Family Demands Justice from Austin Police: Slowed Down Video Shows Police Shoot 16 Yr. Old Latino Boy in the Back

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Friends and family want the Police Monitor and the Citizen’s Review Panel to investigate the case of Devin Contreras.

In early October of 2010, the 16-year old was coming out of a Big Lots store in south Austin after breaking in. On his way out Contreras was confronted by Austin Police Officer James Bowen who said the teenager had a gun and took a firing position pointing his weapon toward the officer.

Bowen fired 14-shots. Four hit Contreras killing him.

“The family and friends who are here are here for one purpose and that's to ask for the truth,” said Bobby Taylor the Contreras family attorney.

Taylor claimed slowing down the video of the shooting captured on two A.P.D. squad car video cameras appeared to show that the teenager was shot when he was on the ground. “We have requested the Police Monitor's Office do a thorough investigation because we believe a young man being shot in the back four times while running away is not anything other than murder,” said Taylor.

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Portland Police Told Aaron Campbell's Mother he Committed Suicide - when in fact police shot him, court records say

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From [HERE] Marva Davis, who lost two sons on Jan. 29, 2010, said in court documents filed this week that her grief was compounded when two Portland officers came to her house that night and told her that Aaron Campbell had committed suicide --when in fact her 25-year-old son had been fatally shot in the back by a Portland officer. 

"I could not and cannot understand why the police would misrepresent the facts of my son's death," Davis wrote in an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court.  Holding the religious belief that committing suicide condemned the soul, Davis suffered heart palpitations and was taken to the hospital that night.  That morning she had lost her 23-year-son to heart and kidney failure. 

She further alleges that Portland police engaged in harassing, hostile and deceptive behavior that included surveillance of other relatives for over two months after the shooting. 

Attorneys for the family are seeking any police reports and depositions of officers who may be related to the allegations.

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Jury awards $11.5 million to family of Unresisting Latino Man Brutally Murdered by PG County Cop

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From [HERE] A jury in Prince George’s County awarded $11.5 million to the widow and child of a man who was fatally shot by a police officer and found that the officer wrongfully caused the man’s death.

The jury also found that Cpl. Steven Jackson violated the consitutional rights of Manuel de Jesus Espina during an encounter in a Langley Park apartment building in August 2008. Jackson acted with malice and not in self defense, the jury found. The $11.5 million award is for compensatory damages. The jury is still deliberating about whether Espina’s family is entitled to punitive damages.

The money awarded to relatives of Manuel de Jesus Espina is believed to be the largest jury verdict in a case involving misconduct by a Prince George’s police officer, vet­eran civil rights lawyers said.

Espina, 43, was shot by Cpl. Steven Jackson in a Langley Park apartment building in August 2008, when Jackson was moonlighting as a security guard.

The jury of five women and one man found that Jackson intentionally violated Espina’s constitutional rights, that he acted with malice, that he did not act in self-defense, and that he assaulted and battered Espina before wrongfully killing him. Jackson pepper-sprayed Espina and beat him with his fists and a metal police baton before shooting him, according to court testimony and evidence. Jurors deliberated for 31 / 2 days.

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Black Man Serving Life Sentence Released from Prison - Confession Induced by Chicago Police Torture

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From [HERE] CHICAGO – As a former Chicago police commander reported to federal prison Wednesday for lying about the torture of murder suspects decades ago, a man his detectives allegedly beat into confessing learned he was being freed after spending 25 years in prison.

Jon Burge, whose name in Chicago is synonymous with police brutality and racism, turned himself in Wednesday morning to begin a 4 1/2-year sentence at Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina. Hours later in Chicago, a judge ordered 45-year-old Eric Caine released from Menard Correctional Center after prosecutors conceded that they didn't have enough evidence to convict Caine of murder again without the suspect confession he gave police in 1986.

"On the day that Jon Burge is headed for prison, Eric Caine got word he is coming home," said Caine's attorney, Russell Ainsworth.

