One of Two Louisville Officers dropped from suit in Death of James E. Taylor

  
Handcuffed Black Man shot 11 Times by Cops
 A Jefferson circuit judge has removed Officer Bryan Luckett from a civil lawsuit filed by the estate of handcuffed Black man, James Edwards Taylor, 50, who was fatally shot 11 times by a police detective in 2002. Luckett was the partner of Detective Michael O'Neil the night that O'Neil shot James Edward Taylor in Taylor's apartment. At the time of the shooting, police said the two detectives entered the apartment building where Taylor lived, then heard a woman screaming for help and saying that a man had a knife. Without first frisking Taylor the officers handcuffed Taylor with his arms behind his back. Officers told investigators that despite being handcuffed behind his back Taylor had somehow taken a knife into his hands, worked his hands around to his hip, and was able to make ''slicing motions'' as he lunged at and threatened the officers. Officer O'Neil said that he feared for his life because Taylor was lunging at him with a box-cutter knife.  The officers then explained that they were "backed into a corner" by Taylor as he lunged at them and they had no choice but to shoot him. An expert said the shooting may have been avoided if the detectives had carried some form of intermediate force, such as a collapsible baton or pepper spray. Plain-clothes officers were not required to carry them at the time. On Dec. 5, 2003 a Jefferson County grand jury declined to indict the officers in the killing of Taylor and the officers were absolved of criminal wrongdoing. Taylor's suit against Officer O'Neil is pending. [more ] and [more ]

• Detective shot man handcuffed behind back [more ] and [more ] and  [more ]

Internal reports Clear Cinci Police in Brutal Beating Death of Nathaniel Jones

Six Cincinnati police officers involved in the November death of an obese, intoxicated man in a White Castle parking lot did nothing wrong and should be exonerated, according to two police department reports. The officers' actions in the death of Nathaniel Jones were consistent with department training, policy and procedures, and with applicable laws, according to the internal investigation of the incident. Chief Tom Streicher signed off on it Wednesday. He also wrote a second report to City Manager Valerie Lemmie in response to last month's recommendations by the independent Citizen Complaint Authority. The conclusions in the police reports differ dramatically from those drawn by the authority. The independent review board recommended that Lemmie "severely discipline" three of the officers for using excessive force. Lemmie has not decided on discipline, if any, and said she will first consider all reports and recommendations. Streicher's report says the authority should review police policy and federal law so its analyses are based on the U.S. Constitution, "rather than the subjective opinions of untrained evaluators." [more ]

• See Video of beating [more]
• FBI Probes Death of Natheniel Jones [more]

Death of arrestee ruled a homicide - Chicago Police Beat Handcuffed Black Man

911 Tapes Coroborate family's claims
A Black man at the center of a wrongful-death lawsuit choked to death while in police custody, according to a medical examiner's autopsy report completed last week. Christopher Hicks, 39, who died May 26 after allegedly resisting arrest for passing between moving CTA rail cars, died of asphyxia due to restraint in a homicide, Dr. Clare Cunliffe, deputy Cook County medical examiner, determined in a Sept. 16 report. Cunliffe concluded Hicks suffered internal injuries, including hemorrhaging, to his neck, the report stated. The report will become evidence in the federal lawsuit filed in June against the city and four Chicago police officers by Hicks' brother, Billie Ray Lewis. The suit contends that police officers beat Hicks while another officer placed him in a chokehold. Lewis seeks more than $3 million in damages from the city, the suit stated. "They chased him," said Dan Alexander, who is representing Lewis. "Two officers handcuffed him, and another had him in a chokehold." Alexander said he has received recordings of calls to the city's 911 emergency center reporting that two white men were beating an African-American man. "Both of the cops were white," Alexander said, while Hicks was African American. According to the tapes, one caller told a 911 dispatcher that she saw "a man holding a man down with his arms behind his back." A few minutes later, another caller told a dispatcher, "Two guys have a guy on the floor in a chokehold ... two male whites on a male black." [more ] and [more ] and [more ]

