Suburban Pittsburgh Police officer Exonerated in Fatal shooting of Black Man, Gilbert Carswell
Appeals court rules actions 'reasonable'
A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court's
dismissal of a lawsuit against a suburban Pittsburgh police officer who
fatally shot a man during a domestic disturbance call. Gilbert
Carswell's widow, Tonya Carswell, claimed that Homestead police Officer
Frank Snyder didn't have to shoot Gilbert Carswell in November 1999
because he was unarmed and surrendering. Evidence showed that Carswell
rushed from an alley at Snyder with his arms outstretched. Snyder has
maintained that Carswell ran into him and his gun accidentally fired. A
three-judge panel of the U-S Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a
reasonable officer wouldn't be expected to risk being assaulted by a
fleeing man who was close enough that he could seize the officer's gun.
A lower court judge had dismissed the suit last year based on a U-S
Supreme Court ruling that officers should be granted immunity even if
force resulted from "reasonable, but mistaken beliefs" about the
situation they faced. [more ] and [more ]
Police officers involved in the fatal
apprehension of a man who had been punching windows of passing vehicles
used only the amount of force necessary to subdue him, according to
Commonwealth's Attorney John R. Doyle III . Doyle based his preliminary
conclusion on a review of witnesses' statements and police videotape
that captured part of Kenny S. Jefferson's struggle with
officers. That was just moments before Jefferson stopped breathing .
The videotape was shot from the car of a police supervisor who arrived
as officers attempted to handcuff Jefferson, 26 , on Chesapeake
Boulevard near Johnstons Road on Aug. 14 , Doyle said. It did not
capture the incident perfectly but showed Jefferson struggling with
officers, Doyle said. Authorities declined to make the tape available
Monday.The death of a young black man during an arrest raised questions
about police actions. The Norfolk chapter of the NAACP has said
it will investigate. Funeral director Carlos A. Howard , who paused in
a procession passing the arrest scene, said he saw Jefferson on his
chest and stomach, his hands cuffed behind him and also attached to his
ankles, which were cuffed together. Howard has questioned whether that
affected Jefferson's breathing. [more ]
A 31-year-old Charlottesville man shot by police
over the weekend remained comatose and in critical condition Monday, as
the city's top prosecutor investigated whether the shooting was
justified. Kerry Von Reese Cook was shot once in the abdomen Saturday
after a struggle with police at an apartment on Garrett Street.
Although a hospital spokeswoman said Cook still was in critical
condition, his mother, Patricia, said doctors had taken him off a
breathing apparatus. [more ]
Iraqi artist Haider Al-Amery was driving home
from working on a new mural at Central Ave. and 19th St. in Minneapolis
when he was stopped by the police. The police told him to get out of
his car and immediately hand-cuffed him. They took him back to their
squad car and took his ID out his pocket. When they saw his name on the
license they asked where he was from. When he responded he was from
Iraq one of the police officers punched him in the eye. The same
officer then slammed his head into the squad car and slammed his elbow
into Haider's back. Haider was then placed in the back of the squad
car, where he was kept for over 1 hour with no explanation of what the
charges against him were. He was then taken to the Hennepin County
Medical Center where he was treated for his injuries. Al-Amery
has decided to fight this racist abuse. [more ]
The Denver City Council cleared the way late
Monday for voters to decide in November on aspects of the city's plan
to hire an independent police monitor. The council voted 11-2 to put on
the November ballot a single item allowing the monitor's office access
to restricted records such as police personnel records and to make the
monitor's six-member staff serve at the will of the mayor. The changes
would be made to the city's charter. The council must vote on the
matter again Aug. 30, but such votes on second reading rarely differ
from the first. [more ]
An investigation by the FBI into a police shooting in
Schurz that left a 17-year-old boy dead in July has been turned over to
the U.S. Attorney's office for review. FBI Special Agent Todd Palmer
said Thursday the U.S. Attorney's office in Las Vegas will decide if
further investigation is needed or if the case should be closed. Once
that agency is done with the case, it will be forwarded to the U.S.
Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. for further review, he
said.Tribal Police Office Walter Valline shot and killed Norman "Manny"
Boney Jr. July 15 in the yard of his Schurz home on the Walker River
Paiute Reservation after his father was incapacitated with a stun gun.
