigation would begin after the criminal case is finished.
The girl was arrested after she was caught in her parents' car, which had been reported stolen from her parents' Tukwila home. Deputy Travis Brunner spotted the car driving without headlights about 3:45 a.m. on 32nd Avenue South in SeaTac and pulled it over.
She and another 15-yearold girl were arrested and taken to SeaTac City Hall to be fingerprinted before being transported to the youth detention center.
The P-I is not naming the girl because she is a minor.
The deputies apparently didn't know until later that the girl, who was in the passenger seat, was related to the car's owner.
"We had argued strenuously that the videotape released to the media this morning not be released because it does not tell the whole story of the incident," attorney Anne Bremner said in a statement.
"As we argued to the judge, it will inflame public opinion and will severely impact the deputy's right to a fair trial."
The video shows Schene and Brunner as they escorted the girl into the holding cell. Schene had asked her to remove her basketball shoes, and, as she slipped out of her left shoe, she appeared to kick it at Schene.
Schene then lunged through the door and kicked her, striking either her stomach or upper thigh area, court documents say. He pushed her against a corner wall before flinging her to the floor by her hair. He then squatted down on her and made "two overhead strikes," although it's unclear where the blows landed.
The detective who reviewed the video said it appeared Schene and Brunner had the girl under control when Schene struck her. Schene, who is 6 feet 2 and weighs 195 pounds, did not explain his action to investigators, court documents say.
He and the girl exchanged words. Brunner said she was "real lippy" after being informed she was under arrest and called them "fat pigs."
The Sheriff's Office policy manual says deputies should use physical or deadly force only when "necessary to effect an arrest, to defend themselves or others from violence, or to otherwise accomplish police duties according to law."
Schene could face up to a year in jail if convicted. He has been on administrative leave since early December.
The girl said that she couldn't breathe after the incident, prompting the deputies to call paramedics.
Paramedics decided that she didn't require hospitalization. Felony charges require proof of serious injury.
"If the matter were to go to trial, he could face additional charges," said Ian Goodhew, deputy chief of staff in the Prosecutor's Office.
In his own report from the incident, Schene wrote that the shoe hit him in the right shin, "causing injury and pain." He wrote that he "placed" her into handcuffs and that she needed medical attention for a "panic attack."
He said a "blood filled pocket" formed on his shin, requiring treatment at Auburn General Hospital, according to his report. The video, however, appears to show his shin strike a metal toilet as he pushes the girl against the wall.
The girl told investigators that she didn't intend for the shoe to hit him, court documents say.
Schene had previously been in the news in 2006 after he fatally shot Pedro Jo, a mentally ill man, during a struggle after a traffic stop on Interstate 5. It was the second officer-involved shooting of his career.
An inquest jury ruled the shooting was justified. Jo viciously attacked Schene, trying to strangle him with his own radio cord.
Jo then ran back to his car and disobeyed Schene's orders to stop. Schene said he saw Jo reach for something in the seat, so Schene fired 11 times after Jo ran back to his car.
Shortly after the shooting while on administrative leave, Schene was stopped for driving under the influence.
He had been drinking and taking prescription medication, according to court records. He received a deferred sentence and was placed on probation, records show.
Schene works in an urban precinct with higher rates of violent crime and gang activity than other precincts. Officers assigned there more often report having to use physical force in arrest situations, Laing said.
Schene is the second officer from the precinct in three months to face charges. In addition, a third deputy, Brian Bonnar, was acquitted in January of civil rights violations during a trial in U.S. District Court. Bonnar, who patrolled in the precinct, was accused by other deputies of using excessive force on a woman who'd been restrained after a high-speed pursuit.
Legal costs for Bonnar's private attorneys, David Allen and Todd Maybrown, as well as lawyer costs for other deputies involved, cost the county's insurer $315,000, according to records the P-I obtained.
In December, Deputy Don Griffee was charged with misdemeanor assault for allegedly punching a handcuffed male suspect. The state Attorney General's Office is prosecuting the case.
________________
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipb_PeXOdT4
The case goes beyond police misconduct, County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said in a prepared statement.
"It's about criminal misconduct. And that's why he needs to be prosecuted," he said.
The video of the Nov. 29 incident was disclosed Friday, one day after Deputy Paul Schene, 31, pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault in King County District Court.
Schene, an eight-year veteran, works out of Precinct 4, which covers SeaTac, Burien and high crime areas in White Center and Skyway.
He is the third sheriff's deputy since 2006 to face charges on allegations of excessive force. All three are from the Burien precinct.
A detective assigned to the girl's case discovered the video Dec. 1 and immediately forwarded it to supervisors.
The Seattle P-I requested a copy of the holding cell video and all reports from the incident under the state's open records law. A judge on Thursday denied a request from Schene's attorney to bar the video from public disclosure.
"We take this very seriously and we're very concerned about this," sheriff's Sgt. Jim Laing said Friday. An internal investigation would begin after the criminal case is finished.
The girl was arrested after she was caught in her parents' car, which had been reported stolen from her parents' Tukwila home. Deputy Travis Brunner spotted the car driving without headlights about 3:45 a.m. on 32nd Avenue South in SeaTac and pulled it over.
She and another 15-yearold girl were arrested and taken to SeaTac City Hall to be fingerprinted before being transported to the youth detention center.
The P-I is not naming the girl because she is a minor.
The deputies apparently didn't know until later that the girl, who was in the passenger seat, was related to the car's owner.
"We had argued strenuously that the videotape released to the media this morning not be released because it does not tell the whole story of the incident," attorney Anne Bremner said in a statement.
"As we argued to the judge, it will inflame public opinion and will severely impact the deputy's right to a fair trial."
The video shows Schene and Brunner as they escorted the girl into the holding cell. Schene had asked her to remove her basketball shoes, and, as she slipped out of her left shoe, she appeared to kick it at Schene.
Schene then lunged through the door and kicked her, striking either her stomach or upper thigh area, court documents say. He pushed her against a corner wall before flinging her to the floor by her hair. He then squatted down on her and made "two overhead strikes," although it's unclear where the blows landed.
The detective who reviewed the video said it appeared Schene and Brunner had the girl under control when Schene struck her. Schene, who is 6 feet 2 and weighs 195 pounds, did not explain his action to investigators, court documents say.
He and the girl exchanged words. Brunner said she was "real lippy" after being informed she was under arrest and called them "fat pigs."
The Sheriff's Office policy manual says deputies should use physical or deadly force only when "necessary to effect an arrest, to defend themselves or others from violence, or to otherwise accomplish police duties according to law."
Schene could face up to a year in jail if convicted. He has been on administrative leave since early December.
The girl said that she couldn't breathe after the incident, prompting the deputies to call paramedics.
Paramedics decided that she didn't require hospitalization. Felony charges require proof of serious injury.
"If the matter were to go to trial, he could face additional charges," said Ian Goodhew, deputy chief of staff in the Prosecutor's Office.
In his own report from the incident, Schene wrote that the shoe hit him in the right shin, "causing injury and pain." He wrote that he "placed" her into handcuffs and that she needed medical attention for a "panic attack."
He said a "blood filled pocket" formed on his shin, requiring treatment at Auburn General Hospital, according to his report. The video, however, appears to show his shin strike a metal toilet as he pushes the girl against the wall.
The girl told investigators that she didn't intend for the shoe to hit him, court documents say.
Schene had previously been in the news in 2006 after he fatally shot Pedro Jo, a mentally ill man, during a struggle after a traffic stop on Interstate 5. It was the second officer-involved shooting of his career.
An inquest jury ruled the shooting was justified. Jo viciously attacked Schene, trying to strangle him with his own radio cord.
Jo then ran back to his car and disobeyed Schene's orders to stop. Schene said he saw Jo reach for something in the seat, so Schene fired 11 times after Jo ran back to his car.
Shortly after the shooting while on administrative leave, Schene was stopped for driving under the influence.
He had been drinking and taking prescription medication, according to court records. He received a deferred sentence and was placed on probation, records show.
Schene works in an urban precinct with higher rates of violent crime and gang activity than other precincts. Officers assigned there more often report having to use physical force in arrest situations, Laing said.
Schene is the second officer from the precinct in three months to face charges. In addition, a third deputy, Brian Bonnar, was acquitted in January of civil rights violations during a trial in U.S. District Court. Bonnar, who patrolled in the precinct, was accused by other deputies of using excessive force on a woman who'd been restrained after a high-speed pursuit.
Legal costs for Bonnar's private attorneys, David Allen and Todd Maybrown, as well as lawyer costs for other deputies involved, cost the county's insurer $315,000, according to records the P-I obtained.
In December, Deputy Don Griffee was charged with misdemeanor assault for allegedly punching a handcuffed male suspect. The state Attorney General's Office is prosecuting the case.
________________
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipb_PeXOdT4
Friday, February 27, 2009
Sheriff Charlie Morris Arrested for Theft, Fraud & other Charges
An emotional start to a Friday morning for the employees of Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office.Just before 9 o'clock they were informed their boss, Sheriff Charlie Morris, was behind bars.