Houston Deputy cleared in Fatal Shooting of Latino Man

Grand jury declines to indict officer, who faces a federal suit from victim's family
A Harris County grand jury voted Wednesday not to indict a sheriff's deputy who shot and killed a man suspected of stealing construction materials. Zachary Long, 36, was working a second job as a security guard at a construction site on Feb. 1 when he killed 31-year-old Rodolfo Gonzalez Garcia. The death is the subject of a federal lawsuit in which Garcia's family alleges that the deputy acted improperly. Long said he tried to arrest Garcia on suspicion that he was stealing roofing shingles at the Atascocita Meadows housing development in Humble.  Randall Kallinen, the Garcia family's attorney, said the self-defense claim does not make sense because Garcia was shot in the side. He said there also was no evidence of a bullet hole in the windshield to indicate the van was moving toward Long. Garcia was one of at least 22 people wounded or killed in vehicles by Harris County sheriff's deputies in the past five years. The Harris County medical examiner's office has refused to release Garcia's autopsy report, citing the pending investigation. Autopsy reports usually are made public. A death certificate shows that Garcia died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, but it does not specify whether the entry wounds were in the front, side or back.

• A lawsuit challenges deputies who shoot fleeing drivers [more ]

Autopsy matches probe results in Police Shooting of Maurice Clark

An autopsy report confirms that a 30- year-old man who was killed by police April 24 was shot once each in the chest and abdomen, as police investigators have maintained. Maurice Clark was shot and killed after fleeing from police officers. Police say he fired a stolen .357 Magnum revolver while trying to get away, prompting Officer Keith Gomez to open fire. The shooting touched off several weeks of protests, as community members charged it was representative of police brutality allegedly committed by the Pasadena Police Department's gang unit. The autopsy report, released by the Los Angeles County coroner's office on Wednesday, also confirms there was no gunshot residue on Clark's hands. Police said the autopsy report confirms their version of events.  The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office is conducting a standard investigation of the shooting, which should be available in about a month, Hiltz said. The family has not yet filed a claim against the city. Pictured above: Crystal Clark of Los Angeles, who was Maurice Clark sister, cries and hugs her father Dexter Clark of Pasadena who son Maurice Clark was shot and killed by the Pasadena Police Dept. [more ]

• Autopsy awaited in Black man's death after Fight with Police [more ]

Larry "Nicky" Hills' family Brings Lawsuit Against Nashville Police

Cops used Unnecessary Force Killing Black Man
About 40 friends and family members of a man who died in police custody in Nashville, Ark., gathered Wednesday morning on the steps of the state Capitol, trying to bring attention to a civil lawsuit alleging police brutality in the September 2003 incident. The lawsuit, filed on Sept. 13 in federal court in Texarkana-exactly a year after the incident-contends that Larry "Nicky" Hill died as a result of excessive force by Nashville and Howard County officers after Hill was stopped him on suspicion of drunken driving. "Larry Hill was a victim of excessive force and deliberate indifference," said A.C. Dumas, spokesman for Hill's family.  The lawsuit contends that while trying to arrest Hill, Cogburn "unnecessarily and with unnecessary force" struck Hill in the right side of the head with his right fist. It was that injury, as well as officers' subsequent "refusal to obtain medical care" for Hill, that caused Hill's death, according to the suit. The results of an independent autopsy concluded that the ``manner of Hill's death should be ruled as homicide'' because his death occurred as a result of a violent struggle with police officers. The family is asking the court to grant a permanent injunction enjoining the police in Nashville and Howard County from using excessive force. [more ]

• NAACP calls for murder charges against police officers [more ]