Caine was serving a life sentence after being convicted with another man in the 1986 stabbing a couple on Chicago's South Side. Caine was convicted largely on the basis of his confession and statements made during police questioning by his co-defendant, Aaron Patterson, who also alleged his confession was coerced and who was sentenced to death.

Both men claim Burge's "Midnight Crew" of detectives tortured them into confessing. After allegations surfaced that the white commander and his detectives were coercing black suspects into confessing to crimes, prosecutors began reviewing past convictions involving Burge's squad. Just before leaving office in 2003, Gov. George Ryan, who had put a moratorium on capital punishment after several condemned inmates were exonerated, cleared Death Row and pardoned four condemned inmates, including Patterson.

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Out of 239 Police Brutality Complaints Against Houston Police in 2010 - No Officers Punished

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From [HERE] The Houston NAACP president is now reacting to the latest 13 Undercover exclusive. We've learned in 2010, not a single citizen complaint against a Houston cop for unnecessary force was sustained. Not one. And there were 239 complaints.

"The system is basically rigged, and it's rigged in favor of the police," Coffield said.

"We are not in the witch hunt business and when complaints are sustained against officers, there has to be factual proof," said Gary Blankenship, president of the Houston Police Officers Union

HPD's own records paint a controversial portrait; during the last decade, 2,135 complaints about alleged police brutality. Only 33 were sustained -- less than two percent. And if you count only citizen complaints, the number of times the brutality allegation has been confirmed is just 16 -- 16 of more than 2,100.

"And that's why there is so much anger in the black community and Hispanic community in particular because we know we are being beaten and abused but nothing has been done about it," community activist Quanell X (above) said.

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U.S. Department of Justice Set to release report about New Orleans Police

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From [HERE] Federal and city officials will announce tomorrow the results of the 10-month-long investigation into the New Orleans Police Department, which began last spring at the request of Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

The assessment, which was conducted amid the backdrop of at least nine federal criminal probes into the NOPD, is expected to be highly critical of the department.

When announcing the inquiry in May 2010, top officials with the U.S. Department of Justice promised a wide-ranging investigation, including looks at the department's hiring practices, allegations of excessive force used by police, how particular neighborhoods are served and whether searches are conducted in

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Civil Rights Lawsuit Underway Against San Diego County Deputies who Shot Unarmed Latino Man Nine Times in the Back

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From [HERE] and [MORE] Federal civil suits brought by the widow and the daughter of a parolee who was fatally shot by sheriff's deputies in a Vista mobile-home park in 2006 landed in the hands of a jury Wednesday afternoon.

David Arnulfo Lopez, 27. San Diego County sheriff's deputies shot him 12 times, including nine shots to his back. Lopez was unarmed.

An attorney for Lopez's family has said the deputies used excessive force. And the trajectory of the shots and the placement of Lopez's body, according to the attorney, indicate Lopez was fleeing ---- not fighting ---- when the shots were fired.

The attorney for the three accused deputies argues that his clients reasonably believed Lopez was armed and that they were in danger. During a scuffle on the small raised porch of a mobile home, the shirtless Lopez reached for his waistband ---- raising the deputies' fears he was reaching for a weapon, the deputies said.

But attorney David Landry, who represents Lopez's widow, said the evidence, as well as the original statement of one of the three deputies, shows that Lopez had leaped onto the roof of a nearby shed in an attempt to flee when the three men fired at him.

The deputies, he said, range in height between 5 feet 11 inches and 6 feet tall. Lopez was 5 feet 6 inches tall. The men testified that they were standing when they shot Lopez, Landry argued, but the trajectory of the bullets clearly shows he was shot from below.

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Family of Mexican migrant sues US Government for Deadly Beating by Border Patrol

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From [HERE] SAN DIEGO -- The family of a Mexican man who died after a U.S. immigration agent shot him with a stun gun sued the federal government Wednesday, saying authorities used excessive force.