Police say the teen threatened Valline with a pit bull during a
confrontation with the father and son. Boney Jr., shot once in the neck
and once in the right side, died on scene. Gail Boney, the boy's mother
disputes the FBI's explanation about how the shooting occurred. [more ] Pictured above: Sadness fills the eyes of Norman Boney Sr. after talking about his deceased son.
Family and friends of a man killed by police are
asking for a better explanation of what led to the shooting and are
organizing a peaceful march for Wednesday. Curtis Good, 41, died early
Friday after being shot by a patrolman responding to a report that a
man was "breaking up everything" at the apartment where he lived with
his girlfriend, authorities said. The call for aid came at 1:32 a.m.
from the woman's teenage son, the Middlesex County prosecutor's office
said. Patrolman Carmen Fazzolari arrived two minutes later and went
inside. Another officer arrived two minutes later and was speaking to
the teen outside when shots were heard. Good was fired upon 8 times by
police and hit 6 times. Authorities have said the shooting happened
after the officer and Good had an encounter in the bedroom. No one else
was in the apartment, the prosecutor's office said. "There are 10
different things that could have been done other than one police
officer inside, pulling the trigger," Good's brother, Harry Bradford said. [more ]
A patrolman responding to a report that a man was
"breaking up everything" in an apartment shot and killed the man early
Friday, the Middlesex County prosecutor's office said. The shooting
happened while the man, Curtis Good, was visiting a girlfriend and her
family. The call for aid came at 1:32 a.m. from the woman's 18-year-old
son, the prosecutor's office said. Patrolman Carmen Fazzolari arrived
two minutes later and entered the apartment. Another officer arrived
two minutes later and was speaking to the teenager outside when shots
were heard. Patrolman Fazzolari fired eight shots from his .45-caliber
semiautomatic pistol, six of which struck Mr. Good in the torso, the
authorities said. Mr. Good received first aid at the scene, and was
pronounced dead at 2:21 a.m. at Raritan Bay Medical Center.[more ] and [more ]
The Police Department on Friday turned over the results
of its investigation into the flashlight beating of a car-theft suspect
to the district attorney's office, which will determine whether to file
criminal charges against any officers involved in the incident. Stanley
Miller, who is black, was hit repeatedly with a 2-pound steel
flashlight after a half-hour, car and foot chase on June 23 in South
Los Angeles. Miller was beaten on the ground as he appeared to
surrender. [more ]
Cops Shoot Unarmed, Nude Man. Police "thought he had a gun. "
The attorney for an unarmed man shot in a drug raid is
trying to force a settlement by hyping the case, they said in a motion.
Lawyers for a police officer who shot a naked, unarmed Bucks County man
during a drug raid want a judge to impose a gag order in a federal
lawsuit over the shooting. The lawyers say the injured man's attorney,
Thomas Mellon Jr., has tried to force a settlement by hyping the case
in the news media and by threatening to release a doctored videotape of
two police officers testifying about the shooting. Mellon's client,
22-year-old James Hoskins, was shot by Middletown Township Police
Detective Dale Keddie Jr. during a Feb. 6 drug raid at Hoskins'
apartment in Bristol Township. Hoskins was naked, holding a wadded
T-shirt to cover his genitals, when Keddie entered the bedroom. Keddie,
who later said he thought Hoskins had a gun, fired once, wounding him.