Six years later, Minneapolis Police settle brutality case with Andre Madison

Incident a rallying point against police abuse
"It is bittersweet," said Andre Madison, commenting on the recent settlement of his police brutality lawsuit against the City of Minneapolis.  Madison was the victim of a police shooting in 1996 stemming from a botched police raid on a North Minneapolis apartment. The suit charged that police violated Madison's civil rights by beating him and using racist insults after they shot him during the raid. In settling the case, the City admits no wrongdoing. Madison and the City settled the federal lawsuit for $15,000-plus, to include attorney's fees and costs. On November 8, 1996, Minneapolis police officers from the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) and Housing police carried out a raid based on evidence from an informant claimed Madison had purchased $5 worth of marijuana on the premises. During the course of the operation, police fired over 400 rounds of ammunition into the apartment building, shooting Officer Mark Lanasa in the process. Officers fired as they entered the apartment, hitting Madison two times -- once in the neck and in the arm. Madison's injuries were extensive.  Madison was subsequently convicted on charges of second degree assault against the police who shot him. His case garnered wide local attention and national exposure, and was at the center of a community protest campaign to win justice for him.[more ] and [more ]

• Madison fights to clear name. Madison has consistently maintained his innocence and said that he will continue to fight to clear himself. "Clearly, this civil case is significant, because it shows that there was no evidence that Andre fired a shotgun at the officers involved in the incident. The evidence shows that Officer Lanasa was hit by a bullet fired from another police officer," said Goins, commenting on the fact that much of the initial media coverage focused on the incorrect assumption that it was Madison who shot Officer Lanasa. "The concern I have is that if the prosecution knew this information, they should have informed Andre's lawyers," said Goins. "The prosecution has an obligation to disclose information which could be used to prove the defendant's innocence."

Judge denies new trial for convicted Miami officers who Planted Weapons

A judge has denied a new trial for five Miami officers convicted in plots to cover up the planting of guns on unarmed suspects shot by police. The 28-page order issued Monday by U.S. District Judge Alan Gold opens the door to an appeal by four officers sentenced to prison following a 2003 trial and the sentencing of three officers convicted in an April retrial. Two other turncoat officers are awaiting sentencing on their guilty pleas. The judge said new eyewitness evidence offered by the defense did not "undermine my confidence in the verdict" since nobody saw a gun right after the wounding of a homeless man and an officer's fingerprints were on the planted gun. "We intend to raise every single one of these issues before the 11th Circuit and hopefully be back for a new trial in a year," Richard Sharpstein, attorney for two of the officers, said Wednesday. The convictions came in the biggest scandal to taint the Miami department in a generation. Varying groups of officers were accused of covering up guns planted after four shootings that left three men dead and one wounded from November 1995 to June 1997. Four officers were acquitted. Community outrage over the shootings sparked the hiring of a new police chief, the creation of a civilian police review board with subpoena powers and police shooting policy changes that resulted in a steep drop in officer-involved shootings. [more ]

Coroner's inquest to be held in fatal police shooting of Kermith Sonnier

For five months, Kermith Sonnier has wondered why the police shot his son in the back and why they were chasing him in the first place. "There's just a lot of unanswered questions," he said. His son, Kermith Sonnier Jr., a Louisiana native who had been living in the Washington County community of Denbo Heights, was killed by police gunfire on May 5 during a chase through Brownsville borough and township. A bullet hit him near his left shoulder blade. He died from the wound. Authorities are holding a coroner's inquest on Thursday into Sonnier Jr.'s death at the Fayette County Courthouse. [more ]

Chicago Mayor Daley Accused Of Ignoring Memo On Police Torture

Lawyers say he tortured their clients, forcing them to confess to crimes they didn't commit. Now attorneys for several former death row inmates say a memo warning about the alleged actions of former Police Commander Jon Burge had been sent to Mayor Richard M. Daley back when he was a prosecutor, and that memo was simply ignored. Mayor Daley has not said much publicly about the Burge allegations, and the 2 Investigators have learned the city wants to keep it that way. The fight to question Mayor Daley is intensifying as attorneys for alleged police torture victims pursue the case in court. The fight to question Mayor Daley is intensifying as attorneys for alleged police torture victims pursue the case in court. They claim Daley failed to take action against Burge as a far back as 1982 after a letter was written to him by former Police Superintendent Richard Brezcek. They say it was a warning to Daley of alleged brutality but nothing was done. Mayor Daley was Cook County State's Attorney during the time of at least 69 alleged torture cases and during a time when former Police Commander Jon Burge and Burge's alleged right-hand man John Byrne were accused of torturing murder suspects. [more ]