The wrongful-death lawsuit says up to 25 agents beat Anastacio Hernandez as he lay on the ground at a San Diego border crossing May 28, some stepping on the back of his knees as he cried for help. An agent allegedly silenced the 42-year-old construction worker by shooting him several times with the stun gun.

Family attorney Eugene Iredale said key evidence includes a witness' cell-phone audio of Hernandez crying for help and a witness telling agents to stop.

"This was a man who was frightened and who was really, at the time, pleading for his life," Iredale said at a news conference that was organized by the Mexican consulate in San Diego.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has vigorously denounced the incident, saying a death "with that degree of violence is a truly unacceptable violation." The consulate said in a statement Wednesday that the Mexican government "reiterates its strongest condemnation of the incident that led to the death of one of its citizens."

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LAPD Officer Cleared in Shooting of Latino Day Laborer

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The unanimous ruling by the five-member panel, along with the decision Tuesday by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office not to file any criminal charges in the case, fully exonerated Officer Frank Hernandez, a 14-year veteran of the department, of any wrongdoing. In clearing Hernandez, the commission went along with the recommendation of LAPD Chief Charlie Beck that the shooting be judged to have been within department policies.

Luis Carillo, an attorney representing the dead man's wife in a federal civil lawsuit against the city, denounced the commissioners' decision. "The script had already been written.... They just followed it," he said.

He was standing on the corner of Sixth Street and Union in the Los Angeles community of Pico Union or Westlake. The police claim he had a knife and was intending to use it on a pregnant woman. Many eye witnesses say that this was not true and that Manuel was murdered in cold blood. [MORE] 

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New Orleans Officer Accused of Murdering Unarmed Black Civillians after Katrina wants Case Dropped

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These six officers were not only accused of murder but also of conspiring to hide their crime through secret meetings, planting evidence, inventing witnesses, false arrests, and perjury. Five officers plead guilty. In the days after the flooding of New Orleans, police officers were told they were defending a city under siege and were given tacit permission to use deadly force at their own discretion. At the time, no one in power seemed to be interested in looking into the details of who was killed and why. [MORE]

From [HERE] An attorney for a New Orleans police sergeant charged with shooting unarmed civilians on the Danziger Bridge is asking a judge to drop the murder charges against his client due to alleged prosecutorial missteps.

Frank DeSalvo, who represents Sgt. Kenneth Bowen, filed a lengthy motion Monday night in federal court that accuses federal prosecutors of numerous missteps in the years-long Danziger Bridge probe. DeSalvo argues that missteps on the part of authorities make Bowen's indictment "legally invalid" and that the charges should be quashed.

Federal prosecutors have yet to rebut the motion in court filings and a judge has yet to rule on the motion.

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Framingham (Mass) Police will Investigate Itself in Fatal Shooting of Unarmed 68 Yr Old Black Man - Family Plans Lawsuit

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Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone's office ruled that 68-year-old Stamps' death was an accident and not a crime. Leone's office said Duncan's rifle fired when he tripped and fell inside Stamps' home at 26 Fountain St. The SWAT team was serving a search warrant at the time.

Authorities said Stamps' stepson, Joseph Bushfan, whom police arrested, and another man were the targets of the raid. Suso said the district attorney's report is key to the police internal investigation.

The review should be complete in two to four weeks, he said.

Selectmen did not comment on the matter, but behind closed doors last night they discussed a potential lawsuit Stamps' family may bring. An attorney for the family last week called the district attorney's explanation of Stamps' death implausible and said he will conduct his own investigation.

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Jon Burge to report to North Carolina prison Wednesday

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March 15, 2011 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Former Chicago police commander Jon Burge is due to report to prison Wednesday. Burge was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for lying about the torture of suspects. He'll serve his time at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex near Raleigh, North Carolina. He'll be serving his time at the same prison complex that houses notorious Ponzie schemer Bernie Madoff.