"I don't know if i can do this Charlie Morris has been like a father to me and to say that we are hurt, to say that we are stunned to say that we are disappointed does not even begin to describe it," says Michele Nickelson the O.C.S.O. public information officer.
Federal agents arrested Morris in Las Vegas, Friday morning on theft, fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy charges.
Around the same time, authorities in Shalimar arrested Morris' director of administration and finance, 50-year-old Theresa "Terry" Adams, escorting her out of her office.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says Morris and Adams were conducting a scheme to steal money from the sheriff's office payroll account, enlisting the help of unwitting employees. Several of those employees got suspicious and began working with local FBI agents.
Those agents say the scheme worked like this:
Adams or Morris or both, would tell the employee the sheriff's office charity account was out of money. They'd ask the employee to help them transfer money from the payroll account to the charity account, in the form of kick-backs.Those employees told federal agents they would receive thousands of dollars in bonuses, then give most or all of the money back to Adams as either cash or a cashier's check.
The say Morris never gave any of the money to charity, but pocketed it for his own use.
After Morris' arrest, Gov. Charlie Crist suspended him from office and appointed FDLE Agent Edward Spooner as the acting sheriff. Friday afternoon, Spooner reacted to the situation.
"It's a bad day for all of us I've known charlie Morris for 16 years..I've worked with him quite a bit....it's tough for all of us." But he refused to answer any questions about the investigation, like are there any more arrests pending.
"This involved a very small group of employees in the sheriff's office that is being investigated by the FBI."
If the allegations are true, the nagging question is why would Morris do it. Some claim Morris has a gambling problem.
"I don't know that he has a gambling problem I have no knowledge of that and it's an issue i will not discuss," says Spooner.
When asked why Morris was in Las Vegas, Spooner would only answer he was on vacation.
As for his stay at the sheriff's office, Spooner says he's only there for a short time.
"It's my understanding I'll be here for 4 to 6 or even 8 weeks to come in and keep the sheriff's office running the same and give the same service to the citizens, the members and the employees, but the agency is who will make the difference."
There is no word on who will step-up and permanently replace Morris, not only as sheriff, but also as the president of the Florida Sheriff's Association.
Morris is due in Federal Court in Las Vegas for a bond hearing.
He'll then be extradited back to the Pensacola where he'll face the charges.
"I don't know if i can do this Charlie Morris has been like a father to me and to say that we are hurt, to say that we are stunned to say that we are disappointed does not even begin to describe it," says Michele Nickelson the O.C.S.O. public information officer.
Federal agents arrested Morris in Las Vegas, Friday morning on theft, fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy charges.
Around the same time, authorities in Shalimar arrested Morris' director of administration and finance, 50-year-old Theresa "Terry" Adams, escorting her out of her office.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says Morris and Adams were conducting a scheme to steal money from the sheriff's office payroll account, enlisting the help of unwitting employees. Several of those employees got suspicious and began working with local FBI agents.
Those agents say the scheme worked like this:
Adams or Morris or both, would tell the employee the sheriff's office charity account was out of money. They'd ask the employee to help them transfer money from the payroll account to the charity account, in the form of kick-backs.Those employees told federal agents they would receive thousands of dollars in bonuses, then give most or all of the money back to Adams as either cash or a cashier's check.
The say Morris never gave any of the money to charity, but pocketed it for his own use.
After Morris' arrest, Gov. Charlie Crist suspended him from office and appointed FDLE Agent Edward Spooner as the acting sheriff. Friday afternoon, Spooner reacted to the situation.
"It's a bad day for all of us I've known charlie Morris for 16 years..I've worked with him quite a bit....it's tough for all of us." But he refused to answer any questions about the investigation, like are there any more arrests pending.
"This involved a very small group of employees in the sheriff's office that is being investigated by the FBI."
If the allegations are true, the nagging question is why would Morris do it. Some claim Morris has a gambling problem.
"I don't know that he has a gambling problem I have no knowledge of that and it's an issue i will not discuss," says Spooner.
When asked why Morris was in Las Vegas, Spooner would only answer he was on vacation.
As for his stay at the sheriff's office, Spooner says he's only there for a short time.
"It's my understanding I'll be here for 4 to 6 or even 8 weeks to come in and keep the sheriff's office running the same and give the same service to the citizens, the members and the employees, but the agency is who will make the difference."
There is no word on who will step-up and permanently replace Morris, not only as sheriff, but also as the president of the Florida Sheriff's Association.
Morris is due in Federal Court in Las Vegas for a bond hearing.
He'll then be extradited back to the Pensacola where he'll face the charges.
Teresa Adams Arrested with Sheriff Charlie Morris
Another person has been arrested in connection to the arrest of Okaloosa County Sheriff Charlie Morris.
Along with the Arrest of 59-year-old Sheriff Charlie Morris, Teresa Adams, age 50, of Niceville, Florida, were arrested Friday based upon a federal criminal complaint alleging violations of Theft or Fraud from Federally Funded Programs, Wire Fraud, Fraud or Theft of Honest Services, Money Laundering and Money Laundering Conspiracy.
Sheriff Morris was arrested by federal agents in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is expected to make an initial appearance in United States District Court for the District of Nevada Friday.
Thereafter, he is expected to be returned to the Northern District of Florida.
According to the complaint filed in federal court, Morris, with the assistance of his Director of Administration and Finance, Adams, created fictitious bonuses to sheriff’s department employees.
The complaint alleges the employees were directed to return all or a portion of the bonuses in the form of cash and cashier’s checks under the pretense that these returned funds were to be used for charitable purposes.
Adams is expected to make an initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Elizabeth M. Timothy in Pensacola Friday.
A criminal complaint is merely a charging instrument. Each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in United States District Court.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Randall J.
Along with the Arrest of 59-year-old Sheriff Charlie Morris, Teresa Adams, age 50, of Niceville, Florida, were arrested Friday based upon a federal criminal complaint alleging violations of Theft or Fraud from Federally Funded Programs, Wire Fraud, Fraud or Theft of Honest Services, Money Laundering and Money Laundering Conspiracy.
Sheriff Morris was arrested by federal agents in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is expected to make an initial appearance in United States District Court for the District of Nevada Friday.
Thereafter, he is expected to be returned to the Northern District of Florida.
According to the complaint filed in federal court, Morris, with the assistance of his Director of Administration and Finance, Adams, created fictitious bonuses to sheriff’s department employees.
The complaint alleges the employees were directed to return all or a portion of the bonuses in the form of cash and cashier’s checks under the pretense that these returned funds were to be used for charitable purposes.
Adams is expected to make an initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Elizabeth M. Timothy in Pensacola Friday.
A criminal complaint is merely a charging instrument. Each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in United States District Court.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Randall J.
Officer Paul Cervantes Charged with Stealing Drug Dealers SUV
A judge ruled this afternoon that there was sufficient evidence to order one Fresno police officer to stand trial on a charge of helping an informant steal a suspected drug dealer's SUV, but another officer charged in the case was allowed to go free.
Judge Gary Orozco said in Fresno County Superior Court there was probable cause to believe officer Paul Cervantes helped steal a 2001 Ford Explorer that belonged to Humberto Ortega Quintero, who was arrested Jan. 7, 2008, during a drug bust in Fresno.
But Orozco said there was little evidence to link officer Hector Becerra to the theft.
The judge also ruled that the informant, Jesus Jose Mendoza Valles, should stand trial.
1:38 p.m.: A preliminary hearing began this morning in Fresno County Superior Court for two Fresno police officers and a confidential informant accused of stealing a suspected drug dealer's SUV in January last year.
Randy Royal, an investigator with the California Highway Patrol, testified he interviewed the informant, Jesus Jose Mendoza Valles.
Royal said Valles told him police officers Paul Cervantes and Hector Becerra gave him permission to take an SUV owned by Humberto Ortega Quintero after Quintero was arrested in a drug bust on Jan. 7, 2008.
The next day, Valles went to the Department of Motor Vehicles and registered the SUV in his name, Royal said.
Royal also testified he interviewed Quintero and learned Valles never paid him $5,000 for his 2001 Ford Explorer.
Valles was booked into the downtown jail Dec. 29 on a charge of stealing Quintero's car. Before the two officers were arrested, Royal said, they went to the jail to visit Valles. The officers interviewed Valles for about 20 minutes, Royal testified.
What was discussed has not yet been disclosed in Judge Gary Orozco's courtroom.
Before the lunch break, another witness, Fresno Sgt. Walter Boston, said he received a tip from Cervantes after the officer was arrested. The tip led him to a female confidential informant who works for the Fresno Police Department. Cervantes told Boston that Valles told the woman he felt pressured by the CHP and Fresno police detective Brad Alcorn to "give up the officers."
Cervantes, 32, Becerra, 34, and Valles, 45, each face a charge of felony auto theft.
