Killer Cops Go Free (Surprise, Surprise)

Edgar
You want another case. Try the not guilty verdict in the OJ Simpson case. In my neck of the woods people of color were all smiles and dancing with joy. No marches and threats to shut down the city.

au1929 wrote:

Edgar
You want another case. Try the not guilty verdict in the OJ Simpson case. In my neck of the woods people of color were all smiles and dancing with joy. No marches and threats to shut down the city.

I didn't note any cops shooting people in OJ's case.

L.A.P.D. BLUES

As if responding to Ann's post the other day on the alleged post-racialism of the NYPD, the LAPD released the results of its investigation into the 320 complaints accusing officers of racial profiling last year. They found that not a single complaint had merit. There was, according to the LAPD, no police racial misconduct at all in 2007. Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Bupkis.

As if that weren't bad enough, this was the sixth year in a row that all complaints of racial profiling were dismissed by the department. Even Commissioner John Mack had a hard time buying the report: "In my mind, there is no such thing as a perfect institution .. I find it baffling that we have these zeros." The problem with the complaint process, according to Chief William Bratton, is that racial profiling is so difficult to recognize: "It goes to the officer's state of mind. How do you get inside someone's mind?" You don't. You give them the benefit of the doubt. 320 times.

The president of the union representing the department's rank-and-file was furious at the commissioner's comments: "I am really outraged. They are using a circular logic that just because someone makes an allegation, then the officer has to be found guilty. That's mid-century thinking." Projecting much?

Cop Convicted Of Lying About Shootout
An Atlanta Woman, 92, Was Gunned Down Mistakenly In A Botched Raid

CBS News
ATLANTA, May 20, 2008

A jury convicted an Atlanta police officer Tuesday of lying to investigators after a disastrous drug raid that resulted in the death of a 92-year-old woman, but cleared him of two more serious charges.

After deliberating for parts of four days, the jury convicted Arthur Tesler of making false statements. He was acquitted of charges that he violated his oath of a public officer and false imprisonment under color of legal process.

Tesler, who is on leave from the police force, faces up to five years in prison.

Plainclothes narcotics officers burst into Kathryn Johnston's northwest Atlanta home on Nov. 21, 2006, using a special "no-knock" warrant to search for drugs. Johnston fired a single bullet at the invaders, and they responded with a hail of 39 bullets. Johnston was hit five or six times.

Tesler, 42, was the only officer involved to face a jury on charges related to the raid. Two other officers, Jason R. Smith and Gregg Junnier, have pleaded guilty to state manslaughter and federal civil rights charges.

Police originally said they had gone to the woman's house after an informant bought drugs there from a man known only as "Sam." But in the weeks after the killing, a probe revealed holes in the story.

After searching the home and finding no drugs, the officers tried to cover up the mistake, prosecutors said. They said Smith handcuffed the dying woman and planted three baggies of marijuana in the basement of her house. He then called informant Alex White and told him to pretend he had bought crack cocaine at the house, they said.


92-year-old Kathryn Johnston.

White later filed a federal lawsuit against the city and police, claiming that police kidnapped and held him against his will for hours in hopes he would help them with the cover up.

Tesler was stationed at the back of Johnston's home and never fired a shot during the raid, according to testimony. He testified that his former partners, Smith and Junnier, planned the cover up, and said he feared they would frame him if he didn't go along with their plan.

Tesler's family declined to comment after the verdict.

The shooting brought scrutiny to the police use of no-knock warrants, which are typically used to search for drugs and weapons. The state Senate has since voted to tighten requirements to obtain the warrants, but the House has yet to follow suit.

The botched raid also led to an investigation of the Atlanta Police Department, which forced the department to tighten its warrant requirements, and led to a shakeup of the narcotics unit.

The shooting, which took place in a crime-ridden west Atlanta neighborhood, has enraged many civil rights activists who say it was an example of the police department's shoddy treatment of residents in Atlanta's poor neighborhoods.

Some of the activists expressed relief at the verdict. The Rev. Markel Hutchins, a Congressional hopeful and spokesman for Johnston's family, called the verdict "a measure of justice."

"Is it complete justice? We don't think so," Hutchins said outside the courtroom. "But what we do know is too often police officers have been found not guilty for crimes they've committed. Kathryn Johnston today is vindicated."

Defense choice. If you're guilty, you try to confuse the jury. If you are innocent, and have good evidence, you go for the judge. That's the general idea, anyway; don't know what went into the choice in this case

I didn't know the defense could opt for a judge over a jury. That seems a bit odd in this case since the prosecutor, judge and cops would all basically be on the same "team."

I disagree. 31 shots from one gun is excessive. I believe they said it was 10 times the norm. I believe that the police are under-trained. The adrenalin might have kicked in and he couldn't stop. One witness described the guy as 'going nuts' or some such phrase.