While he's in custody he will face more questions about police brutality. On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered Burge to submit to a video deposition in a civil case. The case involves two men who claim they were tortured by Burge or officers serving under him. 

 

 

ACLU says Illinois Law Against Recording Police Unconstitutional

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Illinois' penalty for knowingly recording audio of anyone without their consent is a Class 4 felony. It is punishable by up to three years in prison. When someone like Fitzpatrick decides to record law enforcement performing their job, the charge gets ratcheted up to a Class 1 felony and carries with it a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. A Class 1 felony is the same class as someone who is charged with having more than 11 pounds of marijuana.

"Illinois is virtually unique in making it a crime to record on-duty police officers. That's because of ... what I would say is a defect in our eavesdropping act that other states and federal eavesdropping acts don't have, which is we've extended the ban on eavesdropping from just private conversations to all conversations, whether or not they are private," said Adam Schwartz, the senior lawyer for Illinois' American Civil Liberties Union.

Only two other states - Massachusetts and Oregon - have similar eavesdropping laws. Illinois' statute referring to recording officials was enacted in 1994. An attempt to roll back the law 11 years later failed in the General Assembly.

The ACLU is trying to get the law declared unconstitutional in federal court, claiming it violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. A favorable ruling by a federal judge would automatically trump any state law.

 

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Denver Police Chief Recommends Firing Officer who Beat Michael DeHerrera

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From [HERE] and [HERE] DENVER --  Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman has recommended to the Denver Manager of Safety that Officer Devin Sparks be fired from the force for his beating of Michael DeHerrera on April 4, 2009 that was caught on tape in lower downtown. 

The Denver Manager of Safety now has 15 days to rule on the recommendation. Sparks had been under internal investigation after an independent monitor found that the officer should be terminated finding that he used excessive force during the arrest.

DeHerrera and his friend, Shawn Johnson, were arrested and beaten after Johnson was kicked out of a bar for using the women's restroom. A city surveillance camera captured the arrest on video and shows Sparks and Officer Randy Murr putting DeHerrera on the ground and hitting him repeatedly with a weapon. DeHerrera had been making an emergency phone call to his father, Pueblo County Sheriff's Deputy Anthony DeHerrera, when he was attacked by the officers.

Sparks later admitted he hit DeHerrera at least nine times with a metal weapon wrapped in leather called a sap. Deherrera received cuts, bruises, and broke several of his teeth during the beating. He was taken to a hospital where he was given several stitches. He also claimed that he blacked out during the beating.

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Lawsuit Filed Against Chicago: Handcuffed Black Man Beaten by Police and Denied Medical Treatment

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From [HERE] A 19-year-old Chicago man who was allegedly beaten by police while he was handcuffed filed a lawsuit today claiming police used excessive force and failed to stop the beating, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit, filed against the City of Chicago and unnamed police officers and sergeants, claims Gregory Jeffries was stopped by police Oct. 11 as he and a friend were leaving at eh King Gyro carry out at 79th Street and Vincennes Avenue.

During the stop, Jeffries was handcuffed with his hands behind his back and was hit several times by an unnamed sergeant, causing Jeffries to spit blood onto the ground, according to the complaint.

Jeffries was charged with trespassing, but the charge was dropped in December, according to the complaint filed in federal court in Chicago.

The 10-count complaint claims, among other things, that no other officers intervened during the beating; that Jeffries was deprived of his constitutional rights; and that Jeffries was denied medical attention during his time in police custody.

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Black Teen in Indianapolis Police Brutality Case Released on Home Detention

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INDIANAPOLIS -- A Black teen at the center of a high-profile police brutality investigation in 2010 was placed on house arrest Monday pending trial on a gun charge.

Brandon Johnson, 16, and his two older brothers, Miketavious Jackson, 19, and Terrell Jackson, 18, were arrested Wednesday night at the family's home in the 7700 block of Mountain Stream Way, where police said they found a gun, bullets, drugs and gang paraphernalia. 