The preliminary hearing will determine whether there is enough evidence to order the three men to stand trial. The hearing resumes after the lunch break.
Judge Gary Orozco said in Fresno County Superior Court there was probable cause to believe officer Paul Cervantes helped steal a 2001 Ford Explorer that belonged to Humberto Ortega Quintero, who was arrested Jan. 7, 2008, during a drug bust in Fresno.
But Orozco said there was little evidence to link officer Hector Becerra to the theft.
The judge also ruled that the informant, Jesus Jose Mendoza Valles, should stand trial.
1:38 p.m.: A preliminary hearing began this morning in Fresno County Superior Court for two Fresno police officers and a confidential informant accused of stealing a suspected drug dealer's SUV in January last year.
Randy Royal, an investigator with the California Highway Patrol, testified he interviewed the informant, Jesus Jose Mendoza Valles.
Royal said Valles told him police officers Paul Cervantes and Hector Becerra gave him permission to take an SUV owned by Humberto Ortega Quintero after Quintero was arrested in a drug bust on Jan. 7, 2008.
The next day, Valles went to the Department of Motor Vehicles and registered the SUV in his name, Royal said.
Royal also testified he interviewed Quintero and learned Valles never paid him $5,000 for his 2001 Ford Explorer.
Valles was booked into the downtown jail Dec. 29 on a charge of stealing Quintero's car. Before the two officers were arrested, Royal said, they went to the jail to visit Valles. The officers interviewed Valles for about 20 minutes, Royal testified.
What was discussed has not yet been disclosed in Judge Gary Orozco's courtroom.
Before the lunch break, another witness, Fresno Sgt. Walter Boston, said he received a tip from Cervantes after the officer was arrested. The tip led him to a female confidential informant who works for the Fresno Police Department. Cervantes told Boston that Valles told the woman he felt pressured by the CHP and Fresno police detective Brad Alcorn to "give up the officers."
Cervantes, 32, Becerra, 34, and Valles, 45, each face a charge of felony auto theft.
The preliminary hearing will determine whether there is enough evidence to order the three men to stand trial. The hearing resumes after the lunch break.
Trooper Leslie Hoover Arrested for DUI was Wearing a Red Dress
A South Carolina Highway Patrol officer is off the job after being arrested under bizarre circumstances on Wednesday.
Officials say trooper Leslie C. Hoover was pulled over on John Dodd Road in Spartanburg County under suspicion of DUI. This came after a motorist called 911 to report Hoover’s personal vehicle, an Isuzu Rodeo, swerving erratically on Insterstate 26 about 6:40pm in heavy rush hour traffic. The SC Department of Public Safety says Hoover refused a breathalyzer and failed a field sobriety test. He was charged with driving under the influence.
Thursday morning, Hoover appeared before a magistrate and was released on his own recognizance. But his appearance when he entered the jail has stirred more discussion than his legal troubles.
A high-ranking official who wished to remain anonymous tells News Channel 7 he saw Hoover brought into the jail “wearing a red dress”. He says Hoover was also wearing a bra and was seen “adjusting his bra” while he waited to be processed. And he says the shamed trooper had a pair of thong panties “in his possession”.
That would explain statements made by the man who made the 911 call on the interstate. The driver, who asked not to be identified, said Hoover “appeared to be wearing a blonde wig” when he came flying past him near exit 22. On a recording of his 911 call - which was obtained by News Channel 7 - the man refers to Hoover as “she” several times.
“Yes, I’m on interstate 26 heading west at exit 22 and there is a red, I think it’s an Isuzu or a Rodeo, and she - I think it’s a she - is weaving all over the road,“ says the caller on the 911 tape.
Dispatcher: “Do you think she’s intoxicated or….?“
Caller: “I can’t tell but she is weaving all over the road!“.
Sid Gaulden, spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety, says Hoover is from Lexington County and was on his personal time when he was arrested. He says Hoover was terminated Thursday morning. He had worked for the Highway Patrol for 30 years. He says Hoover retired in 2000 but came back to work in 2002 as a member of the patrol’s Insurance Enforcement Team. The team works with the Department of Motor Vehicles to seize license plates from car owners who have allowed their insurance coverage to lapse.
“They are part-time employees but they have the same authority to conduct traffic stops and issue citations as a full-time state trooper,“ says Gaulden. He says Hoover did not have any disciplanary actions against him as a patrol officer from 1976 to 2000. But after he came back in 2002, he had to attend one counseling session for “negligent operation of a state vehicle”. Gaulden says that stemmed from an incident in which Hoover rear-ended a civilian’s vehicle. He says “there was no indication alcohol was a factor” in that crash.
The man who called 911 raises another interesting issue: he says another state trooper could have stopped Hoover before he called 911 but did not pull him over. He says as Hoover’s vehicle swerved all over the road near exit 22, a state trooper in an SUV pulled “right up behind” Hoover and followed him. He says at the time, Hoover’s vehicle was straddling the divided white line that separates lanes.
“I really thought (the trooper) was going to pull him over because he was clearly weaving,“ says the caller. “But he just went right around him and took off real fast like he was in a hurry.“
He says as the trooper was going around Hoover’s vehicle, Hoover swerved off the shoulder of the interstate.
“I thought that would have been obvious enough for the trooper to notice that but I guess he didn’t,“ says the man. He says minutes later, after he saw Hoover almost collide with several vehicles, he picked up his cell phone and dialed 911.
We informed Department of Public Safety of the man’s statement about the trooper failing to pull over Hoover. Gaulden said they were not aware of the scenario “but we will investigate it fully” to see if it was indeed a state trooper who pulled up behind Hoover and if so, why they opted not to pull him over.
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Previous Post: http://whathappenedtoprotectandserve.blogspot.com/2009/02/trooper-leslie-hoover-arrested-for-dui.html
Officials say trooper Leslie C. Hoover was pulled over on John Dodd Road in Spartanburg County under suspicion of DUI. This came after a motorist called 911 to report Hoover’s personal vehicle, an Isuzu Rodeo, swerving erratically on Insterstate 26 about 6:40pm in heavy rush hour traffic. The SC Department of Public Safety says Hoover refused a breathalyzer and failed a field sobriety test. He was charged with driving under the influence.
Thursday morning, Hoover appeared before a magistrate and was released on his own recognizance. But his appearance when he entered the jail has stirred more discussion than his legal troubles.
A high-ranking official who wished to remain anonymous tells News Channel 7 he saw Hoover brought into the jail “wearing a red dress”. He says Hoover was also wearing a bra and was seen “adjusting his bra” while he waited to be processed. And he says the shamed trooper had a pair of thong panties “in his possession”.
That would explain statements made by the man who made the 911 call on the interstate. The driver, who asked not to be identified, said Hoover “appeared to be wearing a blonde wig” when he came flying past him near exit 22. On a recording of his 911 call - which was obtained by News Channel 7 - the man refers to Hoover as “she” several times.
“Yes, I’m on interstate 26 heading west at exit 22 and there is a red, I think it’s an Isuzu or a Rodeo, and she - I think it’s a she - is weaving all over the road,“ says the caller on the 911 tape.
Dispatcher: “Do you think she’s intoxicated or….?“
Caller: “I can’t tell but she is weaving all over the road!“.
Sid Gaulden, spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety, says Hoover is from Lexington County and was on his personal time when he was arrested. He says Hoover was terminated Thursday morning. He had worked for the Highway Patrol for 30 years. He says Hoover retired in 2000 but came back to work in 2002 as a member of the patrol’s Insurance Enforcement Team. The team works with the Department of Motor Vehicles to seize license plates from car owners who have allowed their insurance coverage to lapse.
“They are part-time employees but they have the same authority to conduct traffic stops and issue citations as a full-time state trooper,“ says Gaulden. He says Hoover did not have any disciplanary actions against him as a patrol officer from 1976 to 2000. But after he came back in 2002, he had to attend one counseling session for “negligent operation of a state vehicle”. Gaulden says that stemmed from an incident in which Hoover rear-ended a civilian’s vehicle. He says “there was no indication alcohol was a factor” in that crash.
The man who called 911 raises another interesting issue: he says another state trooper could have stopped Hoover before he called 911 but did not pull him over. He says as Hoover’s vehicle swerved all over the road near exit 22, a state trooper in an SUV pulled “right up behind” Hoover and followed him. He says at the time, Hoover’s vehicle was straddling the divided white line that separates lanes.
“I really thought (the trooper) was going to pull him over because he was clearly weaving,“ says the caller. “But he just went right around him and took off real fast like he was in a hurry.“
He says as the trooper was going around Hoover’s vehicle, Hoover swerved off the shoulder of the interstate.
“I thought that would have been obvious enough for the trooper to notice that but I guess he didn’t,“ says the man. He says minutes later, after he saw Hoover almost collide with several vehicles, he picked up his cell phone and dialed 911.
We informed Department of Public Safety of the man’s statement about the trooper failing to pull over Hoover. Gaulden said they were not aware of the scenario “but we will investigate it fully” to see if it was indeed a state trooper who pulled up behind Hoover and if so, why they opted not to pull him over.
