Civil rights lawyer lashes out over deputies' report
/- Says Lennox Police Shot Black Man & then Covered it up

The Justice Department has begun to study Tasers, the electric guns
that are increasingly popular with police departments, in the face of
new questions over their safety. Rusty York, the police chief of Fort
Wayne, Ind., said that a Justice Department researcher, Joyce Gammelmo,
contacted him last week to follow up on a report in a local newspaper
that the city had decided to buy Tasers after studying them since early
2003. Ms. Gammelmo wanted to know more about Fort Wayne's research, Mr.
York said. After Mr. York outlined his department's work, Ms. Gammelmo
encouraged him to do more research before buying the guns, Mr. York
said. More than 70 people have died after being shocked with Tasers,
though the company that makes the weapons, Taser International, says
the deaths were not related to their use. Mr. York said he had
independently decided to delay the purchase even before Ms. Gammelmo's
call. Too many questions about the safety of Tasers remain unanswered,
he said. Ms. Gammelmo did not return calls for comment. A spokeswoman
for the Justice Department said that it neither encouraged nor
discouraged police departments in buying Tasers but that it had begun
to study their safety and effectiveness. The department has financed a
study at the University of Wisconsin to determine how electrical
currents move through the body, as well as a study at Wake Forest to
examine injuries caused by Tasers and similar weapons in real-life
situations. More than
5,500 police departments and prisons now equip their officers with
Tasers, compared with only a handful five years ago. Human rights
groups and independent scientists have criticized the use of Tasers,
saying their safety has not been properly studied. But Taser sales have
continued to rise, along with the stock of Taser International. [more]

A group of black pastors are planning to discuss
with Jacksonville's sheriff the death of an inmate who died yesterday
after he stopped breathing. Duval County officials are looking into
what caused the death and have not released the I-D of the victim. The
president of the local branch of the NAACP said he would ask
the sheriff about the jail death. The coalition of black
ministers also plans to discuss the death of Sammy Lee Evans who died
after he was arrested early Friday morning for public drinking. Evan's
family and the NAACP claim police brutality and racial
profiling. The officer is being investigated for using excessive
force. He has since resigned. The group of black pastors said at a news
conference Saturday that they're so upset they plan to call for a
boycott of the Super Bowl. [more]




The family of Timothy Ruiz, who was gunned down in the parking
lot of the Galleria at Crystal run on March 13, has filed a wrongful
death lawsuit against the former cop who killed their son and the town
that gave him a badge and a gun. The lawsuit was filed today in state
Supreme Court in Goshen by the Ruiz family's lawyers, Sullivan
County-based Norman Ingber and Goshen-based Joe Owen. Also named in the
lawsuit are Old Navy store, where Ruiz worked as a manager, Filene's
Inc. and PCM Development Inc, which owns and operates the Galleria. The
suit, which asks for unspecified damages, contends the town, mall
management and the store that employed Ruiz failed to protect the
22-year-old Pine Bush man. Griffin, 40, of Ellenville, was found guilty
of the "assassination-style" shooting death by an Orange County jury on
Oct. 7. He was sentenced to 25 years to life.more]


A
judge has temporarily delayed police merit board hearings on whether to
reinstate a former city officer acquitted in the shooting death of a
teenage drug suspect. Judge Ann O'Malley Shake said the delay will
continue until she rules on McKenzie Mattingly's motion to close his
merit board hearings. The merit board has said it intends to open the
hearings to the public. Shake is scheduled to hear arguments on Dec. 28
on Mattingly's request to close the merit board proceedings. The merit
board was to begin reviewing Mattingly's case next Tuesday. The board
has the power to overturn firings. Mattingly was fired by Louisville
police Chief Robert White in April after the officer was indicted in
the death of 19-year-old Michael Newby. The shooting stoked racial
tensions in the city. Newby was the seventh black man killed by
Louisville police since 1998. Mattingly is white. In September, a jury
acquitted Mattingly of murder, manslaughter and reckless homicide
charges. [more] and [more]


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