Johnson was arrested on preliminarily charges of criminal gang activity and dangerous possession of a firearm but was only formally charged with the latter Monday, 6News' Derrik Thomas reported.

His attorney said the firearm charge is based on a cell phone picture of a gun, not an actual gun, found in Johnson's home. Johnson was at the center of a firestorm of racial tension in Indianapolis last summer when he suffered a swollen eye, bruises to his face and chipped teeth in an encounter with police who were arresting his brother.

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Latino Man Claims He has Videotape of San Bernardino Deputies Beating Him Unconscious

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According to the lawsuit, the deputy tried to run Cruz's license through the computer in his squad car, but the system was down so he placed Cruz in handcuffs, had Cruz's car towed, and took him down to the station.

Cruz claims that when he got to sheriff's building, a white officer slammed his head into a wall and then five deputies placed restraints around his legs and assaulted him, causing him to lose consciousness.

The next thing Cruz remembers was waking up in a hospital.

Cruz was charged with assaulting an officer and eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, says Carrillo. But he's hoping the discovery of a videotape of the incident will prove that the officers used unnecessary force and lied about what happened in order to charge Cruz.

"We have the video," says Carrillo. "It shows excessive use of force was used against Mr. Cruz and against an unrelated female who was also there at the time."

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Lawyer says Arrest of Brandon Johnson is Retaliation for Lawsuit Against Indianapolis Police

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From [HERE] and  [HERE] A Black teenager whose beating at the hands of white Indianapolis police officers spurred protests by community groups and aggravated racial tensions has been arrested on drug- and gang-related charges.

Indianapolis Metropolitan police said they arrested 16-year-old Brandon Johnson and two of his older brothers Wednesday night at a home on the city's east side where they found marijuana, a handgun and items with gang insignia as well as gang photos and paperwork and a police scanner.

Johnson's attorney, Stephen Wagner, said police targeted his client unjustly. "We have serious questions about both of these charges, about the entire police action," he told Massee.

 Wagner said 14 officers stormed the house and that charges against Johnson are retaliatory. Wagner claimed that the only gun in the house was properly registered and that he suspects the gun charge was related to a cell phone picture of a gun. Wagner also claimed that the criminal gang activity charge related to a sweatshirt Johnson was wearing in memoriam of a friend who died in a shooting.

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Burge panel off to slow start - Racist Chicago Cop Tortured More than 200 Suspects between 1972 and 1991

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From [HERE] A state commission created by statute more than a year and a half ago to deal with the last of the allegations of torture against disgraced former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge and [MORE] and officers under his command is still months from reviewing its first case.

Even some members of the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission at a recent meeting expressed frustration at the slow pace. Lawyers for some Burge accusers raise more fundamental concerns, saying they fear that while the commission is well-intended, it is destined to fall short because of its limited authority and resources.

Illinois' criminal justice system has come under intense scrutiny in recent years, culminating in the state's abolition of the death penalty last week. The ban came less than a decade after then-Gov. George Ryan emptied death row and pardoned four condemned inmates who said they confessed after being tortured by Burge or his men. Lawyers who specialize in police brutality cases estimate that as many as 20 alleged Burge victims may still languish in state prison.

 

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Lawsuit questions DC police policy of arrests for disorderly conduct

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From [HERE] WASHINGTON — Washington police routinely arrested people who talked back to them, improperly charging citizens with disorderly conduct, a lawsuit in federal court contends.

The lawsuit revolves around the 2005 arrest of a woman who cursed at police outside a 7-Eleven. But the case, which continues Monday for the second week before a jury, goes beyond one person to what lawyers say were broader problems. The city's American Civil Liberties Union chapter is involved in the case, and ACLU legal director Arthur Spitzer says his group hopes to use a victory in case to ensure police are more careful about future disorderly conduct arrests.

"We think it's happening still today, and we're concerned," Spitzer said, explaining that just cursing at an officer isn't grounds for arrest and officers are supposed to have a thick skin.

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