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Previous Post: http://whathappenedtoprotectandserve.blogspot.com/2009/02/trooper-leslie-hoover-arrested-for-dui.html
Veteran Officer Javier Alonzo Arrested for Sexual Assault
EL PASO, Texas
A 16-year veteran of the El Paso Police Department has been arrested in Austin on a charge of aggravated sexual assault.
El Paso police announced Friday that Javier Alonzo was arrested by Austin police without incident. Alonzo's whereabouts had been unknown since El Paso police issued a warrant for his arrest Tuesday, according to the news release.
Alonzo was booked into the Travis County jail but is expected to be moved to El Paso, the news release said.
The alleged victim was identified in the news release as a woman living in El Paso.
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http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/18812034/detail.html
A 16-year veteran of the El Paso Police Department has been arrested in Austin on a charge of aggravated sexual assault.
El Paso police announced Friday that Javier Alonzo was arrested by Austin police without incident. Alonzo's whereabouts had been unknown since El Paso police issued a warrant for his arrest Tuesday, according to the news release.
Alonzo was booked into the Travis County jail but is expected to be moved to El Paso, the news release said.
The alleged victim was identified in the news release as a woman living in El Paso.
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http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/18812034/detail.html
Officers Hector Becerra & Paul Cervantes Return to Court for Auto Theft
Two Fresno Police Officers, accused of felony auto theft, will return to court Friday morning.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Hector Becerra and Paul Cervantes, at which prosecutors will present evidence to hold the two over for trial.
The two are accused of stealing a car they were supposedly seizing, and turning it over to a chop shop. They were arrested back on January 30th, and made their first court appearance on February 17th, where they pleaded not guilty to the charges.
A third Fresno Police Officer, 40-year-old Robert Eddings is facing charges related to the case, for giving false information.
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Other Information: http://www.kmph.com/Global/story.asp?S=9922198&nav=menu612_2_9
Previous Post:
http://whathappenedtoprotectandserve.blogspot.com/2009/01/officer-paul-cervantes-detective-hector.html
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Hector Becerra and Paul Cervantes, at which prosecutors will present evidence to hold the two over for trial.
The two are accused of stealing a car they were supposedly seizing, and turning it over to a chop shop. They were arrested back on January 30th, and made their first court appearance on February 17th, where they pleaded not guilty to the charges.
A third Fresno Police Officer, 40-year-old Robert Eddings is facing charges related to the case, for giving false information.
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Other Information: http://www.kmph.com/Global/story.asp?S=9922198&nav=menu612_2_9
Previous Post:
http://whathappenedtoprotectandserve.blogspot.com/2009/01/officer-paul-cervantes-detective-hector.html
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Officer Joseph Houston Investigated for Exposing Himself
BREWSTER
Selectmen met for a second, and final, time yesterday afternoon in a closed-door session to decide whether to discipline or dismiss Brewster police Officer Joseph Houston for alledgedly exposing himself and assaulting other patrons at a Jan. 18 rock concert in Boston.
The hearing took nearly two hours and allowed Houston's attorney to present his client's side of the case to the board. Afterward, selectmen chairman Peter Norton said the rules regarding executive session prohibited him from commenting on the meeting other than to say that the board had concluded its deliberations on the matter.
Leaving the meeting, Houston did not appear to be a man who had been vindicated. He and his attorney walked briskly past reporters, who had been excluded from the hearing. Neither Houston nor his attorney, Patrick Bryant, would comment on whether Houston still had a job as a Brewster police officer.
"There will be no comment at this time," Bryant said.
The municipal payroll is considered a public record, and, after the meeting, Police Chief Richard Koch said that Houston, who had been on paid administrative leave since the January incident, would not be on paid leave as of today, or any time thereafter.
Houston was allegedly intoxicated while at a Metallica concert at TD Banknorth Garden on Jan. 18. At one point, he allegedly pulled down his pants and urinated on a man in the row in front of him. According to a complaint filed with Boston police after the concert, Houston also physically and verbally harassed the female members of the party, identified only as a family from out of state, and allegedly lunged at the man's sister with his pants still down and genitals exposed.
When he was ejected by security guards for fighting with the first victim, Houston allegedly flashed his Brewster police badge, identified himself as an officer and demanded he be allowed back into the concert. At one point, he allegedly said "Look at Obama" to a black Transit police officer.
Houston was arrested by the Transit Police and charged with trespassing for trying to get back into the concert. He has been arraigned on that charge. Boston detectives have also requested a clerk's hearing, set for March 5, on possible felony charges against the officer.
Executive session is typically invoked in personnel cases, especially disciplinary and dismissal hearings. The sessions are closed to the public and media unless the defendant asks them to be conducted in open session. Houston requested a closed hearing. Executive session minutes and the record of decision is generally public information, once selectmen have reviewed and approved them.
Chief Koch said his department's own internal investigation into Houston's conduct at the concert would not be released until after all avenues of appeal had been exhausted, including any possible union grievance.
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http://www.wickedlocal.com/brewster/town_info/government/x594726462/Brewster-tight-lipped-after-Houston-hearing
Selectmen met for a second, and final, time yesterday afternoon in a closed-door session to decide whether to discipline or dismiss Brewster police Officer Joseph Houston for alledgedly exposing himself and assaulting other patrons at a Jan. 18 rock concert in Boston.
The hearing took nearly two hours and allowed Houston's attorney to present his client's side of the case to the board. Afterward, selectmen chairman Peter Norton said the rules regarding executive session prohibited him from commenting on the meeting other than to say that the board had concluded its deliberations on the matter.
Leaving the meeting, Houston did not appear to be a man who had been vindicated. He and his attorney walked briskly past reporters, who had been excluded from the hearing. Neither Houston nor his attorney, Patrick Bryant, would comment on whether Houston still had a job as a Brewster police officer.
"There will be no comment at this time," Bryant said.
The municipal payroll is considered a public record, and, after the meeting, Police Chief Richard Koch said that Houston, who had been on paid administrative leave since the January incident, would not be on paid leave as of today, or any time thereafter.
Houston was allegedly intoxicated while at a Metallica concert at TD Banknorth Garden on Jan. 18. At one point, he allegedly pulled down his pants and urinated on a man in the row in front of him. According to a complaint filed with Boston police after the concert, Houston also physically and verbally harassed the female members of the party, identified only as a family from out of state, and allegedly lunged at the man's sister with his pants still down and genitals exposed.
When he was ejected by security guards for fighting with the first victim, Houston allegedly flashed his Brewster police badge, identified himself as an officer and demanded he be allowed back into the concert. At one point, he allegedly said "Look at Obama" to a black Transit police officer.
Houston was arrested by the Transit Police and charged with trespassing for trying to get back into the concert. He has been arraigned on that charge. Boston detectives have also requested a clerk's hearing, set for March 5, on possible felony charges against the officer.
Executive session is typically invoked in personnel cases, especially disciplinary and dismissal hearings. The sessions are closed to the public and media unless the defendant asks them to be conducted in open session. Houston requested a closed hearing. Executive session minutes and the record of decision is generally public information, once selectmen have reviewed and approved them.
Chief Koch said his department's own internal investigation into Houston's conduct at the concert would not be released until after all avenues of appeal had been exhausted, including any possible union grievance.
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http://www.wickedlocal.com/brewster/town_info/government/x594726462/Brewster-tight-lipped-after-Houston-hearing
Deputy Mario Carey Charged with Domestic Violence
A Pierce County sheriff’s deputy was charged with domestic violence Wednesday after an argument with his girlfriend.
Mario Carey, 37, was charged with fourth-degree domestic violence, a misdemeanor, in Bonney Lake Municipal Court.
Carey’s girlfriend called police to a residence near Lake Tapps about 6:40 a.m. Feb. 16 after she and Carey had an argument, said Bonney Lake police spokesman Tony Rice. Officers interviewed the two and found probable cause to arrest the deputy, Rice said.
The woman didn’t need medical assistance at the scene, Rice said.
Carey, an eight-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, was placed on paid administrative leave and, following standard procedure, his weapon was confiscated, sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said.
The Sheriff’s Department will conduct an internal investigation of the incident, Troyer said.
Mario Carey, 37, was charged with fourth-degree domestic violence, a misdemeanor, in Bonney Lake Municipal Court.
Carey’s girlfriend called police to a residence near Lake Tapps about 6:40 a.m. Feb. 16 after she and Carey had an argument, said Bonney Lake police spokesman Tony Rice. Officers interviewed the two and found probable cause to arrest the deputy, Rice said.
The woman didn’t need medical assistance at the scene, Rice said.
Carey, an eight-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, was placed on paid administrative leave and, following standard procedure, his weapon was confiscated, sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said.
The Sheriff’s Department will conduct an internal investigation of the incident, Troyer said.