Minneapolis Police Smashed Windshield with Black Woman's Face, witnesses say

"They just pushed her head right through the back windshield!" a woman said as she shook her head rapidly back and forth, her voice rising. She waved her hands in the air and pointed at the police car parked in the middle of Bloomington Ave. Blood was smeared across the police car, its window shattered. Parallel to, and facing the opposite direction, was a second police car. Behind it sat an idling ambulance. According to reports, the woman had been involved in an altercation with a man several blocks from the scene. In the ensuing fracas a car crashed into a backyard damaging a fence and a picnic table. From there the woman ran down the street yelling for help. When she reached the corner of 31st and Bloomington, she spotted a squad car heading in the direction of the crash. When she reached the car, police claimed the woman tried to jump in the window and reach for the officer's gun. "The cops are saying she tried to grab his gun. How are you going to reach across and grab the gun?" said DeJuan Reid.[more ]

City of Richmond: $150,000 to settle lawsuit against Police

The city of Richmond has agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a lawsuit accusing police of using excessive force and engaging in racially abusive behavior during a clash with Cinco de Mayo partygoers in 2002. The lawsuit, filed last year in U.S. District Court in Oakland, said Richmond police trampled a Mexican flag, assaulted bystanders and arrested people who defied officers' orders to leave. The suit said an officer struck Latino activist Andres Soto of Richmond in the back with a police flashlight after Soto had submitted to police officers. The case was settled Tuesday night during a closed session of the City Council, officials said. [more ]

Cincinnati Cops Push Black Minister Down Steps, Pounce on him

 

• Incident caught on audio tape - Officer says it was "kind of fun"
  

A local minister who says police roughed him up and then tried to cover it up will hear results of an investigation Monday night. The Citizen Complaint Authority (CCA) says Cincinnati police officers did indeed use excessive force against Reverend Donald Tye, and then took steps hide it. Reverend Donald Tye owns a car repair shop on May Street in Walnut Hills. Last march, a freshly painted Camaro sitting on the street caught the eye of a police officer, because Tye hadn't put the license plates back on yet. Tye says they "discussed" whether the officer had the right to tow the car, then he just moved it to his driveway a few houses down the street. Then a few officers got into an altercation with his son Donnie, who was still inside the shop, and they all wound up at Tye's front door. Tye says they forced their way in, telling him he was being arrested. "Guns are being drawn and I'm almost assured I'm gonna get shot, if I get shot, I'd rather them shoot me in the back, so I turn and I start to walk away," said Tye. According to Tye one of the officers pushed him down the steps. The officer, Douglas Smith, then jumped on Tye. On the police car's motor vehicle recorder, you can hear the officer talk about it. "Guess I got a use of force cause I knocked the old guy down the steps," was on the recorder.The officer is then heard on the recording saying, "kind of fun," to jump on Tye. [more ]

Dallas Police Face Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Beating Death of Latino Man