Hoskins, who was not a target of the drug investigation, was critically
wounded in the abdomen and leg. The shooting was justified, she said,
because Keddie reasonably
believed his life was in danger. [more ]
The Minneapolis City Council agreed Friday to give
$15,000 to Andre Madison, who was shot by police in 1996 and filed a
federal lawsuit claiming his rights were violated. The council voted 6
to 5 to settle with Madison. Police raided a north Minneapolis duplex
owned by Madison in November 1996 to search for drugs with a no-knock
search warrant. Shots were fired, and Madison and an officer suffered
minor wounds. No drugs were found, but Madison was charged with assault
for firing a shotgun at police. At trial, the prosecutor said evidence
showed the officer was hit by police fire. Madison was convicted and
sentenced to three years. Madison's lawsuit claimed that after he was
wounded, unidentified officers kicked him several times and used a
racial epithet. [more ]
Fredericksburg police officers involved in Monday's
fatal shooting at a city gas station returned to duty yesterday. The
unidentified officers were placed on administrative leave for about 72
hours after the shooting of Robert C. Trouth in the parking lot of
Eubank's BP Station on Princess Anne Street. "They are back on the job
after evaluations of both their physical and mental health," city
police Chief Jim Powers said yesterday. "From what I know at the
present time, it appears they used the utmost restraint in such a
highly charged situation." Officers ticketed Trouth, 29, of Essex
County, for failure to obey a traffic sign and driving without a
license, city police spokesman Jim Shelhorse said. [more ]
A grand jury declined to indict a Dallas police
lieutenant Wednesday who fatally shot an unarmed teenage car-burglary
suspect in March while working an off-duty security job. Lt. John
Dagen, a 28-year department veteran, told investigators that he thought
a passenger inside the car driven by Orlando Aranda, 18, was reaching
for a gun when he fired his weapon. Steve Sanderfer, an attorney
representing Mr. Aranda's family, said the ruling is further proof that
police and prosecutors do not vigorously pursue investigations when the
suspect is a police officer. "I do not believe the Dallas Police
Department ever truly investigated this as they would if it had been
someone who was not a Dallas police officer who had killed someone,"
Mr. Sanderfer said. Aranda died just a few days shy of his19th
birthday. The teenager and two others were allegedly breaking into a
car when Dagen spotted them. The lieutenant said one of the boys made a
threatening gesture, and fearing for his life Dagen opened fire,
shooting Aranda in the back of the head from 3 feet away. Aranda's
family said it was excessive force. "To take his life for a broken
window ... no, it's not justice," said aunt Laura Caudillio. [more ] and [more ]
The last officer in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to be indicted for
a use-of-force-related death was a former Grand Prairie officer
who was found not guilty in a trial. Blake Hubbard was acquitted
in 1997 of criminal wrongdoing in the 1996 shooting death of Joe
Calloway, a mentally ill man the officer said lunged at a fellow
officer with a pocketknife. His indictment was the first in 25
years. [more ]
Pictured above:
George Easspa bows his head in prayer as members of the region's
African community protest the Aug. 12 shooting death of his cousin,
Peter Ayompeuh Njang, by a county police officer. They protested Monday
outside a police substation in Silver Spring. About 65 people marched
to a Silver Spring police substation Monday afternoon to protest the
fatal police shooting of recently arrived immigrant Peter Ayompeuh
Njang, 25, outside his sister's apartment. His friends and pastor
described him as a gentle, quiet man who would not attack a police
officer. But that is what police said Njang was doing when Officer
Candice Marchone, a six-year veteran, shot him once in the chest from
an arm's length away. The State's Attorney's Office is investigating
the shooting and will present the case to a grand jury for review, a
standard procedure for all officer-involved shootings, said State's
Attorney Douglas F. Gansler (D). [more ]
Marshall Galloway Sues Officer After Videotaped Struggle
A Louisville man who claims a Metro police officer used
excessive force during his arrest is now suing the officer. Marshall
Galloway's lawsuit claims officer Harry Cambron used excessive and
deliberate painful force in an altercation last November.. The arrest
was captured on videotape. Galloway was pepper-sprayed repeatedly and
held in a headlock for several minutes after he was handcuffed. The
lawsuit echoes what Commonwealth's Attorney David Stengel said at the
time -- that Cambron appeared to be retaliating against Galloway for a
previous incident. Galloway spent six months in jail before Stengel saw
the tape and dropped the charges last month. Galloway's attorney, David
Friedman, said Tuesday that his client has a strong case. "What the
lawsuit alleges is that Officer Cambron, regardless of his motivation,
choked and pepper-sprayed Mr. Galloway after he was handcuffed." [more ]
Disability Law Applies. Police Not Properly Trained to Deal with Disable
An Easton man has a right to pursue a lawsuit against
the police officers who shot him because the officers allegedly failed
to deal properly with his mental health problems, a federal judge has
ruled. In one of the first decisions of its kind, U.S. District Judge
John Padova of Philadelphia ruled that the Americans with Disabilities
Act applies to police when they encounter mentally ill suspects.