Sgt Ronald Jones Arrested for Fraudulently Obtaining Prescription Medication
ALAMEDA
A veteran Alameda police officer was arrested this morning and now faces felony charges after authorities said that he fraudulently obtained prescription medication.
Ronald R. Jones, a sergeant who has been with the department for 26 years, is accused of visiting a residence of someone who was terminally ill and telling the family that police provided a disposal service for medication.
Jones allegedly took the medications and never placed them into evidence for destruction.
As an administrative sergeant there was no reason for Jones to have been collecting items at the scene, said Alameda police Lt. Bill Scott, who also noted that it does not appear to have been an isolated incident.
Alameda police launched an internal affairs investigation last month.
Jones was arrested this morning in Pleasanton by agents from the state Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.
Jones was booked at the Alameda County Sheriff's Office on two felony counts of using fraud, deceit or misrepresentation to obtain a controlled substance.
He has been placed on paid administrative leave.
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/26/BAOH165OKH.DTL&tsp=1
A veteran Alameda police officer was arrested this morning and now faces felony charges after authorities said that he fraudulently obtained prescription medication.
Ronald R. Jones, a sergeant who has been with the department for 26 years, is accused of visiting a residence of someone who was terminally ill and telling the family that police provided a disposal service for medication.
Jones allegedly took the medications and never placed them into evidence for destruction.
As an administrative sergeant there was no reason for Jones to have been collecting items at the scene, said Alameda police Lt. Bill Scott, who also noted that it does not appear to have been an isolated incident.
Alameda police launched an internal affairs investigation last month.
Jones was arrested this morning in Pleasanton by agents from the state Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.
Jones was booked at the Alameda County Sheriff's Office on two felony counts of using fraud, deceit or misrepresentation to obtain a controlled substance.
He has been placed on paid administrative leave.
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/26/BAOH165OKH.DTL&tsp=1
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Don Ickes Files Lawsuit After Being Tasered
An Osterburg man who said he was doing tax research before being tasered at the county courthouse is suing Bedford Borough and one of its officers.
And the tape recorder that got Don Ralph Ickes in trouble in the first place – if admissible in court – may have captured key evidence in the case.
Ickes said he went to the Bedford County Courthouse on Feb. 13, 2008, to visit the law library.
Told that it was closed, he went to the tax assessor’s office to review tax maps.
Borough police Officer Dean Kensinger Jr. saw Ickes there and asked to speak with him in the hallway.
According to the lawsuit Ickes filed in U.S. District Court in Johnstown, Kensinger said “(Ickes) was violating the law by using a tape recorder in public without the consent of those who may be recorded.”
Ickes replied that he was recording his research. With the tape machine still running, Ickes said he was not violating the law and started to walk away.
“Officer Kensinger then grabbed the plaintiff and forcefully attempted to stop him from leaving the area and to force him to turn off his tape recorder,” the suit claims.
Ickes said he pulled away, they parted and Ickes questioned the officer, saying he had not violated any laws.
“Officer Kensinger then tasered plaintiff multiple times, which caused plaintiff to fall to the floor in great agony and pain,” the lawsuit claims.
He then was arrested and taken to jail. The suit says Ickes began to have breathing problems and spent four days in UPMC Bedford Memorial. Upon leaving the hospital, he was jailed again but posted bond and was released a day later.
Ickes is suing Kensinger for arrest and imprisonment without cause and use of excessive force, and the borough for failing to ensure the officer was properly trained. He is seeking unspecified monetary damages.
Borough Manager John Montgomery said Wednesday he wasn’t aware of the case and said it would be turned over to attorneys.
Ickes’ criminal case still is pending. He faces charges of intercepting communications, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
And the tape recorder that got Don Ralph Ickes in trouble in the first place – if admissible in court – may have captured key evidence in the case.
Ickes said he went to the Bedford County Courthouse on Feb. 13, 2008, to visit the law library.
Told that it was closed, he went to the tax assessor’s office to review tax maps.
Borough police Officer Dean Kensinger Jr. saw Ickes there and asked to speak with him in the hallway.
According to the lawsuit Ickes filed in U.S. District Court in Johnstown, Kensinger said “(Ickes) was violating the law by using a tape recorder in public without the consent of those who may be recorded.”
Ickes replied that he was recording his research. With the tape machine still running, Ickes said he was not violating the law and started to walk away.
“Officer Kensinger then grabbed the plaintiff and forcefully attempted to stop him from leaving the area and to force him to turn off his tape recorder,” the suit claims.
Ickes said he pulled away, they parted and Ickes questioned the officer, saying he had not violated any laws.
“Officer Kensinger then tasered plaintiff multiple times, which caused plaintiff to fall to the floor in great agony and pain,” the lawsuit claims.
He then was arrested and taken to jail. The suit says Ickes began to have breathing problems and spent four days in UPMC Bedford Memorial. Upon leaving the hospital, he was jailed again but posted bond and was released a day later.
Ickes is suing Kensinger for arrest and imprisonment without cause and use of excessive force, and the borough for failing to ensure the officer was properly trained. He is seeking unspecified monetary damages.
Borough Manager John Montgomery said Wednesday he wasn’t aware of the case and said it would be turned over to attorneys.
Ickes’ criminal case still is pending. He faces charges of intercepting communications, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Officer A.R. Caruana Arrested for Making Threats
A Raleigh police officer is charged with assault after an off-duty arrest.
Police Chief Harry Dolan said in a statement Wednesday that officers went to a disturbance call around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 10000 block of Heather Meadow Lane.
When they got there, they say their investigation found that 32-year-old A.R. Caruana had been pointing a gun and making threats.
Caruana was arrested and taken to the Wake County Jail.
The chief said Caruana was off-duty at the time of the incident and his service weapon was not involved.
Caruana joined the department on June 4, 2000, holds the rank of senior officer, and has most recently been assigned to the department's Gang Suppression Unit.
Police say the dispute that led to the charges was a domestic related incident and not related to Caruana's law enforcement duties. The investigation continues.
Police Chief Harry Dolan said in a statement Wednesday that officers went to a disturbance call around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 10000 block of Heather Meadow Lane.
When they got there, they say their investigation found that 32-year-old A.R. Caruana had been pointing a gun and making threats.
Caruana was arrested and taken to the Wake County Jail.
The chief said Caruana was off-duty at the time of the incident and his service weapon was not involved.
Caruana joined the department on June 4, 2000, holds the rank of senior officer, and has most recently been assigned to the department's Gang Suppression Unit.
Police say the dispute that led to the charges was a domestic related incident and not related to Caruana's law enforcement duties. The investigation continues.
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Police Taser 14-year-old Autistic Boy
The family of a 14-year-old autistic boy is suing police and his school after authorities Tasered him until he lost consciousness.
The student attended Creekside Middle School in Carmel, Ind., and remains unnamed in the complaint. He is described as having "affective disorder and has been diagnosed with autism, manic-depressive disorder and bipolar disorder."
According to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, the boy's mother, Dianne Bell, was late dropping him off for school and called to tell the administration. However, the student received detention and became "frustrated and began to act out."
"During this outburst he is saying outrageous things," Bells' attorney, Ronald Frazier, told the Indianapolis Star. He said the student said he would call his gang as retaliation against his teachers.
"They know there is no gang there," Frazier said. "They know he has no way of acting on what he is saying. They are taking these idle threats and calling police."
The family claims the school district did not abide by established procedures for dealing with the outbursts
"When a child like (the Bells' son) starts to have emotional problems, the (individual procedure) is supposed to be followed," Frazier told the Star. "It has specific steps that are to be taken in order to keep the child from melting totally down."
The administration dialed 9-1-1 instead.
The family claims Carmel police officer Matthew Kinkade restrained the 5-foot, 90-pound boy and forced him onto a bench in the school lobby. When his outburst continued, the officer allegedly Tasered the boy two times – leaving him unconscious.
"Officer Kinkade used unreasonable and excessive force by failing to follow policies and procedures that were in place for dealing with autistic children," according to the complaint.
The Police Department claims the school never notified officers of the boy's condition, although school officials say they did.
"Autistic children have a great difficulty interpreting what others are thinking or feeling because they don't understand social cues," Frazier told the Star. "(The Bell child) gets confronted with violence, with Tasers, and he is flipping out because of his sensory overload."
Noblesville Police Department Lt. Bruce Barnes trains officers in the use of Tasers.
"You can use the Taser anytime anybody is punching, kicking or threatening to punch or kick," Barnes said. "We can use it when we tell someone to do something, they refuse, lesser-force options are not available and they are a credible threat to you."
Barnes wouldn't speculate about whether the autistic boy actually posed a legitimate threat to police, according to the report.
Sheila Wolfe, director of the Indianapolis-based Autism Education and Training Center, told the Star school officials and police who responded to the outburst actually made it worse.
"You need to step away and leave them alone so that they can decompress," she said. "I have a hard time believing that a trained officer would Taser a child with a disability if they fully understood the situation they were walking into.