The wrongful death lawsuit names the City of Dallas and three of the seven officers involved in arresting Fernandez. His family said excessive force and pepper spray caused his death. "He didn't die of heart disease. He died of asphyxia. I think all that was a lot of smoke and mirrors on the part of the [Medical Examiner], and I'm pretty sure that was presented to the grand jury," family attorney Raul Loya said. That grand jury cleared all seven officers last Friday.Witnesses claim Pedro Fernandez was beaten with flashlights by the seven responding officers before he stopped breathing - and died. [more ]"One guy was on him like this and had him like this," said friend Daniel Martinez, clasping his hands to show a neck restraint. "They wouldn't get off of him, and he was saying 'I can't breathe, I can't breathe ... I'm getting a seizure.' They wouldn't let him up." Fernandez, who weighed more than 300 pounds, died a short time later after collapsing. Police said they were attempting to arrest him after a domestic violence dispute. Officers said he resisted arrest, so they used various police methods - including pepper spray - to subdue him. Even Fernandez' friends and neighbors said he was resisting arrest, but they said once he was on the ground he gave up and kept begging officers to stop. "He was just yelling like he was in pain," neighbor Heather Vasquez said. Paramedics were called to the scene and took Fernandez' vital signs, which police say were normal, but minutes later he collapsed. [more ]

• Man dies in Dallas police custody [more ] and [more]

Massive Wrongful Death Suit Filed Against Police and Taser Int'l Inc.

• Disabled man shocked with 450,000 Volts of Electricity from Tasers -- Family Seeks $570 Million

The death of a disabled man under dubious circumstances, the refusal to release public records, and the denial of any wrong doing by various Southampton and Suffolk County officials has prompted one family to take action. On Monday relatives of deceased Southampton resident David Glowczenski filed a $570 million lawsuit against the Southampton Village Police Department and Taser International, the manufacturers of taser guns. Seven months ago, Glowczenski who suffered from schizophrenia, was subdued and consequently killed under police custody. The cause of death is believed to have been the 450,000 volts of electricity shot through his body by way of taser.
"The Southampton Police simply killed this man with no regard for him or his family, and what makes it worse is that Suffolk County compounded the crime by intentionally withholding autopsy results and leaving this family in the dark about their loved one," said family attorney Frederick Brewington, of Hempstead.  Named in the lawsuit are Southampton Village Police Officers Brian Platt, Marla Donovan, Chris Wetter, and Arthur Schucht for excessive force, negligent assault, and false arrest without cause.[more ] and[more ]

Evanston Police Plead Not Guilty in Brutal Beating of Sayyid Qadri

 
Evanston Police Plead Not Guilty in Brutal Beating of Sayyid Qadri - partially caught on tape

Two Evanston police officers pleaded not guilty Tuesday to an indictment charging them with various crimes following the alleged beating and false prosecution of a 22-year-old Sayyid Qadri after a traffic stop in March. Rookie officer Michael Yorty and 12-year veteran Gus Horemis could face up to five years in prison if found guilty of using excessive force on Sayyid Qadri in a bathroom at the north suburban police station, then pressing charges of aggravated battery to a police officer against Qadri, Cook County State's Attorney Richard A. Devine said.  Qadri's attorneys say a 20-minute videotape from police security cameras captured some of what happened.Horemis stopped Sayyid Qadri, 22, on March 10 for a traffic violation. Horemis handcuffed Qadri and took him to the police station.Prosecutors say Horemis took a handcuffed Qadri into a bathroom. Yorty followed. At some point, Horemis slammed Qadri's head into a wall, prosecutors say. After leaving the bathroom, Horemis "shoved the injured and bleeding Qadri onto a bench," authorities said. Horemis also allegedly pushed and choked Qadri.. Afterward, Yorty and Horemis made false statements regarding what happened at the station, pinning the incident on Qadri and signing a complaint for aggravated battery to a police officer, Devine said. On March 18, Yorty gave false testimony under oath at a preliminary hearing before Skokie Judge Timothy Chambers. In July, prosecutors dropped all charges against Qadri[more ] and[more ] and [more ]

• Images of beating [more ]
• see video [here ]
• Brutal Beating by Police Partially Caught on Tape [more