Michael Hogan, who has anxiety and personality disorders, alleges that
Easton police discriminated against him by failing to adequately train
its officers to handle him -- and his disorders -- during a 90-minute
standoff. Officers shot him three times as they tried to arrest him
during a February 2002 armed standoff at his home. His civil rights
suit alleges that the conduct of police provoked him, instead of
calming him down. The ADA requires governments to provide
''reasonable accommodations'' to people with disabilities. The law is
commonly thought to apply to parks, playgrounds and transportation, but
it applies to ''all core functions of government,'' according to Judge
Yvette Kane. ''Among the most basic of those functions is the lawful
exercise of police powers, including the appropriate use of force by
government officials.'' [more ]
In 2 Seperate Instances Police Beat Down Suspects with Flashlights. (Damn Flashlights did it again! Message to Bratton: Remove terrorist racist folks off your police force).
Police will investigate two weekend
incidents in which suspects were hit in the head with flashlights while
being arrested by Los Angeles police officers, police Chief William
Bratton said Tuesday. Bratton said the two instances involved
"individuals being placed under arrest (who) were struck in the head
with flashlights," but were "not identical" to the June 23 arrest of
Stanley Miller, who was hit repeatedly by a flashlight-wielding LAPD
officer. One incident occurred when Ricky Palmer, 26, struck an
officer in the face, LAPD Sgt. Catherine Plows said, noting that it was
a "full-blown altercation" and "a fight for their lives." The other
run-in involved Christopher Salcido Carrillo, 20, hitting an officer's
flashlight during a struggle, the sergeant said. [more ]
Stanley Miller Investigation in beating case nearly complete [more
Peter Ayompe Njang, our beloved brother, came to
the U.S. on May 14, 2004 after winning the diversity visa lottery.
While waiting for his sister one night in front of her house, a police
officer stopped and asked Peter to leave the area. Peter explained to
the police that his sister lives there and he was just trying to see
why she was not answering the door. She then shot him. The Montgomery
County Police investigator told the family that Peter was armed with a
box cutter. Peter who was just 87 days old in the U.S. does not carry a
weapon around with him. As a matter of fact` it is not our custom as
Cameroonians to move around with weapons or armed. The investigator
told the family that the police officer did her best to stop Peter from
attacking her. Peter was shot on the lower breast. He was airlifted to
Children`s Hospital in DC and was pronounced dead hours later. [more ]
Activists have called for more accountability and
equal treatment of minorities after recent allegations of brutality
involving members of the Sylvester Police Department and the
Worth-County Drug Unit. Thomas Evans was allegedly beaten July 19 by
members of the Worth-Sylvester Drug Unit when he asked police officers
to obtain a search warrant before entering his mother's home, Vodicka
said. Two days later, Artavious Covin was allegedly dragged from his
car, choked and beaten by Sylvester police officers, Vodicka said.
Vodicka has requested an investigation of the two incidents as he did
in February when Herman Jackson died in police custody. A county grand
jury cleared the three officers in that incident. [more ]
It took an all-white jury of six women and two men about
seven hours to decide that four St. Joseph police officers and the city
of St. Joseph did not racially profile three black teens when they were
detained and arrested in the summer of 2000. Thursday's verdict in a
federal civil suit, filed in 2002 on behalf of Devin Mitchell, Cody
Mitchell and Preston Culpepper, came after an eight-day trial in
District Court for the Western District of Michigan in Kalamazoo. The
teens had claimed that St. Joseph police officers violated their 14th
Amendment right of equal protection by engaging in selective
prosecution. The suit also claimed that police violated the teens'
Fourth Amendment protection against false arrest and imprisonment by
arresting them without probable cause. The suit also claimed that the
city of St. Joseph failed to properly train officers and that the city
had a policy or custom of racial profiling. During the trial, the
plaintiffs' attorney Roosevelt Thomas said the police were following
the teens so closely that the mother of one of youths could follow
their actions on a police scanner. [more ]
] and [more 