"I know from experience that the people in Carmel (Clay schools) know better. As a school system, they have the expertise and they have the people available that know better. I'm surprised."
The Bell family is now suing the Carmel Police Department, officer Matthew Kinkade and Carmel Clay Schools. They are seeking damages for medical expenses, pain, suffering and mental anguish.
Family of Iman Morales Suing the City for Tasering Death
The family of a Brooklyn man who died after police Tasered him is suing the city, a cop and the estate of another officer who killed himself for $10 million.
Relatives of Iman Morales, 35, want the money and a review of police protocols and training in the use of Tasers.
"He didn't deserve any of this," said Morales' mother, Olga Negron, 55, who was at the scene when her mentally ill son was struck and then fell headfirst from a ledge onto the concrete 10 feet below. "It was horrible."
The suit names the city; the estate of Lt. Michael Pigott, who ordered the Tasing, and Officer Nicholas Marchesona, who fired the 50,000-volt electroshock as Morales was teetering on a 10-foot-high ledge Sept. 24.
A remorseful Pigott committed suicide days later. Marchesona was promoted to detective five weeks after Morales died.
Police have said the incident violated department guidelines, which prohibit stun gun use "in situations where the subject may fall from an elevated surface."
"What went wrong, clearly, was the training," the family's lawyer, Seth Harris, said Wednesday. "They have to train how to properly use this weapon."
He questioned why the Brooklyn district attorney's office didn't open a criminal probe.
A spokesman said the district attorney accepted cops' version that Morales' death was a tragic accident.
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Previous Post: http://whathappenedtoprotectandserve.blogspot.com/2009/01/family-of-tasered-victim-furious-that.html
Relatives of Iman Morales, 35, want the money and a review of police protocols and training in the use of Tasers.
"He didn't deserve any of this," said Morales' mother, Olga Negron, 55, who was at the scene when her mentally ill son was struck and then fell headfirst from a ledge onto the concrete 10 feet below. "It was horrible."
The suit names the city; the estate of Lt. Michael Pigott, who ordered the Tasing, and Officer Nicholas Marchesona, who fired the 50,000-volt electroshock as Morales was teetering on a 10-foot-high ledge Sept. 24.
A remorseful Pigott committed suicide days later. Marchesona was promoted to detective five weeks after Morales died.
Police have said the incident violated department guidelines, which prohibit stun gun use "in situations where the subject may fall from an elevated surface."
"What went wrong, clearly, was the training," the family's lawyer, Seth Harris, said Wednesday. "They have to train how to properly use this weapon."
He questioned why the Brooklyn district attorney's office didn't open a criminal probe.
A spokesman said the district attorney accepted cops' version that Morales' death was a tragic accident.
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Previous Post: http://whathappenedtoprotectandserve.blogspot.com/2009/01/family-of-tasered-victim-furious-that.html
Trooper Leslie Hoover Arrested for DUI
A South Carolina Highway Patrol officer has been arrested in Spartanburg County, charged with DUI.
The SC Department Of Public Safety tells us Officer Leslie Hoover, who is from Lexington County, and works in the Insurance Enforcement Team of the Highway Patrol, was taken into custody at around 6:30 this evening.
Troopers stopped him on Interstate 26 at John Dodd Road in Spartanburg County, after a motorist called 911 to report a car swerving.
Two troopers pulled him over, and say he failed a field sobriety test.
Troopers tell us he was in his personal car, not a patrol car.
He has been booked at the Spartanburg County Detention Center.
Public Safety tells us, the Public Safety Director has taken steps to terminate Hoover.
The High Cost of Police Brutality
LOS ANGELES (FinalCall.com)
Abusive cops are costing already cash-strapped cities across the U.S. millions of dollars in settlements but civil rights activists and attorneys warn that the payouts will continue unless the criminal justice system begins to prosecute its out-of-control officers.
“Obviously we are in a major budget crisis, which has personally affected me,” said author, activist and syndicated columnist Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson, referring to a local community college Spanish class he had signed up for, but was cancelled due to state budget cuts.
“Already within a space of three months we’ve seen how this crisis has gotten bigger and bigger and people are hurt by this. This is not just some abstract numbers, but this affects real peoples’ lives. We’ve seen how it affects healthcare, education, welfare, and jobs—whether public or private—public services, DMV, mental health facilities and processing job applications.There is real pain and suffering,” Dr. Hutchinson said.
On Feb. 4, the Los Angeles City Council authorized a $12.85 million settlement to demonstrators who were injured when officers from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) used excessive force to break up a peaceful May Day rally in MacArthur Park last year.More than 300 claims were filed against the city.
That same day in Oakland, Atty. John Burris filed a $1.5 million claim against the Bay Area Rapid Transit District and former transit officer Johannes Mehserle.Mr. Mehserle shot and killed 22-year-old Oscar Grant, III in the back while he had apparently been subdued.
Atty. Burris filed the claim on behalf of five others who were with Mr. Grant that New Year’s Day and alleged that they were also abused by BART police.
On Jan. 28, the L.A. City Council also approved a $20.5 million settlement for four LAPD officers who charged that they were wrongfully prosecuted during the 1990s Rampart corruption scandal. But previous settlements to Rampart victims of police misconduct totaled about $75.5 million.The notorious scandal was uncovered when Rafael Perez, a member of the CRASH (Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums) Gang Unit, testified as a police informant that he and other officers often falsely accused and framed gang members for crimes.
“Cities and counties around the nation are hurting badly but is that to say that it’s going to make the LAPD any better in terms of how they police, hire and promote in terms of more minority sensitive?I don’t think so.I just think it’s going to increase the liability of taxpayers,” Dr. Hutchinson said.
If cities have to pay $12 million settlements, they simply rob Peter to pay Paul. “They will pull the money from somewhere else, library, park, playground service hours.They’ll find it by not funding after school nutrition programs.It has a rippling effect and it is caused by a mandated court order,” Dr. Hutchinson said.
According to the non-partisan California Budget Project, which works to improve “public policies affecting the economic and social well-being of low- and middle-income Californians,” people who have been and stand to be impacted by the current statewide budget crisis include:
• 1,544,710 public school students, due to cuts to five of the largest funding allocations;
• 66,140 low-income children dropped from the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Program;
• 418,840 low-income seniors and persons with disabilities who would lose the state cost-of-living adjustment for Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment cash assistance grants;
• 61,590 low-income children in 2008-09—and a total of 112,140 children by 2009-10 —who would lose Medi-Cal coverage due to increased paperwork requirements; and
• 249,220 children enrolled in the Healthy Families Program, which provides low-cost health coverage for children in low-income working families.
In Chicago the mayor has put city employees on unpaid leave to help fill a budget shortfall. But a little over a year ago, Chicago officials agreed to pay $19.8 million to four men who suffered police torture under then-commander Jon Burge.Some $30 million has been spent to settle assorted lawsuits connected with the case, which stretches back to abuses during the 1980s and 1990s. Mayor Richard Daley proposed a two-to-three day furlough for more than 4,000 non-union workers to ease the city’s budgetary crisis.
The $30 million payout doesn’t count millions of dollars spent defending Mr. Burge after he was fired by the police department in 1993, said a staffer at the People’s Law Office, which has represented torture victims. City attorneys and private attorneys were paid to defend a man whose firing bore witness to his guilt, said the staffer. This doesn’t even count the human toll, which is worse, because of how Blacks, Latinos and the poor are abused by officers, said the staffer.
Big price tags for cop abuses aren’t new
Current budget problems may cause taxpayers to take a look at how their money is spent, but in Chicago $18 million was paid to the family of LaTanya Haggerty, a Black woman shot to death by police in 1999. In 1995, a New York Times editorial noted that in the “cash-starved” Big Apple, brutality settlements and court judgments cost the city $87 million over five years. The Rodney King beating cost Los Angeles $3.8 million in a settlement and estimates for property damage hit $700 million after riots when officers involved were acquitted. In 2001, the city of New York shelled out $7.125 million in the infamous Abner Louima case, in which the Haitian immigrant was assaulted with a plunger by officers in a precinct bathroom.
“This is shameful because right now if you’re already suffering from a $150 million budget deficit and you have three or four huge lawsuits, you have to find that money, so it makes sense to train and educate officers on the front end rather than pay for settlements on the back,” said Ronald Hampton, executive director of the National Black Police Association.
“All their priorities are turned upside down and instead of discouraging more police brutality from occurring, they are basically encouraging it.The money could have been used to offset all of Gov. Schwarzenegger’s budget cuts,” said John Parker, west coast coordinator of the International Action Center, in Los Angeles.With the exception of the Grant case, it is rare that police officers face any possible penalty for excessive force and misconduct, Mr. Parker said.
Police watch groups say that another challenge to police misconduct is being able to track the numerous settlement cases and how they balance with criminal prosecutions of officers.
Information about settlements may be secret
The ease or difficulty of getting records of payments in police misconduct cases depends on the particular state and state law, according to Brigitt Keller, executive director of the National Police Accountability Project. For example, Ms. Keller said, in Massachusetts, settlements paid out of the city’s budget are public record and the terms can be made available with a public records request.However, settlements paid through insurance companies may be confidential.