Nobody needs 31 bullets to be stopped.

N. Orleans cops shoot man 12 times in the back

Friday January 9, 2009

A young, black man in New Orleans is dead, slain by police officers on New Year's Day, in an incident that has outraged a community and triggered protests over what family members are calling a "murder."

The New Orleans man, 22-year-old Adolph Grimes III, traveled to his grandmother's home near the French Quarter in order to celebrate New Year's Eve with his fiance and their 17-month-old son. Three hours after arrival, around 3 a.m., he was found dead a block from the front door.

The Orleans Parish coroner said Grimes was shot 14 times, including 12 times in the back.

"This violence has to stop. My child's death will not be meaningless. He did not die in vain," said Grimes' mother, Patricia Grimes.

An editorial in The Times-Picayune said the shooting "demands answers."

Despite the fact that the seven officers involved in the incident have been reassigned, Superintendent Warren Riley has refused to answer "fundamental questions" about the shooting and maintains that Grimes fired upon his men first.

Several dozen people protested the New Orleans Police Department on Thursday morning to demand justice for Grimes' death.

A mix of people walked paced in front of a police station carrying signs with slogans like "Down with the government" and shouting to passers-by "You could be next!"

A group of black ministers and advocates has called for the department to be purged of "trigger-happy" officers and the Grimes family's attorney, Richard Jenkins is certain an investigation will show rogue cops and sloppy police work.

"I just think it was some bad officers who were out there and imposing their will on the community," Jenkins said.

The shooting of Grimes by the NOPD marks the third high media incident of an officer or officers shooting a seemingly innocent black male thus far in 2009.

In Oakland, Calif, a BART officer shot a 22-year-old black male in the back on New Year's Eve. The slaying was caught on multiple videos, all of which showed the man unarmed, subdued and helpless. The city is still struggling to contain the public's reaction to what appears to be an execution.

Also, in Houston, a 23-year-old black male was shot in his own home's driveway by a white police officer during the early hours of New Year's Eve. According to published reports, the officer thought the man's vehicle was stolen. An internal investigation is underway. While the department has denied allegations of racial profiling related to the shooting, no effort to explain why the officer suspected the vehicle to be stolen has been offered.

BART officer arrested on murder warrant in NY Day shooting

The BART police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man on an Oakland train platform and then refused to explain his actions to investigators was arrested Tuesday in Nevada on suspicion of murder, authorities said.

Johannes Mehserle, 27, of Lafayette was taken into custody in Douglas County, Nev., said Deputy Steve Velez of the Douglas County sheriff's office. [..]

Mehserle was arrested in the New Year's Day shooting of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old supermarket worker from Hayward who was lying facedown after being pulled off a BART train by police investigating a fight. An Alameda County judge signed an arrest warrant alleging murder, and Mehserle surrendered without incident, authorities said.

The shooting, which was recorded by passengers in videos widely circulated on the Internet and television, prompted public outrage, and some viewers said that the shooting appeared to be an execution. [..]

Authorities have been under immense pressure to take action in the case. On Tuesday, BART board President Thomas Blalock and board Director Carole Ward Allen sent a letter to Orloff, urging the district attorney to move expeditiously to complete the investigation and file charges if warranted.

Some Oakland community leaders and civil rights activists said the case is symbolic of larger problems with police officers using excessive force on young black men. Grant was black and Mehserle is white.

The arrest came on the eve of a protest scheduled for 4 p.m. today outside Oakland City Hall, the latest in a series of demonstrations in which BART has been accused of mishandling the investigation.

BART police on Monday turned over the results of their preliminary investigation to Orloff's office. A separate investigation by Oakland police was launched last week, and Mehserle's arrest was related to that probe, sources said. The state attorney general is also monitoring the case.

BART officers had detained Grant and several other passengers at about 2 a.m. Jan. 1 as they investigated a fight aboard a train from San Francisco. Passengers with cellular phone cameras captured footage that shows Grant lying facedown when he was shot.

In the videos, Mehserle appears to be trying to put cuffs on Grant, and Grant appears to be struggling, when Mehserle suddenly pulls his service weapon from his holster and fires one shot into Grant's back.

Mehserle declined to speak to BART criminal investigators after the shooting. Then last Wednesday he resigned rather than answer questions from BART's internal affairs division. [..]

The family's attorney, John Burris, said late Tuesday that he was pleased to hear of Mehserle's arrest.

"If it's true, the family is delighted, and it will really help with the healing process," Burris said. "This is also very important for the community. This had to occur; it was almost a no-brainer. I think the district attorney ought to be commended for moving (the case) expeditiously."

They got this one ... but only thanks to vigilant citizens with phonecams.