Judge Upholds Damage Award for NYC Police Shooting of Jose Garcia

• Dominican Immigrant's Death by Cops led to Riots in 1992

A state judge yesterday upheld a jury award of $170,000 to the family of a Dominican immigrant killed in a 1992 police shooting that sparked riots in Washington Heights. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich denied a motion by the city to throw out the 2003 verdict in a lawsuit filed by the mother of Jose (Kiko) Garcia, who was shot dead by Police Officer Michael O'Keefe on July 3, 1992. The shooting drew an angry response from people in the upper Manhattan neighborhood, who set fire to a building and threw debris from windows to protest what they said was an unjustified use of force by police. Then-Mayor David Dinkins angered the city's police officers by visiting the Garcia family to offer his condolences. A grand jury later cleared O'Keefe of any wrongdoing. The anti-crime cop testified that he stopped Garcia, a Dominican immigrant, because he suspected Garcia was carrying a gun. When Garcia fled into a building lobby on W.162nd St., O'Keefe said he pursued him. The cop said he fired after Garcia pulled out a gun. After the civil trial, jurors said cops lacked probable cause to arrest Garcia but did not violate his civil rights. The jury awarded Garcia's mother, Regina, $155,000 for the loss of her son's financial support, as well as $15,000 in punitive damages. [more ]and [more

Grand jury won't get evidence yet in Lollis case

Black Man fatally shot by Police
Evidence collected by the Seventh Judicial District Attorney's Office in the August shooting of Ron Lollis will not be presented to the current grand jury. Paul Scott, director of criminal investigations for the DA's office, said the investigation would not be ready until the fall grand jury is in place, after early October. Scott had originally hoped the information would be ready for the September grand jury. Scott said there was still evidence at the lab and officers were still filing investigative reports.The FBI is also conducting a separate investigation of the incident as a civil rights violation. Lollis died on Doty Road on Aug. 23. Sheriff Randy Maxwell has said the deputy was responding to a harassment call involving Lollis when Lollis pulled a gun on him. Residents of the Doty Road community have held several vigils and community meetings in support of the Lollis family. Many in the Ferriday community believe the incident was racially motivated. The Lollis family has said the state president of the NAACP is serving as their lawyer. [more ]

Deal offered Black man who claims police brutality

The prosecution offered a resolution Monday in its case against a Danville man, who is accused of attacking police and who has accused police of brutality. Robbie Houston, 43, will be back in Boyle District Court 1:30 p.m. Nov. 1. His Frankfort attorney, Willie Peale, asked the court Monday that Houston and his family be given time to consider the deal, the details of which were not disclosed. Houston has said that while being arrested in June officers treated him roughly, and he had to defend himself. He said he was hit with a metal baton, sprayed with chemicals, punched and kneed. He also said that a police officer drove his cruiser into another vehicle while trying to take him to jail. Houston has been charged with four felony counts of assaulting a police officer, and three misdemeanors, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief.[more ]

Seattle will pay $25,000 to settle Taser complaint - Police Shocked Black Teen

A teenager who accused Seattle police of excessive force for shocking him with a Taser last year after a traffic stop has settled his claim with the city. The city has agreed to pay $25,000 to the family of the teen, who is now 17. The family's attorney, Fred Diamondstone, said the settlement was fair. "It's a good resolution," he said. "It's an acknowledgement that this was not a case that they (the city) wanted to try to defend in court." The incident took place about 1 a.m. July 5, 2003, when police pulled over the Ford Expedition in which the teen was riding, allegedly because the vehicle had a broken headlight. When officers stopped the vehicle, they saw the teen in the back seat fumbling with something and assumed he had a weapon. Officers ordered all occupants from the vehicle and frisked the teen, then tried to handcuff him. Diamondstone said his client is claustrophobic and resisted because of that. A struggle broke out and the officers wrestled the teen to the ground, one of them applying the Taser four times on his neck. After he was detained, the teen told police that his cell phone had gone off just as they pulled his friends over, and he was just trying to turn off his phone. In the end, police released the teenager to his mother, never charging him with any crime. And, on the police report detailing the incident, the officer requested that the teen not be charged. [more ]