According to civil rights attorneys, since many abuse cases never make it to trial, the real costs of these settlements are unknown.“Many civil rights cases are dismissed on summary judgment, a method that individual judges use to dismiss or get rid of cases.Many are dismissed by White judges, often in federal court, and there’s no recognition by the judge of the racial issues in the case,” said civil rights attorney Christopher Cooper, of Merrillville, Ind., outside of Chicago.Lawyers’ best advice to plaintiffs, especially if they are Black, is for them to take the settlement or risk having their case tossed out, he said.
Atty. Michael Haddad, who has been fighting civil rights cases for 17 years, said the settlements are only the tip of the iceberg because attorneys probably talk to 100 people who say police abused them before they can take one case. “It’s so hard to prove these cases because the juries like to give police the benefit of the doubt … so the high cost is high but the human cost is much higher because the vast majority of victims never get compensated,” said the Oakland-based lawyer.
Unfortunately, Atty. Haddad added, the settlements create budgetary problems because most cities don’t plan for it, but some cities have insurance that kicks in after so many millions. They could save so much more if they spent money to prevent the misconduct in the first place, he said.
Atty. Haddad said that in a 2004 lawsuit he filed in Oakland, the police chief acknowledged a longstanding pattern of improper strip searches of people on the street.After four years, his firm uncovered some 40 victims of the strip searches. In 2008, although a federal judge ruled that the policies were unconstitutional, the city has not revised the policy and continues to use it.
“Now they’re facing a very big case with these 40 plaintiffs and probably will end up having to pay a significant amount of money to these victims,” Atty. Haddad said.
Legal challenges to police abuse expensive, rare
Kenavon “KC” Carter, an Austin, Texas-based criminal defense attorney, said it is important to understand that the battle against police brutality will not be won with lawsuits alone.“It’s going to take community organizing, public education and a legislative strategy to put pressure on police departments and city councils to hold their officers accountable,” he said.
According to Atty. Carter, it takes at least $50,000 to even bring a civil rights lawsuit alleging police brutality.Such cases are difficult to win because police officers are protected by the principle of qualified immunity, he said.“All an officer has to say when they’ve shot some brother down in the street, in the back, is that they had to make a split second decision, and that decision was to use deadly force.The courts allow them to get a pass,” he said.
“A lot of civil rights organizations, ACLU, NAACP and others are really picking and choosing cases to litigate on because they’re so expensive.They’re not successful and really not an effective strategy on holding police accountable for the conduct of their officers.”
Atty. Carter established Hip Hop Against Police Brutality Project under the sponsorship of the Texas ACLU’s Police Accountability Office. What he has found throughout his legal career is that along with city councils,the real power brokers for police misconduct are district attorneys and police chiefs from civil settlements to criminal prosecutions.
District attorneys are elected officials, so if communities are dissatisfied with their performances, one option is to vote them out, Atty. Carter said.The problem is, however, police officers have strong police unions that put a great deal of pressure on police chiefs, district attorneys and whoever they feel is a threat to cops who step out of line.
On the other hand, Atty. Carter added, citizens have to give good D.A.s political cover when they try to do the right thing.“D.A. Craig Watkins in Dallas, Texas, who is Black, has reopened and overturned 20 wrongful convictions placed on the books by the former D.A. because he saw a pattern of wrongdoing, but now he’s under pressure by the rest of his class of prosecutors to ease up.He’s going to be in trouble in the next election if people don’t stand up and when we finally have somebody really about justice, doing the right thing, we can’t afford to leave him out to dry,” he said.
In its 1999 report entitled, “Shielded From Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States,” Human Rights Watch indicated that race has played a central role in police brutality in the United States. “In the cities we have examined where such data are available, minorities have alleged human rights violations by police more frequently than white residents and far out of proportion to their representation in those cities. Police have subjected minorities to apparently discriminatory treatment and have physically abused minorities while using racial epithets,” the document read. Human Rights Watch hasn’t followed up on that major report made a decade ago because of money problems and has discontinued domestic monitoring of police misconduct.
Abusive cops are costing already cash-strapped cities across the U.S. millions of dollars in settlements but civil rights activists and attorneys warn that the payouts will continue unless the criminal justice system begins to prosecute its out-of-control officers.
“Obviously we are in a major budget crisis, which has personally affected me,” said author, activist and syndicated columnist Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson, referring to a local community college Spanish class he had signed up for, but was cancelled due to state budget cuts.
“Already within a space of three months we’ve seen how this crisis has gotten bigger and bigger and people are hurt by this. This is not just some abstract numbers, but this affects real peoples’ lives. We’ve seen how it affects healthcare, education, welfare, and jobs—whether public or private—public services, DMV, mental health facilities and processing job applications.There is real pain and suffering,” Dr. Hutchinson said.
On Feb. 4, the Los Angeles City Council authorized a $12.85 million settlement to demonstrators who were injured when officers from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) used excessive force to break up a peaceful May Day rally in MacArthur Park last year.More than 300 claims were filed against the city.
That same day in Oakland, Atty. John Burris filed a $1.5 million claim against the Bay Area Rapid Transit District and former transit officer Johannes Mehserle.Mr. Mehserle shot and killed 22-year-old Oscar Grant, III in the back while he had apparently been subdued.
Atty. Burris filed the claim on behalf of five others who were with Mr. Grant that New Year’s Day and alleged that they were also abused by BART police.
On Jan. 28, the L.A. City Council also approved a $20.5 million settlement for four LAPD officers who charged that they were wrongfully prosecuted during the 1990s Rampart corruption scandal. But previous settlements to Rampart victims of police misconduct totaled about $75.5 million.The notorious scandal was uncovered when Rafael Perez, a member of the CRASH (Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums) Gang Unit, testified as a police informant that he and other officers often falsely accused and framed gang members for crimes.
“Cities and counties around the nation are hurting badly but is that to say that it’s going to make the LAPD any better in terms of how they police, hire and promote in terms of more minority sensitive?I don’t think so.I just think it’s going to increase the liability of taxpayers,” Dr. Hutchinson said.
If cities have to pay $12 million settlements, they simply rob Peter to pay Paul. “They will pull the money from somewhere else, library, park, playground service hours.They’ll find it by not funding after school nutrition programs.It has a rippling effect and it is caused by a mandated court order,” Dr. Hutchinson said.
According to the non-partisan California Budget Project, which works to improve “public policies affecting the economic and social well-being of low- and middle-income Californians,” people who have been and stand to be impacted by the current statewide budget crisis include:
• 1,544,710 public school students, due to cuts to five of the largest funding allocations;
• 66,140 low-income children dropped from the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Program;
• 418,840 low-income seniors and persons with disabilities who would lose the state cost-of-living adjustment for Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment cash assistance grants;
• 61,590 low-income children in 2008-09—and a total of 112,140 children by 2009-10 —who would lose Medi-Cal coverage due to increased paperwork requirements; and
• 249,220 children enrolled in the Healthy Families Program, which provides low-cost health coverage for children in low-income working families.
In Chicago the mayor has put city employees on unpaid leave to help fill a budget shortfall. But a little over a year ago, Chicago officials agreed to pay $19.8 million to four men who suffered police torture under then-commander Jon Burge.Some $30 million has been spent to settle assorted lawsuits connected with the case, which stretches back to abuses during the 1980s and 1990s. Mayor Richard Daley proposed a two-to-three day furlough for more than 4,000 non-union workers to ease the city’s budgetary crisis.
The $30 million payout doesn’t count millions of dollars spent defending Mr. Burge after he was fired by the police department in 1993, said a staffer at the People’s Law Office, which has represented torture victims. City attorneys and private attorneys were paid to defend a man whose firing bore witness to his guilt, said the staffer. This doesn’t even count the human toll, which is worse, because of how Blacks, Latinos and the poor are abused by officers, said the staffer.
Big price tags for cop abuses aren’t new
Current budget problems may cause taxpayers to take a look at how their money is spent, but in Chicago $18 million was paid to the family of LaTanya Haggerty, a Black woman shot to death by police in 1999. In 1995, a New York Times editorial noted that in the “cash-starved” Big Apple, brutality settlements and court judgments cost the city $87 million over five years. The Rodney King beating cost Los Angeles $3.8 million in a settlement and estimates for property damage hit $700 million after riots when officers involved were acquitted. In 2001, the city of New York shelled out $7.125 million in the infamous Abner Louima case, in which the Haitian immigrant was assaulted with a plunger by officers in a precinct bathroom.
“This is shameful because right now if you’re already suffering from a $150 million budget deficit and you have three or four huge lawsuits, you have to find that money, so it makes sense to train and educate officers on the front end rather than pay for settlements on the back,” said Ronald Hampton, executive director of the National Black Police Association.
“All their priorities are turned upside down and instead of discouraging more police brutality from occurring, they are basically encouraging it.The money could have been used to offset all of Gov. Schwarzenegger’s budget cuts,” said John Parker, west coast coordinator of the International Action Center, in Los Angeles.With the exception of the Grant case, it is rare that police officers face any possible penalty for excessive force and misconduct, Mr. Parker said.
Police watch groups say that another challenge to police misconduct is being able to track the numerous settlement cases and how they balance with criminal prosecutions of officers.
Information about settlements may be secret
The ease or difficulty of getting records of payments in police misconduct cases depends on the particular state and state law, according to Brigitt Keller, executive director of the National Police Accountability Project. For example, Ms. Keller said, in Massachusetts, settlements paid out of the city’s budget are public record and the terms can be made available with a public records request.However, settlements paid through insurance companies may be confidential.
According to civil rights attorneys, since many abuse cases never make it to trial, the real costs of these settlements are unknown.“Many civil rights cases are dismissed on summary judgment, a method that individual judges use to dismiss or get rid of cases.Many are dismissed by White judges, often in federal court, and there’s no recognition by the judge of the racial issues in the case,” said civil rights attorney Christopher Cooper, of Merrillville, Ind., outside of Chicago.Lawyers’ best advice to plaintiffs, especially if they are Black, is for them to take the settlement or risk having their case tossed out, he said.
Atty. Michael Haddad, who has been fighting civil rights cases for 17 years, said the settlements are only the tip of the iceberg because attorneys probably talk to 100 people who say police abused them before they can take one case. “It’s so hard to prove these cases because the juries like to give police the benefit of the doubt … so the high cost is high but the human cost is much higher because the vast majority of victims never get compensated,” said the Oakland-based lawyer.
Unfortunately, Atty. Haddad added, the settlements create budgetary problems because most cities don’t plan for it, but some cities have insurance that kicks in after so many millions. They could save so much more if they spent money to prevent the misconduct in the first place, he said.
Atty. Haddad said that in a 2004 lawsuit he filed in Oakland, the police chief acknowledged a longstanding pattern of improper strip searches of people on the street.After four years, his firm uncovered some 40 victims of the strip searches. In 2008, although a federal judge ruled that the policies were unconstitutional, the city has not revised the policy and continues to use it.
“Now they’re facing a very big case with these 40 plaintiffs and probably will end up having to pay a significant amount of money to these victims,” Atty. Haddad said.
Legal challenges to police abuse expensive, rare
Kenavon “KC” Carter, an Austin, Texas-based criminal defense attorney, said it is important to understand that the battle against police brutality will not be won with lawsuits alone.“It’s going to take community organizing, public education and a legislative strategy to put pressure on police departments and city councils to hold their officers accountable,” he said.
According to Atty. Carter, it takes at least $50,000 to even bring a civil rights lawsuit alleging police brutality.Such cases are difficult to win because police officers are protected by the principle of qualified immunity, he said.“All an officer has to say when they’ve shot some brother down in the street, in the back, is that they had to make a split second decision, and that decision was to use deadly force.The courts allow them to get a pass,” he said.
“A lot of civil rights organizations, ACLU, NAACP and others are really picking and choosing cases to litigate on because they’re so expensive.They’re not successful and really not an effective strategy on holding police accountable for the conduct of their officers.”
Atty. Carter established Hip Hop Against Police Brutality Project under the sponsorship of the Texas ACLU’s Police Accountability Office. What he has found throughout his legal career is that along with city councils,the real power brokers for police misconduct are district attorneys and police chiefs from civil settlements to criminal prosecutions.
District attorneys are elected officials, so if communities are dissatisfied with their performances, one option is to vote them out, Atty. Carter said.The problem is, however, police officers have strong police unions that put a great deal of pressure on police chiefs, district attorneys and whoever they feel is a threat to cops who step out of line.
On the other hand, Atty. Carter added, citizens have to give good D.A.s political cover when they try to do the right thing.“D.A. Craig Watkins in Dallas, Texas, who is Black, has reopened and overturned 20 wrongful convictions placed on the books by the former D.A. because he saw a pattern of wrongdoing, but now he’s under pressure by the rest of his class of prosecutors to ease up.He’s going to be in trouble in the next election if people don’t stand up and when we finally have somebody really about justice, doing the right thing, we can’t afford to leave him out to dry,” he said.
In its 1999 report entitled, “Shielded From Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States,” Human Rights Watch indicated that race has played a central role in police brutality in the United States. “In the cities we have examined where such data are available, minorities have alleged human rights violations by police more frequently than white residents and far out of proportion to their representation in those cities. Police have subjected minorities to apparently discriminatory treatment and have physically abused minorities while using racial epithets,” the document read. Human Rights Watch hasn’t followed up on that major report made a decade ago because of money problems and has discontinued domestic monitoring of police misconduct.
Officer Richard Fiorito Accused of Framing Man
When James Dean Jr. left a North Side police station after his arrest for driving on a suspended license in February 2007, he thought the day’s problems were behind him.
A sergeant at the Town Hall police station near Wrigley Field warned him not to drive again, according to his lawyer, Jon Erickson.
Dean asked if he could get his coat from his car and the sergeant said yes, Erickson said.
Dean got into his car and Officer Richard Fiorito ordered him to move it, Erickson said. When Dean complied, the officer switched on the emergency lights on his squad car and pulled over Dean, arresting him for making an illegal U-turn, driving on a suspended license and driving under the influence, according to a lawsuit Dean filed Tuesday in federal court accusing Fiorito of framing him.
Dean said the police would not have initially released him on a personal recognizance bond if he were drunk, pointing out that he was arrested for DUI only four minutes after leaving the station. All the charges were eventually dropped by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, his lawsuit said.
“This has been going on for years and it’s time to put a stop to it,” Erickson said.
The city’s Law Department, which is defending the 60-year-old Fiorito in a separate traffic-related lawsuit, would not comment on Dean’s lawsuit because the city’s lawyers have not seen it, spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle said.
In the past year, two other officers have been the subject of internal police investigations for their DUI arrests.
Joe D. Parker, 59, an officer in the Chicago Police Department’s Traffic Enforcement Unit, has been placed on desk duty, sources said. Prosecutors have moved to dismiss dozens of Parker’s DUI arrests.
Officer John Haleas, meanwhile, has been charged by Cook County prosecutors with perjury, official misconduct and obstructing justice. He is accused of failing to take important steps in making a DUI arrest in 2005. Prosecutors said Haleas failed to perform a field-sobriety test and lied in his reports. As a result, they have dropped more than 50 cases stemming from DUI arrests made by Haleas, 38.
Erickson said he believes officers have an incentive to make false DUI arrests: overtime from court appearances. He thinks they also do it to gain recognition from anti-DUI organizations such as the Schaumburg-based Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists, which has named Parker, Haleas and Fiorito “top cops” in making DUI arrests. In 2006, Fiorito made 230 DUI arrests, according to AAIM.
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http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/02/lawsuits-fiorito-dean-rauch.html
A sergeant at the Town Hall police station near Wrigley Field warned him not to drive again, according to his lawyer, Jon Erickson.
Dean asked if he could get his coat from his car and the sergeant said yes, Erickson said.
Dean got into his car and Officer Richard Fiorito ordered him to move it, Erickson said. When Dean complied, the officer switched on the emergency lights on his squad car and pulled over Dean, arresting him for making an illegal U-turn, driving on a suspended license and driving under the influence, according to a lawsuit Dean filed Tuesday in federal court accusing Fiorito of framing him.
Dean said the police would not have initially released him on a personal recognizance bond if he were drunk, pointing out that he was arrested for DUI only four minutes after leaving the station. All the charges were eventually dropped by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, his lawsuit said.
“This has been going on for years and it’s time to put a stop to it,” Erickson said.
The city’s Law Department, which is defending the 60-year-old Fiorito in a separate traffic-related lawsuit, would not comment on Dean’s lawsuit because the city’s lawyers have not seen it, spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle said.
In the past year, two other officers have been the subject of internal police investigations for their DUI arrests.
Joe D. Parker, 59, an officer in the Chicago Police Department’s Traffic Enforcement Unit, has been placed on desk duty, sources said. Prosecutors have moved to dismiss dozens of Parker’s DUI arrests.
Officer John Haleas, meanwhile, has been charged by Cook County prosecutors with perjury, official misconduct and obstructing justice. He is accused of failing to take important steps in making a DUI arrest in 2005. Prosecutors said Haleas failed to perform a field-sobriety test and lied in his reports. As a result, they have dropped more than 50 cases stemming from DUI arrests made by Haleas, 38.
Erickson said he believes officers have an incentive to make false DUI arrests: overtime from court appearances. He thinks they also do it to gain recognition from anti-DUI organizations such as the Schaumburg-based Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists, which has named Parker, Haleas and Fiorito “top cops” in making DUI arrests. In 2006, Fiorito made 230 DUI arrests, according to AAIM.
__________________
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/02/lawsuits-fiorito-dean-rauch.html
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